One Year, One Community, One Incredible Journey
- Daisy Ring Bus
- Aug 25
- 8 min read
Updated: Aug 26
On Sunday 23 August 2026, Daisy Ring Bus CIC celebrated a very special milestone — our first anniversary — with a wonderful community celebration at Northwood House in Cowes.
It was a day filled with music, laughter, generosity and friendship, but above all, it was a powerful reminder of just how much can happen when a community comes together.
Daisy Ring Bus provides accessible, community-run transport for patients from the Isle of Wight, travelling to Southampton and Portsmouth hospitals for cancer treatment.
From the very beginning, however, Daisy Ring Bus has been about more than transport.
It has been about people helping people.
Our anniversary gave us the opportunity to celebrate that journey, reflect on how far we have come and, most importantly, thank the incredible people who have helped make it possible.
A very special day at Northwood House
The beautiful Northwood House in Cowes provided the perfect setting for our anniversary celebrations, welcoming our drivers, volunteers, supporters, local organisations and members of the wider Island community.
We are enormously grateful to the Liam Downer, Ian Gregory and the Northwood House Venue Team; for helping us create such a memorable day.
Guests enjoyed entertainment and performances from FaT Samba, Wight Diamonds, IOW Pipes & Drums, Vectis Brass Band and magician Greg Chapman, alongside plenty more happening throughout the day.
We were also delighted to welcome Isle of Wight Bus Museum, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Nick Pointing) and Isle of Wight Prostate Cancer Group, and the Cowes Fire Appliance Crew, Dr Who’s Dalek & Tardis, Anna & Tom, and members of the IOW Morris Minor Club, all of whom helped make the event feel even more special.
There was a wonderful atmosphere throughout the day, with people coming together not only to celebrate Daisy Ring Bus, but to support the service and the people behind it.
Watch our first anniversary video
Our anniversary video captures just some of the moments that made the day so special — our volunteers, supporters, performers, visitors and the wonderful community spirit that surrounded the event.
Celebrating the people behind Daisy Ring Bus
One of the most moving parts of the day was seeing just how many people contribute to Daisy Ring Bus.
Our drivers, volunteers, fundraisers, supporters, local businesses and community organisations all play a part in keeping the wheels turning.
During our anniversary reception, guests enjoyed a short presentation reflecting on the journey of our first year, followed by a live performance by Anna Newton of our theme tune, Lean on Me.
We’d also like to thank Tom Barker, Musical Director for Lean on Me, who accompanied Anna during the performance.
Listen to our recorded version of “Lean on Me” on Spotify → [CLICK HERE]
It was a fitting reminder of what Daisy Ring Bus represents: people supporting one another, helping each other remain connected and making sure nobody feels left behind.
An incredible fundraising result
The generosity shown around our anniversary celebrations has been extraordinary.
Together, the anniversary event and associated donations raised an incredible:
£3,250
Every pound raised helps Daisy Ring Bus continue operating and supporting people across the Isle of Wight.
Within that total, the anniversary raffle raised a fantastic £1,960 — an extraordinary result in its own right.
But the figure only tells part of the story.
The incredible team behind the raffle
Long before the anniversary celebration began, an enormous amount of work had already gone into making the raffle happen.
Our wonderful Sharon Cornford and volunteers spent weeks contacting and visiting local businesses, rallying support and gathering an incredible collection of prizes. Thank you Sharon!
Then, on the day itself, headed up by the lovely Fran, the team were there for hours selling tickets, taking payments, writing names into raffle books, keeping track of prizes and somehow holding the whole operation together.
For a relatively new community organisation, where so much still happens through determination, goodwill and the occasional wing and a prayer, it became something of a military operation.
And they pulled it off brilliantly.
We are enormously grateful for the time, energy and sheer effort you put into making the raffle such a success.
We would also like to thank every business and individual who donated a prize, everyone who helped sell tickets and, of course, every person who bought one.
To raise £1,960 from the raffle alone is a wonderful achievement and a real testament to the people behind it.
Community support that keeps us moving
Our anniversary also gave us the opportunity to recognise some of the wonderful organisations and individuals who continue to support Daisy Ring Bus in so many different ways.
Sandown Bay Over 50’s Club
We were delighted to welcome members of Sandown Bay Over 50’s Club to our anniversary celebration, where they presented Daisy Ring Bus with an incredibly generous £400 donation.
The club has been part of the Sandown community since 1983, originally established to help people over 50 stay active, connected and involved.
Thank you to everyone at Sandown Bay Over 50’s Club for your kindness, generosity and community spirit.
Yarbrough Chapter
We are also incredibly grateful to Yarbrough Chapter, who generously donated £200 to Daisy Ring Bus.
Thank you to everyone at Yarbrough Chapter.
Phoenix Pre-Loved Store – an incredible £18,500 raised
We cannot talk about the community behind Daisy Ring Bus without giving a very special mention to the wonderful team at Phoenix Pre-Loved Store.
As of last week, Phoenix had raised an extraordinary £18,500 for Daisy Ring Bus through the sale of pre-loved clothing and goods.
It is an incredible achievement and one that represents countless hours of hard work, generosity and commitment from the people behind the store — as well as the customers who continue to shop there and support what they are doing.
