Bedale-based HECK! has donated a new bus to help connect local neighbourhoods and isolated communities.
The HECK! pink minibus will be used to transport elderly residents to shops, markets and day trips in a bid to combat rural isolation and support local businesses in nearby market towns.
The family-owned company is making the bus available to anyone with a clean driving licence, enabling them to transport people from local parishes to different locations each week, as well as making it available to local community groups and schools.
The idea for the community scheme stemmed from the time of the Covid pandemic, when the company began making door to door grocery deliveries to isolated residents unable to get out to a shop themselves.
HECK! co-founder Jamie Keeble said: “We realised how much rural isolation there is in our local community, so we started to look at different ways to support people after the pandemic.
“It’s really good we can give back to the community that has supported our business since we started.”
The community bus is funded through the HECK! Community Fund, which allocates money each month to local good causes. For more information visit www.heckfood.co.uk.