Thursday 12th March 2026
When I last wrote about First & Last Mile (FLM) in May 2022 the then fledgling Oxfordshire Community bus operator hadn’t long been running but readers may recall I came away from travelling on its two new routes impressed with the number of passengers it had already built up from restoring links to villages north and south of Eynsham lost in previous cuts to the bus network.
Fast forward almost four years and neither routes are operated by FLM. So successful had its journeys aimed at school children become, including the need to run a duplicate minibus, they became a commercial proposition for another operator to take over while the other journeys on its routes 411 (linking villages north of Eynsham) and 418 (south of Eynsham) had become so established they were put out to tender by Oxfordshire County Council and as can happen in such cases the incumbent operator lost out and another operator, in this case, West Oxfordshire Community Transport was awarded the contract.
This left FLM with only a twice a week shopping journey (route 471) linking half a dozen villages near to Stanton Harcourt, south of Eynsham, to Witney which has been sustained thanks to a small financial contribution from Oxfordshire County Council.
However, more recently, also thanks to an approach from the County Council, FLM took over three more routes from another Community Transport operator in the area that had decided to call it a day.
The Richard Wellesley Memorial Transport Group (RWMT), a registered charity set up around 20 years ago, operated a minibus under the name Buckland Community Minibus, based in the village of Buckland, and also operated weekly shopping trips to Faringdon (route 402), Witney (route 409) and Wantage (route 401) as well as hires to local groups, but had seen its income reduce as passenger numbers fell and with costs rising felt it could not longer continue.
I had a wander over to Witney last Thursday to see two of those routes (402 and 409) in action following last month’s handover to FLM
Both routes operate on Thursdays which is market day in Witney, with route 402 connecting the villages and hamlets of Stanton Harcourt, Brighthampton, Standlake, Longworth, Hinton Waldrist and Buckland with Faringdon where the bus continues as a route 409 via Clanfield, Bampton, Lew and Curbridge to Witney.
I couldn’t make it over to Stanton Harcourt for the 09:10 departure so opted to be in Witney for the return journey via Faringdon to Stanton Harcourt at 12:15 from Witney’s Market Square.
Witney’s a lovely market town offering much to see and enjoy not least the variety of bus routes and bus companies that can be found including Stagecoach and Go-Ahead’s Pulhams/Thames Travel and community bus companies operating the town services.
Just before 12:15 FLM’s minibus duly arrived having commenced its journey at 12:10 at the town’s large Sainsbury’s in the south east corner, although on this occasion there were no passengers from there.
Four passengers boarded in the Market Square and we set off spot on time towards Faringdon…
… and I was interested to see all four stayed on the minibus through to Faringdon with no-one alighting in either Bampton or Clanfield although both villages are also served by Pulham’s slightly more circuitous route 19 but having the benefit of running hourly on Mondays to Saturdays.
It’s also notable this Thursday only, return journey, on route 409 is the only bus linking Witney and Faringdon whereas looking at a map you’d think there’d be more community of interest between the two towns to justify a greater service.
One passenger alighted when we arrived in Faringdon but we also picked up another, Alice, who is a Trustee of the RWMT charity and it was interesting to have a chat with her about the background to the decision to close. Obviously, after all the hard work that had gone into establishing the routes she was delighted they will be in safe hands with FLM.
Also on board since Witney was David Miles, a Director of FLM, who takes a keen hands-on interest in the not for profit company’s activities, keeping an eye out for how the routes can be improved to encourage more passengers.
David had handed me leaflets and maps promoting the routes as I’d boarded in Witney…
… and I noticed bus stop displays were all showing the timetables.
On we went with Alice and one of the three passengers alighting in Buckland and the other two passengers got off in Longworth at 13:15, an hour after we’d left Witney, and it was obvious they had both enjoyed the journey and the social atmosphere on board, letting the driver know they wouldn’t be travelling next Thursday.
As the driver, David and I continued our journey to Stanton Harcourt, David explained FLM is relying on revenue from passengers (inevitably dominated by concessionary pass reimbursement from the County Council) but it’s quite a challenge. He added numbers travelling on the inherited routes had so far been encouraging with more than just the four when I travelled on the other two Thursdays since taking over, but he was keen to find more sources of revenue.
FLM’s accountants help by acting as a sponsor on the side of the minibus, and there might be more opportunities to find other local businesses wanting to be associated with a community organisation doing great work such as FLM.
FLM’s other Director, Andy Swarbrick had also been in touch with me and explained, following the loss of routes 411 and 418, “we were set to close last Autumn” adding that following the take over of routes 401. 402 and 409 they are hoping to receive a donation from RWMT as it winds up and in the meantime Oxfordshire County Council has advised “they have no money for unproven services”.
With the aim of securing FLM’s future Andy has launched a crowdfunding campaign via West Oxfordshire District Council “to raise around £12,000 to help ensure we can properly trial the services and whether it can be made a sustainable service over the coming months.”
It’s impressive to see the dedication of both Andy and David to provide bus services in this deeply rural area and a pleasure to raise the profile of their great work – as Andy told me – “just a fiver from people who want to support community transport initiatives could give us the breathing space to prove to OCC the merits of such a service. We may be stupid, but we’re not giving up.” Good for you Andy and David.
Readers willing to support the cause can find the Crowdfunding page here. The campaign has got 23 days left but as I write this yesterday afternoon, still has a long way to go to meet the target.
Roger French
Blogging timetable: 06:00 TThS
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