We have ambitious plans to develop the DalesBus network into and around the Yorkshire Dales.  To help us achieve our aims of improving sustainable access into and around the area we are now looking for more volunteers with Marketing, Fundraising or Community Liaison knowledge, skills and expertise.

​Background
Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company (D&BCIC) is a volunteer-run, not-for-profit social enterprise which manages the “DalesBus” network of weekend public bus services into and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale/ Forest of Bowland Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is wholly owned by Friends of the Dales, a registered charity, which aims to keep the Dales special and vibrant for years to come.
DalesBus serves a wide range of catchment communities across the North of England, including the urban areas of West Yorkshire, East Lancashire, and Teesside. The network has expanded over the years and now supports fifteen summer weekend services linking all the surrounding urban areas to the Dales, with services to Malham, Upper Wharfedale, Wensleydale, Swaledale and Nidderdale. These include services scheduled to connect with other bus and train services, in particular on the Leeds - Settle - Carlisle line. In winter months five Sunday services continue, serving Nidderdale, Upper Wharfedale and Wensleydale.
DalesBus also provides a much-valued service for local communities within the Dales who otherwise would have no transport on Saturdays, Sundays, and Bank Holidays, thereby further isolating those without access to their own transport. Over 30,000 passenger journeys were made on services managed by D&BCIC in 2019-20.
D&BCIC is managed by a voluntary Board of Directors who deal not only with strategy, but also the day-to-day activities of managing of the DalesBus network, including contracting commercial operators to provide the bus services. They are assisted by a wider team of volunteers who help with tasks such as social media posting, the distribution of publicity materials and updating of bus stop displays.

Skills or experience required

Marketing
D&BCIC uses a range of channels to promote DalesBus, including printed materials, social media and media releases – as well as our website www.dalesbus.org. Volunteers with some marketing knowledge, skills and expertise are sought to help drive the planned passenger growth of the DalesBus network over the next few years and also to address the negative effects of Covid-19 messaging on public perceptions of public transport.  We would also welcome people with graphic design skills to help produce publicity materials.

Fundraising
Each year we need to raise over £120,000 to maintain the DalesBus network. Over the last few years there has been a significant drop in funding support from the public sector and D&BCIC has had to devote more time and effort to seek funding from commercial sponsors, charitable trusts, local charities, local businesses and individual donations as well as organising fundraising events. This has enabled most of the network to be maintained but much of the resulting funding is only short-term and on a one-off basis, so does not provide security for the future. A volunteer with some fundraising knowledge, skills and expertise is therefore sought to help raise more funding and secure the future of the DalesBus network.

Community Liaison
D&BCIC strives to benefit the whole community. We would really appreciate support from volunteers who can help us to build a positive relationship with any of the diverse range of communities within and surrounding the Dales who could benefit more from DalesBus. We particularly welcome volunteers who may identify as Black, Asian, or from another marginalised group. Knowledge in how to develop and implement community outreach initiatives is desirable but not essential.

Board Vacancies
Volunteers are encouraged to let us know if they would like to discuss joining the board as directors to assist with the overall management of the company’s activities.
 
To find out more or register your interest please get in touch with us. 

North Yorkshire County Council, along with other Transport Authorities in England are required to produce a Bus Service Improvement Plan following the Government’s publication of its National Bus Strategy. North Yorkshire have gone out to consultation and we have contributed to a joint response with other local organisations.

The response is a joint report produced by Action for Yorkshire Transport and CPRE North Yorkshire with support from Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, Friends of DalesBus, Friends of Moorsbus, Friends of the Dales, Moorsbus Community Interest Company and North Yorkshire Moors Association.

​A copy of the report can be downloaded here (PDF file).

Action for Yorkshire Transport, Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, Friends of DalesBus and Friends of the Settle Carlisle Line have recently undertaken a study on the potential for improved integrated transport in the Craven area on behalf of Craven District Council.

A copy of the report can be downloaded here (PDF file).

​Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company's annual report for 2020-21 is available to download here (PDF file).
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• Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company (D&BCIC) provided a limited “DalesBus” service in 2020-21. This was greatly reduced compared to the usual network due to the coronavirus pandemic and associated restrictions on travel.
  
