Help cheer on bus driver when he passes though Hemel Hempstead on 125-mile walk for food bank charity

A bus driver is planning to walk more than 125 miles of Arriva bus routes in seven days, passing through Hemel Hempstead on July 14.

Neil Atherton, 44, who works training bus drivers in Arriva’s technical systems, will be raising funds for food bank charity the Trussell Trust. So far he’s raised more than £11,000 by walking popular bus routes.

Neil, who has worked for Arriva for 23 years, has been nicknamed the Bus Walker having already walked 260 miles of Merseyside’s bus routes in 2021 and 2022.

But he’s now ready to put his walking boots on again and cover Arriva bus routes from north to south across seven UK regions – starting in Durham and ending in London.

He will be walking the following routes:

Sunday, July 9: the 12X route from Durham to Newcastle-upon-Tyne – 16 miles

Monday, July 10: the 110 route from Wakefield to Leeds – 12 miles

July 11: the 82A route from Runcorn to Liverpool – 28 miles

July 12: the 5 route from Wrexham to Llangollen – 14 miles

July 13: the 1 route from Telford to Sutton Hill – 16 miles

July 14: the 302 route from Hemel Hempstead to Welwyn Garden City – 20 miles

July 15: the 29 route from Wood Green to Trafalgar Square – 11 miles

He will be joined along the way by his local Arriva colleagues, who will be supporting him each step of the way

Neil said: “In my job, I speak to people who are struggling to make ends meet and I know many of them rely on food banks to feed themselves and their families.

“I’m determined to do my little part to make sure people have the food they need.

“Hopefully, by walking some of the UK’s most popular bus routes and raising awareness of the scale of poverty face by millions of families, I can encourage those with a little more to give a thought to those with a little less.”

Cora Woodhouse, marketing and customer services director for Arriva, said: “We are all really proud of Neil and everything he’s achieved.

“We’re all wishing him the very best of luck and we hope he can raise even more money for charity.”

Support Neil here.