Arriva’s Bus Walker has raised thousands for a food bank charity
A bus driver who walked more than 125 miles of Arriva bus routes in seven days has raised £6,607 for food bank charity the Trussell Trust.
Neil Atherton, 44, works as a MyDrive lead, training bus drivers in Arriva’s technical systems, and has so far raised a total of more than £17,000 in the last two years for the charity by completing three bus route walking challenges.
He’s worked for Arriva for 23 years and has been nicknamed the Bus Walker.
Neil, from Widnes in Cheshire, donned his walking boots between July 9 and July 15 2023 and trekked the Arriva bus routes from north to south across seven UK regions – starting in Durham and ending in London.
During that week, Neil clocked up an impressive 125 miles, 279,993 steps and drove 700 miles up and down the country.
He was joined along the way by his local Arriva colleagues, who cheered him on.
He said: “It was tough walking 125 miles as well as driving to the different locations, which made it hard on my body and mentally.
“The toughest part was day six in Hemel Hempstead, as we walked through the rain for six hours – it just didn’t stop.
“My friends and family have always been behind me and it was really good meeting all the amazing Arriva staff, who walked with me and took in some of the sights on the walks. We had some great chats and I met friends for life.
“Making a difference is one of our key values at Arriva and I feel we serve the country as a bus operator and raising money and awareness of food poverty is important. We’ve helped so many families around the UK.
“I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who shared my walks and sponsored me.”
Neil’s fundraiser can be found here.
He walked the following routes:
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
Cora Woodhouse, marketing and customer services director for Arriva said: “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.”