  
• Previously in 2019-20 D&BCIC provided a network of 14 Sunday and Bank Holiday public bus services into and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale/ Forest of Bowland Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty throughout Summer 2019, plus one Summer Saturday service. Five services continued on Sundays all year.
  
  
• D&BCIC is a volunteer-run not-for-profit social enterprise owned by Friends of the Dales, a registered charity. D&BCIC has its own independent board of directors who are all unpaid volunteers working in partnership with commercial bus operators, community transport operators, user groups, local attractions and other businesses and local authorities.
  
  
• DalesBus is not just a local but also a regional transport network. It normally serves a wide range of catchment communities across the North of England, from Preston to Middlesbrough, and Lancaster to York. Although primarily designed to meet the needs of urban communities to access the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale/Forest of Bowland AONBs, DalesBus also provides a much-valued service for local communities within the Dales who otherwise would have no transport on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, thereby further isolating those without access to their own transport.
  
  
• 3,547 passenger journeys were made on services provided by D&BCIC in 2020-21, compared with 30,370 the previous year.
  
  
• DalesBus provides access to the National Park for those without a car available, relieves social isolation, encourages healthy exercise, relieves congestion and pollution from excessive car transport and expands markets for local businesses. But for many years now it has survived hand to mouth with little long-term funding. The National Bus Strategy “Bus Back Better” provides an opportunity to put these services on a secure long-term footing. We note that the strategy states:
  "In popular tourist areas such as the West Country and the national parks, often blighted and congested by too many cars, we want Bus Service Improvement Plans to show how far more will be done to promote buses to visitors, with improved services, easily accessible information, park-and-ride sites and special tickets. Scenic railways, such as the Settle-Carlisle and West Highland lines, are now significant tourist attractions and wealth generators in their own right. We see no reason why several of Britain’s equally splendid bus routes should not be marketed in the same way."

We call on the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, North Yorkshire County Council and surrounding local authorities to build on the DalesBus experience to realise this vision for public transport to and within the Yorkshire Dales and adjacent AONBs.

D&BCIC, together with our partner organisations Friends of the Dales and the Friends of DalesBus, is already seeking funding for the 2022-23 financial year.  We would be delighted to hear (via feedback@dalesandbowland.com) from any individuals, organisations or companies who might be interested in providing financial support, sponsorship or assistance with fundraising. Donations can also be made on our Local Giving page.

In the meantime, we’d like to thank everyone who helped support the DalesBus network in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The future of Wensleydale Flyer bus service 856 has been secured for the next six months, thanks to local donations and contributions from the Locality Fund by six local North Yorkshire county councillors.

The service runs every Sunday between Northallerton, Bedale, Leyburn and Hawes, and has been supported for the last year by TransPennine Express. 

Following an appeal by local bus users to North Yorkshire County Council's Richmondshire Area Constituency Committee Northallerton councillor Caroline Dickinson said she and five other members who lived along the bus route had noted how valued the service was and had agreed DalesBus should be given time to find a funding solution.

The councillors (David Blades (Romanby and Broomfield); Caroline Dickinson (Northallerton); Yvonne Peacock (Upper Dales);
Karin Sedgewick (Middle Dales); John Weighell OBE (Bedale) and Annabel Wilkinson (Swale)) will provide £500 from each of their Locality Budgets in the hope that further funding for the service can be found to enable the service to continue beyond Easter.

D&BCIC are seeking a new sponsor for the service from April 2021 onwards, and would like to hear from any businesses who might be interested in helping to support this valuable community service. We can be contacted by email here.

Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company has recently published it's Business Plan for 2021-2023.

The overall aim of the company is to help create the Friends of the Dales’ vision of a “Sustainable Future for the Dales” by working with partner organisations to support and develop sustainable transport into and around the Yorkshire Dales area.