Phoenix Pre-Loved has also developed a reputation for the fantastic quality of the clothes and goods available, so if you haven’t visited yet, we would thoroughly recommend going along for a browse.
To everyone involved with Phoenix Pre-Loved, and to every person who has donated items or made a purchase: thank you.
Support from community groups like this makes such a difference and we are extremely grateful that they chose to support us.
We also want to thank Ava, who drew up a schedule of live events on Saturday evening as a contingency plan and helped keep everything flowing smoothly, including the meet and greet.
A very special thank you to Martin Nickless
A very special thank you must go to Martin Nickless, who helped bring our anniversary celebration to life.
With just three months to organise the event around full-time jobs and everyday commitments, there were times when we genuinely wondered whether we could pull it off. Martin’s experience, guidance and countless hours of behind-the-scenes organisation helped turn the idea into reality.
On the day itself, he was there quietly and calmly keeping everything moving, solving problems and guiding us through.
Martin, thank you — we genuinely could not have done it without you.
Then at the heart of Daisy Ring Bus is Rex Goldsmith, whose idea and dream it was to organise the 1st Anniversary party and who devotes enormous time and energy to keeping Daisy Ring Bus running.
Rex works tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure drivers are where they need to be, that they are properly supported and trained, and that new volunteer drivers are recruited to help keep the service moving.
His commitment remains rooted in one simple thing — his love for Daisy Ring Bus and his determination to make sure Islanders travelling for cancer treatment have the support they need.
So many people made this day possible
An event like this simply does not happen because of one person.
It happens because a huge number of people quietly step forward, give their time, lend their expertise, bring equipment, serve food, manage practical details, entertain people, keep everyone safe and help wherever they are needed.
We would like to give our heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped make our first anniversary celebration possible (in no particular order, including:
Liam Downer, Ian Gregory and the Northwood House Venue Team;; Ava; Pippa; FaT Samba; Wight Diamonds; IOW Pipes & Drums; Vectis Brass Band; magician Greg Chapman; Cowes Fire Appliance Crew; Dr Who’s Dalek & Tardis; IOW Morris Minor Club; Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; Isle of Wight Prostate Cancer Group; Ian Gregory; Liam Downer; Leah Tosdevin and her lovely market stall holders; Bob Gontar of Wight Event First Aid & Training; Stage Gear; 2nd Cowes (St Mary's) Sea Scouts, Martin Nickless; Sharon Cornford; the Isle of Wight Bus and Coach Museum; Big Andy & Jordan, little Sophia, Mandy and her husband Clive, who did a fantastic job running Name the Teddy and the soft toy tombola; Jane, who helped sell raffle tickets around the site, and her husband Andrew, who helped with setting up and throughout the day; Micheal Palin, Jennie and Doreen, who escorted Daisy; Anna Newton and Tom Barker; Fran; Colloco; and Prime Rental.
We are also enormously grateful to the volunteers who provided catering, helped with parking, worked behind the bar, supported the raffle, assisted throughout the event and stepped in wherever something needed doing.
And a special thank you to our pizza lady, whose contribution helped keep everyone fed and happy during a very busy day!
There will inevitably be people whose names do not appear here individually, but whose help was every bit as important.
To every volunteer, supporter, supplier, performer, stall-holder, business, donor and friend who contributed in any way:
Thank you.
The day simply would not have been the same without you.
Heather Churches takes on the Great South Run
One of our own Daisy Ring Bus drivers, Heather Churches, is also doing something rather special.
Heather will be taking on the Great South Run this October to raise funds for Daisy Ring Bus.
We are incredibly proud of her and hugely grateful that she has chosen to take on this challenge in support of the service.
A celebration of our community
Our first anniversary was not simply a celebration of Daisy Ring Bus.
It was a celebration of the community that has stood behind us.
What has been achieved in just one year is remarkable — and it simply could not have happened without the drivers, volunteers, supporters, fundraisers, businesses, community organisations and passengers who have become part of our story.
Michèle Le Quesne Newton, Chair of Daisy Ring Bus CIC, said:
“Our first anniversary gave us an opportunity not only to celebrate what Daisy Ring Bus has achieved, but to thank the incredible people who have made it possible. The support we receive from our volunteers, drivers, local businesses, organisations and the wider Island community continues to amaze us. Every donation, every fundraiser and every hour given helps us continue providing a service that makes a genuine difference to people’s lives. To see so many people come together at Northwood House to celebrate with us was incredibly special. We are very grateful to everyone who has supported us during our first year, and we are excited about what comes next.”
Here’s to year two 🌼
We are incredibly proud of how far Daisy Ring Bus has come in just one year.
But this is only the beginning.
We look forward to reaching more people, building even stronger community partnerships and continuing to help Islanders remain connected, independent and able to get where they need to go.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of our journey so far.
Here’s to year two. 🌼🚌
Help us keep Daisy Ring Bus moving
Whether you would like to travel with us, volunteer, fundraise, make a donation or support Daisy Ring Bus as a local business or community organisation, we would love to hear from you.
To make a donation through our website CLICK HERE
Find out more at www.daisyringbus.org
Daisy Ring Bus CIC
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