Tring coach company raises money to support foodbank and hospice

A coach company in Long Marston, near Tring, is has been supporting a local foodbank and the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity.

Masons Minibus and Coach Hire Ltd has been taking people for their vaccinations since January and through donations from customers they have been able to support the Pitstone, Ivinghoe, Cheddington Foodbank.

Candice Mason, of Masons, said: "We raised just over £350 in cash donations to support the foodbank, they have been supporting local families throughout the pandemic.

"We have also been gifted bags of food donations which we delivered to them last week."

Babs Byroms, from the Pitstone, Ivinghoe, Cheddington Foodbank, said: "Masons were incredibly kind, the fact that they drove people to get their vaccinations for free, and any donations the passengers made they gave to the foodbank is amazing.

"It means we can provide fresh food, alongside the tinned items, for those who use our foodbank.

"They have been able to have fresh meat and veg, that has helped make our foodbank such a success.

"We started it in March last year, and we have been able to help out local families.

"We support the villages in Ivinghoe, Pitstone, Marsworth, Slapton, Ivinghoe Aston and Cheddington.

"We have been so successful because of the generosity of people in our community, and we have had amazing support from local businesses."

The company has also been raising money for the Florence Nightingale Hospice Charity in Aylesbury, which provides a range of palliative and end-of-life care services to people in Buckinghamshire and parts of Oxfordshire and south Bedfordshire who have life-limiting illnesses such as chronic lung conditions, cancer and neurological conditions.

Candice added: "Last Saturday we hosted a charity car wash to raise funds for the hospice, it was hugely successful, the team cleaned 111 cars and raised just under £2,000!

"Some of our team are also taking part in charity walks and sky dives over the coming months to raise money for the hospice.

"In a year when we have been so well supported by our local community and when we are not too busy with bookings, we have spent our time trying to give back as much as we can."