Arriva driving coach Neil Atherton is about to embark on his latest in a series of fundraising walks along major bus routes, this time taking on 125 miles in seven days for hunger charity the Trussell Trust.
The 44-year-old, who has worked for Arriva for 23 years, formally as a bus driver, is to set off on Sunday walking some of the operator’s routes from the north to the south of the country.
Neil was recognised with a British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year’s Honours this year list after similar walks in 2021 and 2022 in which he covered a total of 260 miles of north west bus routes, raising £11,000 in the process.
Nicknamed the ‘Bus Walker”, when not raising money, he works as a MyDrive lead, training bus drivers in Arriva’s technical systems.
He will leave Durham this Sunday (9 July) and cover between 11 and 28 miles per day before finishing in Trafalgar Square on 15 July.
Widnes-based Neil, who will be joined along the way by his Arriva colleagues, says: “In my job, I speak to people who are struggling to make ends meet and I know many of them rely on food banks to feed themselves and their families.
“I’m determined to do my little part to make sure people have the food they need.
“Hopefully, by walking some of the UK’s most popular bus routes and raising awareness of the scale of poverty face by millions of families, I can encourage those with a little more to give a thought to those with a little less.”
Prior to receiving his BEM this year, Neil was invited to a garden party at 10 Downing Street in recognition for his efforts to try to boost COVID-19 vaccination numbers in an around Liverpool.
Cora Woodhouse, Marketing and Customer Services Director for Arriva says: “We are all really proud of Neil and everything he’s achieved so far.
“He’s a shining example of living our core values at Arriva, which are caring passionately about the people we serve, doing the right thing and finding ways to make a difference.
“We’re all wishing him the very best of luck with his next bus route walk and we hope he can raise even more money for charity.”
The routes he will cover are:
Sunday, July 9: the 12X route from Durham to Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 16 miles
Monday, July 10: the 110 route from Wakefield to Leeds – 12 miles
Tuesday, July 11: the 82A route from Runcorn to Liverpool – 28 miles
Wednesday, July 12: the 5 route from Wrexham to Llangollen – 14 miles
Thursday, July 13: the 1 route from Telford to Sutton Hill – 16 miles
Friday, July 14: the 302 route from Hemel Hempstead to Welwyn Garden City – 20 miles
Saturday, July 15: the 29 route from Wood Green to Trafalgar Square – 11 miles
Neil’s fundraising page can be found here.
