BOB Campaign - Summer Update!

To all of our supporters...

Firstly we just want to say we are overwhelmed and ever grateful for the amount of support we have had in starting up this campaign. 

Thank you all so much! 

We are a team of 8 from various different backgrounds, all bus users, for different reasons, with a variety of skills that we hope to use to forward the campaign!

Meet us here: https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/our-story

Back Our Buses currently has over 300 supporters on our mailing list and over 300 Facebook followers, as well as a huge number of offline supporters!

Thank you to you all for showing up, and sharing our campaign, and speaking up!

So what have we been up to?

We formed the main campaign leader group in October 2025, which since then has:

• Met up monthly online and in person to discuss our plan of action. Airing local developments, bus related news, council updates, creating campaign material (including our fantastic banner!) and focusing on any ways we can make our and YOUR voices heard.

  
  

• Set up our website, email, Instagram and Facebook pages - links to these can be found at the bottom of this email. This is to be able to spread the campaign group and its purpose, but also make those higher up aware of just how the bus cuts and changes have detrimentally affected the local residents, by voicing your comments and experiences. And just how many people are affected across a large area of the county. 

  
  

• Reached out to those not online via flyers at bus stops on the route, posters in local businesses, and parish newsletters too, as well as on foot whilst using the 69 bus. Look out for our posters on the bus stops along the route of the 61 bus! 

  
  

• Collected as many views, opinions and experiences as possible - you can view our current published ones here: https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/testimonials-1 - if you would like to add yours, just let us know! 

  
  

• Asked questions to learn what is important to you:  https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/post/polls-and-surveys-asking-questions

  
  

• Supported residents in their own endeavours to make their voices heard - showing how much the removal of the 61 has changed their lives and how important it is to return a service in this area   https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/post/writing-to-the-prime-minister 

  
  

• Had great support over the last 6 months, with local City Councillors, Liam Bailey Morgan, Sue Cook, and County Councillor Jonathan Williams, as well as Colden Common Parish's Debbie Harding and also Steven Caulston, a bus and transport expert, all working together with us. Without their help, which has been invaluable, we would not be where we are now. They have been helping us to spread the word, and guiding us with where and who to speak with to move forward.

  
  

• Directly contacted Councillor Bowerman, who was at the time the Transport Lead at Hampshire County Council, before the decision day funding meeting for the Bus Service Improvement Plan was held (an initiative created by the previous Government for use this year, now succeeded by the Local Authority Bus Grant). See how she responded here: https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/post/b-o-b-writes-to-hampshire-county-council

  
  

• Debbie Harding, Parish Councillor for Colden Common, attended this meeting and aired the views of the local community and of BOB: https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/post/hcc-funding-meeting   

  
  

• Have also been supported in the House of Commons, by MP's Danny Chambers and Liz Jarvis, who are both concerned about the cuts and changes to local bus services. Not just the 61 and 69, but other services too. See more here:  https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/post/mps-making-points-heard

  
  

• Before the mayoral election dates were changed, we met up with some of the mayoral candidates for the Hampshire and Isle Of Wight to discuss how they would look at bus services going forward and their opinions on what has happened: https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/local-support

  
  

• Contacted the Department for Transport, to try and gain clarification on how our Local Transport Authority is being guided to use the new upcoming Local Authority Bus Grant funding (LABG): https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/post/information-on-the-local-area-bus-grant-direct-from-the-dft

  
  

• On behalf of our supporters, we have been in contact with Stagecoach to air out concerns regarding the changes to the route of the 69 bus service: https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/post/reaching-out-to-stagecoach

  
  

• Had articles published in the Hampshire Chronicle and other local media outlets have been supporting the cause indirectly by publishing views of local residents and updates on bus related matters: https://backourbuses.wixsite.com/backourbuses/local-support

  
  

So what is happening next?

Our next major event is coming up very soon!

We are planning to advertise the campaign at the 'Common Have A Go' village fete in Colden Common this Saturday on Saturday 20th June.

This is a fantastic local event with fun for all the family.  

Please see details of the Fete here: https://coldencommoncc.co.uk/page/common-have-a-go

For those of you who would like to get involved, please feel free to come along to the stand and help out, or just say hello if you are visiting the fete. It would be great to meet some of our supporters in person!

Working with our local councillors, we have plans to attend some more county council meetings and to keep putting forward suggestions and your views.

We are also pushing for more clarification on the implementation of the new Local Authority Bus Grant that we believe could be used for bringing back the previous route of the 61 in some form.

We are also looking to mobilise all supporters in the summer with a demonstration of some kind, to show just how much our bus routes matter to us, and why we need them back...more information on this soon! 

Best wishes from the B.O.B Campaign Team:

Zoe, Flora, Howard, Jan, Marion, Susannah, Alice and Julz