A bus driver who trekked more than 250 miles to help others has said he felt “overwhelmed” as he was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year Honours.
Neil Atherton, 43, from Widnes, is receiving the BEM for services to “public transport and the community in Liverpool and Widnes” during the Covid-19 pandemic, and told the ECHO on Friday he still wasn’t sure “it’s real”. The honour followed Neil’s efforts to help others, both by fundraising for those affected by economic hardship and by supporting mobile vaccination.
On both fronts, big-hearted Neil put his fun spirit, generosity and endurance to use, completing two epic charity challenges since 2020. On his week off in autumn 2020, instead of putting his feet up, Arriva’s former national “ultimate champion” driver laced up his boots to walk seven bus routes in seven days, completing 150 miles in all - equivalent to trekking from Liverpool One to Luton.
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The routes all matched journeys taken by Arriva services based at the Runcorn depot, taking in Chester, Liverpool city centre, Speke, Whiston, Widnes and Cronton, and a figure of eight around Runcorn, raising more than £5,600 for the Trussell Trust foodbank charity.
Amid the economic fallout of Covid-19, the walks were inspired by realising that more passengers were struggling in dire poverty, had “nothing” and needed “help more than ever”.
A charity raffle followed at the turn of the year, raising another £1,100 for Widnes Foodbank and which saw Neil don flatcap, sheepskin coat and cigar to channel the Only Fools and Horses Del Boy style and patter to dish out prize giveaways, with the project lasting a month.
Neil, who was previously awarded Arriva's national "Made A Difference" prize in 2016 having received more than 3,500 votes, also supported the NHS vaccination effort.
What began as providing transport for a mobile vaccine bus turned into a morale-boosting feelgood effort to lift spirits and crack jokes as part of the “Herculean effort” to immunise the public so life could return to normal.
He told the ECHO on Thursday that the bus was intended to help people who weren’t registered with a doctors, and while he “was meant to park up and sit there”, he “would have people singing and dancing while they’re waiting”.
Neil said: “I loved that, it was the best fun of my life.” When the cost-of-living crisis hit during 2022, Neil wasn’t going to stand by and watch.
Again he pulled on his walking boots, and this time set off trekking 105 miles of bus routes around the Liverpool City Region to provide some relief to those wracked with hardship by the "cost of survival". From Southport to St Helens, from Runcorn to Birkenhead, and taking in the Green Lane and Bootle circulars.
Longest among them was the Runcorn 79C spanning a near-marathon at 22.71 miles, again raising thousands, this time split between the Trussell Trust and Whitechapel Centre.
He was motivated by an eagerness to help others, and spoke of people facing the choice of “heating or eating”, even a friend who was living with cancer in a cold house and couldn’t put the heating on.
His commitment to helping others earned plaudits including from the top job in British politics, with Neil invited to a garden party at 10 Downing Street by the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He’s now raised more than £11,000 for good causes.
Reacting to the Cabinet Office’s official pre-publication of the New Year Honours 2023 list on Thursday, Neil remained stunned but “happy” to be included, telling the ECHO: “I still don’t think it’s real.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I thought it was a big scam. When it landed I didn’t believe it."
On the motivation to help people during the pandemic, he said: “Industries were closing, cinemas were closing, the retail sector died totally.
“I wanted to give back to families who were struggling. I wanted to do that to give back to families who generally needed the support.”
Asked how he felt about receiving the BEM, he said: “Overwhelmed. I only did what I did because I knew ways of raising money, and wanted to use it for the right reasons.
“To get this is mind-blowing. You look at Speedo Mick and people like that - they’re the people you expect that for.”
Neil thanked everyone who supported his efforts, including coverage from the ECHO, saying: “Everything I’ve achieved is because of other people supporting me.”
He added: “It’s a massive thank you everyone. I’m just the clown who shouts loud enough and dances for everyone.”
Back in 2016, Neil was hailed as a "top bloke" who is "very funny, with great sense of humour" and "always very friendly, laughing and joking" by passengers as votes poured in for him in Arriva's Made a Difference prize, resulting in him being declared the company's "ultimate champion".
Other New Year Honour recipients from Widnes this year were Carol Hamlett, director of Aigburth-based Transforming Choice, who received an MBE for services to vulnerable people, and Rachael Fraser, a registered manager at Caring Connections Ltd social care charity, who received the BEM for services to vulnerable people, particularly during Covid-19.
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