The Coleridge Bus is celebrating 40th anniversary this year, with a birthday tea in Sherford.

A service that supports people being able to get around in the South Hams as the bus services are reduced further and further, the Coleridge Bus has been run entirely by volunteers and on donations for the whole four decades they have been running.

To celebrate this milestone, the team are inviting everyone to Sherford Village Hall, on Monday, March 25, between 2pm and 4pm, for their birthday tea.

The charity serves 10 rural parishes between Tuesday and Friday, with a different route each day. The charity received its first bus on loan in 1978 and since then they have had six new busses and have run thousands of journeys.

They also run frequent afternoon excursions to destinations suggested by passengers - maybe to a garden centre or a scenic tour of Dartmoor or a bigger city centre for shopping. The ‘Coleridge’ is a lifeline for many - and is much more than just a means of transport.

Steve Manchip, chair, explained that “the service is self-supporting - not grant aided. 30 years of fund-raising have kept the Coleridge Bus independent. It is regulated and bound by legislation in the same way as other public transport services.

“All the volunteer drivers hold PCV licences which qualify them to drive anything from a small bus to a double-decker.”

You can find out more about the Coleridge Bus on their website: www.coleridgebus.co.uk and if you want to find out more about volunteering for the charity, contact them on 01548 853195.