Celebrating Twenty Five Years of Dial-a-Ride

The hall of Hay School was full for the Silver Jubilee celebration of Hay Dial-a-Ride.
Although the school had hired out the hall, they didn't provide the tables and chairs, which had to be borrowed from Clyro Village Hall.
The people there included those who use the service, including the lady who lives in the most remote spot they visit (as someone said later, even the most comprehensive public transport system wouldn't be able to get up there!). There were drivers, past and present, all volunteers, and there were the organisers and special guests, including Trudy Stedman the Mayor and other Town Councillors. I was there because of the blog, but I did remind Mary Fellowes that my ex-husband had driven the Dial-a-Ride bus for a while in the early days, along with a chap called Doug who used to dress up in costume - I remember him doing Darth Vader and a Viking in a horned helmet!
Twenty five years ago, they needed to raise £25,000 for an accessible bus (the buses cost about double that now), and at one of the first fund raising events John Grant, who had a shop on Castle Street, was heard to say it would never last. Now they have nearly 300 members who use the service, and three staff, as well as the volunteer drivers.
They started out sharing an office with Community Support, in what is now Chris the Bookbinder's workshop beside the launderette - they suffered from floods, and nightmare plumbing!
Then they were able to move into an office in the Council Chambers, where they stayed for many years - and now there are question marks about the future of the Council Chambers they have just moved to an office on Castle Street, opposite the Blue Boar.
As well as the bus, they have drivers who use their own cars, and they've also started running day trips. Now that Hay has no bank branches, they also run a regular Bank Bus so people can visit their bank branch in Brecon.
Fund raising and applying for grants is something they always have to be thinking about - they don't get the same level of help from Powys or Herefordshire County Councils that they did in the early years.
There were speeches - Mary Fellowes, who was involved from the beginning, gave a run down of the history of the service, and Kirsty Williams, the Assembly Member, praised them for enabling older people to continue to live independently for longer.
There were presentations, too - Mary Fellowes got a special certificate, which they'd managed to keep secret from her, and Dial-a-Ride was presented with a Dementia Friendly sign. The lady presenting it said she thought that Hay was the first community bus service to get such an award, and it was all thanks to the enthusiasm of the office secretary, Lesley Moore. And all the volunteers got a little scroll. The service has also been awarded a Community Transport Association Quality Mark, and several awards (from PAVO and others) for Volunteers of the Year.
There was also tea and coffee, and a buffet big enough to feed an army! Everyone got a slice of cake too, which was sponge iced with a picture of the Dial a Ride bus.