Those at the 2025 UK Coach Rally during April will have noticed the debut of a new category: Lady Coach Driver of the Year, with its inaugural winner being Jodie Wood of Metcalfe Coaches. It is based in Carlisle and a regular rally supporter.
Jodie is a third-generation coach driver and gained her category D licence with the operator in 2012 at the age of 18. Her and proprietor Chris Firth work together, but they are also engaged to be married in August.
Chris notes how like many coach operators, job titles mean little at Metcalfe; his own work extends from managing the business and buying vehicles to cleaning coaches and driving home-to-school services as required.
The coach used by Jodie at the rally is a 2014 Van Hool TX15 Alicron. Over the front axle now sits a Charlie Bear for Cancer Care yellow teddy bear logo, while beneath the signalling window is the vehicle’s name: Eindhoven Survivor, accompanied by a montage of pictures.
Both livery additions are of great relevance to Jodie, Chris and Metcalfe Coaches, for in mid-2023 she was diagnosed with leukaemia. That led to a late-night dash by ambulance to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where Jodie largely stayed for several months while undergoing treatment.
She ultimately got the all-clear after two courses of treatment and a bone marrow transplant for which her sister Jade was the donor. Jodie began a phased return to work almost a year after the diagnosis. She is now fully active once again.
Support received from many parties
The period around Jodie’s illness was difficult both personally for her, family members and Chris, and for Metcalfe Coaches. Immediately after the diagnosis, fleet changes were in hand, the peak season was in full swing, and a home-to-school contract normally handled by Jodie quickly needed covering by another operator.
“It was the morning after she was admitted to hospital. I covered her school run and straight afterwards was in touch with the local authority to discuss returning the contract. I had already sent an email at around 0200hrs that day and advised that I was not looking to discuss the matter,” Chris says.
“The council wanted to know why. It was not until I told the person there that the gravity of the situation dawned on me. I had to hang up and have someone else deal with it. But I must give the local authority credit: It got the contract covered.”
With an understanding tone from so many – including staff at Metcalfe Coaches – the business made it through a challenging year. Amid a stressful situation, Chris proposed to Jodie. Friends from within the industry will support the big day in August, as they did the business throughout the trying time from June 2023.
Big day in the Metcalfe Coaches calendar missed
Those familiar with cancer will know that dealing with diagnosis and treatment is difficult. So it proved for Jodie, Chris and Jodie’s mother, who also works for Metcalfe Coaches. Periods in isolation were necessary to counteract a depleted immune system.
A first round of chemotherapy failed but a second was successful. In the meantime, Chris required caution in dealing with others because of the risk of passing infection on to Jodie when visiting.
She highlights missing a traditional large summer job for coaches in Coniston during 2023 as a particular disappointment. That sees around 1,200 people transported and requires a lot of cooperation across several businesses.
“It is a challenge each year, but I look forward to it. I wanted to travel to Coniston by car to see friends from the industry, but I could not; the hospital staff would not let me go home until a week later when I spent a weekend there.”
A particular point of support during Jodie’s days in hospital came from pupils and staff at Cumwhinton Primary School. Numerous cards and gifts were sent to the Freeman, and children at the school sung songs via video. Poignant was how Year 6 pupils would leave during Jodie’s time away and she would be unable to bid them farewell.
“Normally I would have some chocolate or sweets on the coach for their last day, but I was not going to see them. So the school head had all members of Year 6 record me a message.”
But another special occasion still to come
Much of Metcalfe Coaches’ work is with schoolchildren, and doctors cautioned that returning immediately to carrying those passengers with an immune system that was still recovering would need caution. The 2024 UK Coach Rally was an early engagement, but a gradual return to driving was otherwise needed.
“Early in my time back I would tire easily, so I would do a morning school journey and then rest for the remainder of the day,” Jodie explains. “We have one run that takes 15 minutes, which was just about enough for me. As I regained strength I could do more, although I was not working every day.”
Chris adds that the months around Jodie’s illness were “a hard slog” for all involved. The personal strain for family and friends was significant; he was working five days per week and spending the other two in the Freeman Hospital over 60 miles from home. “What else could we do, though?”, Chris asks rhetorically. “We had to get through it.”
Triumph as the first Lady Coach Driver of the Year at this year’s rally came as a surprise to Jodie. Her vehicle, Eindhoven Survivor, replaced an older Van Hool while she was ill. The latter coach was sold to Bibby’s of Ingleton, where fittingly it was named within that operator’s scheme as Dales Survivor. Bibby’s had also returned the newer vehicle to service after a period parked with its previous owner.
The Charlie Bear for Cancer Care marking on the newer coach refers to a charitable fund that raises money for the Northern Centre for Cancer Care at the Freeman Hospital. Both Chris and Jodie pay tribute to the work done by NHS staff at the healthcare centre
What of the day of Chris’s proposal? Jodie was in hospital on a Saturday afternoon, with family members present.
“Chris more or less told me that I needed to hurry up and get better and that we should book the registry office,” she recalls. “He then went on to say it was unless he gets a better offer – which I am reminded of daily – but those who know him will be aware that this is nothing to be shocked about.”
No normal way into coaches
Chris’s way into owning Metcalfe Coaches was unusual. The operator took him to and from school in Carlisle and he worked for the Metcalfe family as a youngster washing coaches.
That developed into driving from the age of 18. Soon after, the prior owners decided to retire and emigrate. An opportunity to buy the business presented itself, which – with Chris aged 20 – was taken. One coach came with the deal.
From there, Metcalfe Coaches grew under its new stewardship to 13 vehicles, although the fleet has since been trimmed to 10. Investment in recent years has been strong, and a 75-plate Temsa HD12 is due later this year to complement other new vehicles over the past couple of years.
Besides the long but successful personal struggle, Jodie’s leukaemia showed several things in relation to the business.
It illustrated how immersed coach operation is into local communities; pupils and staff at Cumwhinton Primary School gave relentless support, while Chris often points to backing from friends in the industry as being valued during difficult times.
Perhaps the most important learning from a life point of view is not to ignore symptoms of illness regardless of how busy you are. And busy is how things remained for the duration, with Chris often running Metcalfe Coaches from a table in a ward at the Freeman Hospital while visiting Jodie.
“The whole thing started when Jodie told me she was struggling to sleep because she was too hot. I bought an air-conditioner,” recalls Chris. “Then she got bruises on her leg. I thought she had knocked it. You never realise how big something like this is until it is presented on your doorstep.”
It is a depiction, if one were needed, that while work is important, looking after oneself should always come first.
