The Hopper’s 10th anniversary celebration event - 3rd July 2026

The Harpenden Hopper is 10 year’s old - it’s hard to believe. With just starting off with two rickety old buses that were always breaking down, the Hopper has reached this big birthday milestone. Now with our “new” minibuses (actually they are seven years old) there are many regular passengers and their “Hopper passenger community” has developed along the way. With in excess of 250 passenger journeys each week the Harpenden Hopper has matured into the very fabric of what is the town of Harpenden. You can read all about the Hopper’s history and how it all started at this link, www.harpendenhopper.co.uk/history.

To celebrate the Hopper’s 10th anniversary, the team of volunteers who run it organised a big birthday bash at Park Hall in Leyton Road on Friday afternoon, 3rd July 2026. Dignitaries from Harpenden and Hertfordshire were invited and addressed the gathered team of volunteer drivers, trustees, a large number of regular passengers and some of the Hopper’s sponsors too. The speakers were Dr John Howie, Deputy Lieutenant (representing Robert Voss, CBE, CSTj, The Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire), the Town Mayor, Kirsti Wenn, Victoria Collins MP, member of Parliament for Harpenden and Berkhamsted and Amanda Davis, a loyal and regular passenger. Andy Buchanan, Chair of Trustees for the Harpenden Hopper, welcomed everyone and coordinated the speeches and highlighted key milestones in the Hopper’s 10 year history and paying tribute to past and present volunteers. There were other deputy lieutenants there too, including Annie Brewster and David Williams. Everyone spoke so kindly in support of what has been achieved over the past 10 years with Dr John Howie providing an insight to all the charities and their hundreds of thousands of volunteers who support communities across the spectrum throughout Hertfordshire. Victoria Collins MP read out the text of an EDM (early day motion) that will be submitted in the House of Commons - and it is included here:

“That this house congratulates the Harpenden Hopper bus service on a decade of serving members of the Harpenden community, founded by several volunteers and the late Rosemary Farmer, the 10 year anniversary of this organisation is a testament to their work in combating loneliness, increasing accessibility and reducing congestion for residents in the area; further highlights the  work of the 5 trustees, 22 volunteer drivers and mechanic, without whom the Harpenden Hopper would not have been able to coordinate 250 weekly journeys; and wishes the organisation many more successful years of devoted community service”.

This will be published in Hansard, the official record of proceedings of the House of Commons - we will let you know when it appears.

Harold Hopper minibus was parked across the road from Park Hall on the common. Passengers, drivers and dignitaries crossed the road for photographs with Harold Hopper in the background.

Refreshments including cupcakes with the Harpenden Hopper logo were served. There was a warm and marvellous atmosphere, with everyone saying how much they enjoyed the event.

Here’s to the next 10 years - when we can look forward to new vehicles (one coming very soon), plus another one once we’ve raised the funds, and just maybe doubling our passenger numbers!