Freshwater Parish Council were so pleased to be able to once again support the FYTbus with a Community Grant of £5,000. The Parish Council have been supporting the FYTbus for many years, believing it provides a vital service to the local community.
FYTbus was founded to fill a gap in local transport left by the withdrawal of some Southern Vectis local services in the west of the Isle of Wight in 2008/9.
Improving access for residents
FYTbus is a registered charity and not-for-profit company. Their purpose is to improve access to local health (GP surgery, clinic and St Mary’s Hospital), social, retail and leisure amenities for the residents of and visitors to West Wight. In so doing, they also support the businesses based here- shops, hotels, guest houses and our health and leisure centres.
It is run by volunteers and all the drivers are trained to National MiDAS standards. The scheduled routes and excursions run with a passenger assistant who is there to help passengers if they need it.
Financially self-sufficient
The FYTbus service is financially self-sufficient with no revenue support from local councils. They bid for capital funding to replace/renew the minibus fleet and improvements to their Thorley Depot and are grateful for the support given by Freshwater Parish Council.
The FYTbus also has a shop on The Broadway in Totland selling usable and collectible kitchenware, furniture, clothes, footwear and toys at bargain prices.
Steadily refined and increased the services
Since inception, they have steadily refined and increased the services in line with the needs of the residents and visitors.
They have a fleet of four minibuses which are maintained to the same very high standards as all public service vehicles, and we aim to keep the fleet as up to date as possible. They also run a wheelchair adapted people carrier vehicle for less abled passengers with medical and other needs.
Electric buses
They have recently replaced one of their minibuses with an electric minibus in a bid for a greener future and hope to have a second Electric minibus by the end of this financial year.
To power these they are in the process of installing a photovoltaic array at their Thorley depot, which will greatly decrease the running costs of the busses.
Flex-E Service
A new service available on weekday afternoons is their Flex-E Service which you can book via telephone (01983) 752917, the website or via an App ‘FYT and SCIA booking’ available through the app store. No need to wait at bus stops, you book the bus, and it comes to you, anywhere in the West Wight.
News shared by Paul on behalf of Freshwater Parish Council. Ed
