Love your Bus 2025/2026 Grant Outcomes
Love Your Bus 2 Grant Funding Results
In 2025/2026, Essex County Council delivered the second round of the Love Your Bus grant fund, supporting a much larger number of community‑led projects aimed at enhancing local bus services. This round demonstrated exceptionally strong engagement, innovative approaches from communities, and continued interest in improving local accessibility and passenger experience.
Building on the success of the first round, applications increased significantly, from 12 applications in 2024/25 to 24 applications in 2025/26 reflecting the growing confidence and maturity of the programme. Of these, 23 projects were awarded funding, with one application withdrawn by the applicant due to duplication.
Overview of 2025/2026 Delivery
23 projects awarded
Total funding awarded: £895,160
1 application withdrawn (duplicate bid)
The second round was supported through £500,000 of BSIP RDEL funding, plus an additional £395,160 confirmed to enable Essex County Council to fund the higher number of strong, high‑quality applications.
List of Awarded Projects
Parish/Town Council | Project summary | Funding Amount |
|---|---|---|
Witham Town Council | Provide 4 daily direct Witham ↔ Broomfield Hospital DigiGo DRT journeys using S106-funded vehicle. | £50,000 |
Roxwell Parish Council | Add three weekday evening journeys on Route 46 (Chelmsford–Ongar) supported by pro bono marketing. | £50,000 |
High Easter Parish Council | Trial a Monday route variation to Epping on 17/18, including ticket machine and Wi-Fi upgrades. Conditional award (Work with ECC on ticketing system integration) | £31,580 |
Great Yeldham Parish Council | Extend 88/88A north of Halstead to Great Yeldham for an hourly weekday network. | £50,000 |
Nazeing Parish Council | Divert C392 via Hoe Lane, introducing hail and ride and additional peak/midday trips for isolated residents. | £50,000 |
Great Yeldham Parish Council | Merge and coordinate 89 / 42 / 60 into a consistent Sudbury–Braintree corridor and extend 89. | £50,000 |
Stow Maries Parish Council | Extend six daily 99 journeys (Maldon ↔ SWF), with two continuing to Broomfield Hospital. | £50,000 |
Woodham Walter Parish Council | Retain one previously cut journey and add a new morning journey on Route 99 enabling Maldon return trips. | £40,000 |
Aldham Parish Council | Introduce two weekday morning peak 83B journeys into Colchester with rail station links. | £50,000 |
Stanway Parish Council | Provide new morning peak services on Route 14 for access to Colchester city centre and rail network. | £50,000 |
South Hanningfield Parish Council | Introduce weekday off‑peak 10A link (Ramsden Heath/Downham → Billericay) with supporting marketing. | £47,100 |
Great Yeldham Parish Council | Deliver a promotional free‑fares initiative in Great Yeldham, Sible Hedingham & Castle Hedingham. Conditional award (usage‑dependent) | Up to £30,500 |
Stanway Parish Council | Add Saturday journeys on Route 14 to improve weekend leisure and job access. | £50,000 |
South Woodham Ferrers Town Council | Reinstate Sunday 336 service between SWF and Chelmsford with light promotional activity. | £34,047 |
Rettendon Parish Council | Convert seasonal 8A to a year‑round weekly service for Hayes Country Park with targeted marketing. | £18,000 |
Kelvedon Hatch Parish Council | Fund four new weekday return feeder journeys on Route 20 to Brentwood Station with operator match funding. | £50,000 |
High Easter Parish Council | Deliver marketing and promotional activity to improve visibility of Routes 17/18. Conditional award (website/app excluded; provided via Modernising PT Project) | £23,473 |
Waltham Abbey Town Council | Trial £1 single fare for under‑19s across Routes 13/14/15/16. Conditional award (usage‑dependent) | Up to £50,000 |
Waltham Abbey Town Council | Produce and distribute ~2,000 printed bus timetables for digitally excluded residents. | £1,500 |
Loughton Town Council | Extend Route 397 timetable to 21:15 to support students, shift workers and new housing developments. | £50,000 |
Kelvedon Hatch Parish Council | Launch marketing campaign to support introduction of four new return journeys on the 20B. | £10,460 |
Burnham-on-Crouch Town Council | Add late evening Friday/Saturday journeys on Routes 31/331 aligned with last train arrivals. | £8,500 |
Burnham-on-Crouch Town Council | Introduce Saturday services on Route 45 (Bradwell–SWF) to improve leisure and shopping access. | £50,000 |
Total | £895,160 |
The funded projects include:
Additional morning, peak, evening and weekend journeys
Route extensions to improve access to isolated areas
Reinstatement of previously withdrawn services
Youth fare trials and promotional initiatives
Community‑focused marketing and passenger information campaigns
Accessibility and passenger experience improvements
These projects will be delivered between April 2026 and December 2027.