Specifically, in the next three years we aim to:

• Grow passenger journeys on the weekend DalesBus network to at least 50,000 per year, filling the significant gaps in the public transport network which would otherwise be available
• Secure long-term funding to enable the reliance on short-term charitable donations and fundraising to be reduced to less than 20% of gross operating costs
• Continue to promote and help drive increased awareness and usage of the wider public transport network in the area
• Consider moving the DalesBus network to net zero carbon emissions by 2025, by using low emission vehicles combined with carbon offsetting arrangements (subject to funder support)

Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company recently made a submission to the UK Parliament Transport Committee's investigation into Coronavirus: Implications for Transport.

The submission can be viewed here (PDF file).

Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company's annual report for 2019-20 is available to download here (PDF file).

• D&BCIC provided the “DalesBus” network of 14 Sunday and Bank Holiday public bus services into and around the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale/ Forest of Bowland Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty throughout Summer 2019, plus one Summer Saturday service. Five services continued on Sundays all year.
  
  
• D&BCIC also produced, in conjunction with West Yorkshire Combined Authority, a timetable booklet covering most bus services in the Yorkshire Dales and undertook other activities to promote public transport in the area.
  
  
• D&BCIC is a volunteer-run not-for-profit social enterprise whose single member is a charity, the Yorkshire Dales Society, also known as Friends of the Dales.  
    
• DalesBus is not just a local but also a regional transport network. It serves a wide range of catchment communities across the North of England, from Preston to Middlesbrough, and Kirkby Lonsdale to Selby. Although primarily designed to meet the needs of urban communities to access the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale/Forest of Bowland AONBs, DalesBus also provides a much-valued service for local communities within the Dales who otherwise would have no transport on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays, thereby further isolating those without access to their own transport. 
  
  
• 30,370 passenger journeys were made on services provided by D&BCIC in 2019-20.  
  
  
• Over the summer passenger numbers across the DalesBus network increased by around 4% compared to summer 2018, but the winter period saw a decline due to several weekend storms in February and the increasing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic from mid-March onwards.
  
  
• DalesBus delivers many economic, social and environmental benefits, but D&BCIC cannot achieve these alone.  For DalesBus to survive and develop we need increased longer-term financial support, especially in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

The overall cost of providing and marketing the network in 2019-20 was around around £149,000 with fares income of approx. £63,200, leaving a net cost funding requirement of £85,800.

D&BCIC, together with our partner organisations Friends of the Dales and the Friends of DalesBus, is already seeking funding for the 2021-22 financial year.  We would be delighted to hear (via feedback@dalesandbowland.com) from any individuals, organisations or companies who might be interested in providing financial support, sponsorship or assistance with fundraising.

In the meantime, we’d like to thank everyone who helped support the DalesBus network in 2019-20.

Communities across North Yorkshire are benefiting from better Sunday connectivity thanks to TransPennine Express (TPE), as the rail company has donated £12,500 through their Community Rail Partnership Growth Fund to help support a bus service between Northallerton and Hawes that connects into a bus service between Hawes and Garsdale for the Leeds-Settle-Carlisle Railway.

The 856 Wensleydale Flyer between Northallerton and Hawes operates every Sunday and Bank Holiday throughout the year, providing communities such as Bedale, Leyburn and Aysgarth with a direct Sunday service to their county town. The service is also beneficial to the local economy as it helps transport visitors to the Yorkshire Dales National Park to tourist attractions such as the Wensleydale Railway, Aysgarth Falls, the Dales Countryside Museum and Wensleydale Creamery.

The service is managed by volunteers from Dales and Bowland Community Interest Company, part of the Friends of the Dales charity. Their Commercial Director, Paul Chattwood, commented: “We’re very pleased and grateful for TransPennine Express’ support for this valuable service through their Community Rail Partnership Growth Fund. TransPennine Express’ support will enable the service to keep running every Sunday throughout the winter and next summer too, following on from the funding kindly provided by Acorn Stairlifts in recent years.”

Graham Meiklejohn, Regional Development Manager for TransPennine Express, said: “We are delighted to help support this key bus connection that links many communities throughout North Yorkshire, as well as our East Coast Main Line train services with those on the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Not only does this bus service help connect communities and tourists to the rail network at Northallerton, but it also boosts the local economy and helps connect some of the most beautiful parts of the country too.”

For more information on Wensleydale Flyer, visit: www.dalesbus.org/wensleydaleflyer.