News

August 2023

Caption1:  Hoppa Regulars enjoying the new benches outside the Co-op

Drivers, Buddies and others from HACT were delighted to take the Hoppa to the Co-op on the last day of June to join in their celebration at the launch of their new store, coffee shop and community hub space. The Co-op is one of our major sponsors and does a lot to support the Hoppa every year.

We were very pleased to see places for people to sit outside when the weather is warm and dry, as well seats inside. No doubt for many of our passengers the café will be an attractive place to wait and relax after they have finished shopping.

At the event we handed out new timetables for the Hoppa, released just a day or so before the Co-op relaunch, and chatted to many passers-by.  We were surprised how many people do not realise that the Hoppa is a bus service open to EVERYONE. You don’t have to pre-book, or be a bus pass holder, anyone can hop on the bus at a number of stops as we travel round Halesworth and Holton. We visit most stops at least 3 times, allowing people to get to town, do some shopping, visit the bank, have a coffee or take the kids to the park and get a bus back at the end of the morning, (On Tuesdays we also run an afternoon service.) The fare, for those without a bus pass, is £1.50 for an adult and 50 pence for a child over 5. Many people find the Hoppa very handy for getting back home with heavy shopping bags, after a long walk into town, or in the event of rain.

We’re very glad to see many passengers who started using the Hoppa this year are becoming regulars, and hope to see more people joining us to visit Halesworth Town Centre, the Health Centre and the revitalised Co-op.

Caption2.  Hoppa Bus Buddy Shirley with the Hoppa at the Co-op launch party.

July 2023

Thank you again to Halesworth Golf Club seniors for your wonderful donation to HACT, without the support of local community groups such as yours it would be impossible to offer the service we do.

 

Hoppa news April 2022

We would like to say a big thank you to the Halesworth Lions for awarding us with the Citizen of the year 2022 and for their generous donation to the Hoppa. It is refreshing to be recognised and appreciated for the work that all the volunteers at HACT do. Unless you use the Hoppa bus most people do not notice it around the town. However, we are there for all ages and you can stop us anywhere along our route and hop on.

News from the Hoppa Jan 2022

Halesworth Community Area Transport would like to wish all our drivers, buddies, passengers, sponsors and donors a Happy New Year and thank them for their support during the 2021.

Halesworth Golf Club has raised £2000 for us with several charity events carried out over the last 6 months. This is incredibly kind with thanks to one of our drivers, John Giles, who as a member of the Golf Club helped to raise awareness of the services we provide.

Here we see a photo of members of the Golf Club handing over a cheque at  a recent event. Names on photo, left to right; John Giles, Rob Sherrington, Julia Howell, John Lavery. Photo courtesy of Ben Townsend at Halesworth Golf Club.

We thank the Co-op for their continued sponsorship. Spot the Hoppa around the town.

We have also had 2 other very generous donors who wish to remain anonymous, but HACT would like to thank them. These donations and sponsorship have helped us to trade in our elderly bus DK12 BXZ for a newer bus which is shown in the photo belowwith our driver trainer Dave Pring.

 

Finally, a big thank you to Hammonds Commercial for all their support and for taking us on when our last garage left us in such a muddle!

We look forward to working with our friends and partners next year to provide much needed services for our passengers.

News from the Hoppa Feb 2021

Please click on the link to read the latest article of what the Hoppa has been up to during these difficult Covid times

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/town-of-the-year-halesworth-suffolk-covid-response

News from the Hoppa Feb 2020

A belated Happy New Year to all our passengers and supporters. We are hoping 2020 will be a better year for the Hoppa.

We now have all three buses back with us and all repaired. We have to thank The Halesworth Lions, The Halesworth Co-op, Halesworth Town Council, Old Glory Molly dancers and Musicians, International Chemical Consulting, a local supporter and three very generous passengers. Without this financial support we would not have been able to repair our Hoppa bus.

In December we sold one of our existing minibuses to make way for a more suitable one. This bus has been on the 511 doing the rounds and taking groups out on their community hires.

HACT want to thank all the drivers for the generosity and time they give up to keep the wheels turning. 2019 was a very challenging year for us but we have such a fabulous support team to help us through those difficult times.

Bernie, Paul and the team at Linstead Garage have been a lifeline to the Hoppa during 2019. We hope 2020 doesn’t cause them as many problems.

We are still running community hires, we have not increased our prices this year. If you have a local group of 16 people who want days out this would be ideal for you.

We are always on the lookout for new drivers and supporters. We take the views of not only our passengers but anyone else who has a constructive view on how this volunteer organisation should go forward.

For any more information please either call on 01986 875900 or email office@hactbus.co.uk

Halesworth Area Community Transport wants to say a BIG thank you to the Halesworth Lions for their generous donation of £2000 towards the cost of repairing the Hoppa bus.

We also want to say thank you to Halesworth Town Council for giving us a grant of £2000.

To our surprise and delight we have had a very generous donation from one of our passengers. Halesworth has overwhelmed us with all the generosity. We are very appreciative of how much the Hoppa is valued.

HACT would like to thank both Spectra and Broadway Colours for their recent sponsorship. They will be working with us for the next year. They appreciate the work that the Community bus does for Halesworth and District.

As many of our loyal passengers and friends will know we recently had a terrible tragedy with the Hoppa bus. The bus was on its way to Rochdale to be repaired. While the driver was on a comfort break parked in a coach and lorry park off the M62. When the driver returned to the Hoppa he found extensive damage to the front of the bus. The Hoppa had be towed away to the coach builders in Rochdale where it waits for the decision of what has to be done. Sadly there was no cctv covering the coach park. We are devastated and saddened that anyone could do this to our bus and it has left us in a terrible muddle. HOWEVER, THE WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL NEWS is that the Halesworth      Co-op have offered to sponsor us £10,000 a year. We cannot thank them enough. Watch the press for more news.

Thank you from all the Team at HACT