Local transport charity WATBus are celebrating a double gift of £1000 from the Linden Family Trust and £1000 from Rio Tinto Alcan.

Transport Manager Lynn Mcintosh said: ''We are experiencing increasing demand for our Minibus service at a time of rising fuel and maintenance costs which is stretching our resources to the limit. We are very grateful to the Linden Family Trust for their timely injection of cash towards our running costs and to Rio Tinto Alcan for supporting our WATBike cycle maintenance programme.

"Two of our minibuses are now ten years old and we are trying to raise funds to replace them. Since November we have raised £18,000. When we reach £25,000 we have been promised another £10,000 and that will enable us to buy a super new mini bus with electric tail lift for wheelchairs''.

P & G employees have donated £500 to the WATBus appeal fund to buy a new wheelchair accessible minibus.

WATBus manager Lynn McIntosh said: ''This is brilliant news, to receive support from local people who know that the new bus will benefit many local community groups and people of all abilities. We are moving towards our target of £35,000.

"A big THANK YOU to everyone trying hard in these difficult times.''

Lynn can be contacted on 01670 522999 email lynn.watbus@yahoo.co.uk

Local transport charity WATBus are pleased to announce they have passed the £15,000 milestone thanks to a donation of £850 from the Rothley Trust of Newcastle.

Transport manager Lynn Mcintosh said: ''This is a generous donation towards our new wheelchair accessible minibus appeal.

All our volunteers are helping drive towards our target of £35,000. The Rothley trust has boosted our fund to £15,100 raised in five months.Thank you to everyone who is helping, every penny counts.''

A fundraising 1st birthday celebration took place at the South Beach Community Centre in Blyth last night.

Cycle development officer Colin Hall said: "WATBike has turned my dream into a reality. We have past our first milestone of 100 guided rides in our first year and over 800 people have joined us exploring Northumberland by bike.

"I am looking forward to rolling out our new bike training programme and planning new routes for this year.

Local charity WATBus Community transport have received a grant of £5,000 from 'Christ's Hospital in Sherburn' towards a £35,000 fundraising campaign for a new wheelchair accessible minibus.

Transport manager Lynn McIntosh said: ''This is a fantastic start to March. We have been fundraising since November and this grant increases our new bus fund to £14,000.

"Everyone is working hard to raise funds so this is a great boost to all our volunteers. A big thank you to all our fundraisers, as every penny counts.''

Photo: Lynn Mcintosh with the good news letter

Pupils from New Delaval Primary School presented WATBus with a cheque for £292.98 towards a new wheelchair accessible minibus.

Deputy Head Andrew Miller said: ''As part of our community education the children decided to help WATBus and organised sponsored circuits on the new assault course and a cake stall. It really was self raising.''

WATBus manager Lynn McIntosh said: ''This is fantastic support from the school. We are all inspired by the childrens ideas, generosity and community spirit. The cheque is the icing on the cake, so a big THANK YOU to everyone at the school, every penny really does count.''

Pictured: Andrew Miller and Lynn McIntosh with fundraisers from New Delaval Primary School, Blyth

Transport charity WATBus have today been supported with a donation of a 20 foot long steel storage container from Ashington manufacturers ContiTech Beattie ltd.

Jimmy Lang and Julie McCallum of ContiTech Beattie Ltd with Colin Hall, WATBike Cycle Development Officer

Colin Hall said: ''This is a fantastic secure storage for our new WATBike project. It will enable us to store donated bikes and develop a unique training programme on bike riding skills including route planning, repairs and maintenance. We are very grateful to ContiTech Beattie ltd for their support."

WATBus Community Transport are working hard to 'Save on CO2'.

Manager Lynn Mcintosh said: ''We have identified several ways of reducing our environmental impact and becoming more sustainable in everything we do. We were pleased to discover that a WATBus can reduce Carbon Footprint by 75%- e.g. an average 10 mile car journey produces 2.5kg of CO2. However sharing a minibus can remove 4 to 8 cars from the road, reducing carbon and congestion.

Our new cycling division WATBike is also proving very popular and helping to boost healthy cycling and walking activities.''

For more information on Sustainable Community Transport contact Lynn or Colin.

Tel 01670 522999 www.watbus.org.uk email lynn@watbus.org.uk

Photo at Warkworth on Sunday 23rd Jan. End of the ride

A local charity minibus appeal has been given a generous boost from the customers and staff at the Rohan Kanhai pub in Ashington, named after the West Indian International cricketer who played for Ashington in 1964.

Manager Nicola Miles said "We like to support local charities and WATBus provide a great service for the whole community. When Dawn mentioned they need a new minibus with a wheelchair lift we were happy to collect towards this."

From left: Lynn McIntosh, Dawn Williams-Sanderson (WATBus volunteer driver) and Nicola Miles (Rohan Kanhai pub manager)

WATBus manager Lynn McIntosh said: "We were bowled over by everyone who is helping with the fundraising. Since November we have raised £5,500 towards our £35,000 target. Anyone fancy sponsoring a minibus or making a donation? please contact me or Colin Hall on 01670 522999 lynn@watbus.org.uk"

Local Community transport charity WATBus are struggling due to heavy snowfall.

Lynn McIntosh explained: ''Many of our regular customers use a wheelchair or have difficulty walking and are escorted to their door. With the ice and snow it is to risky for them to venture out and as a result we had 52 bookings cancelled and lost £3750 last week.