No 1 Bus for Joshua

When managers at Wilts & Dorset received a letter from the Faramus family from Bournemouth explaining that their eight-year-old autistic son, Joshua was fascinated with buses and asked if it would be possible to visit the bus operation in Poole, a VIP tour was immediately arranged.   

Joshua’s first stop was the operations and control rooms where the team oversee over 700 departures from Poole bus station each day and ensure that buses and drivers are rostered to meet the challenge of providing the region’s largest bus network.

The tour continued to the depot where Joshua, who attends Linwood School in Bournemouth, saw where the 54 single and double decker vehicles are maintained, repaired, and prepared for special services including the open top routes.

Nicki Faramus explained that Joshua has, over the last two years, shown incredible improvements in his speech and communication development. As his condition improved, she and Joshua were able to confidently travel by bus to see the area.

“The bus drivers have been excellent with Joshua who has an incredible memory.  He can remember timetables in great detail including times and destinations, even recalls driver’s badge numbers,” said Nicki.  “He would love to become a bus driver but we know that in reality he may never even gain a provisional driving licence without major advances in medical science.”

The VIP tour ended with a visit to the eco friendly giant bus wash where the destination display was changed to No 1 Josh’s Bus.