You must be kidding? Harrogate bus company offers to take goats for a ride to help out charity

Bus passengers in Harrogate could find themselves sharing their seat with a goat after operators offered to help out a local charity.
Tickets please: Harrogate bus passengers could end up sharing their seat with a goat.Tickets please: Harrogate bus passengers could end up sharing their seat with a goat.
Tickets please: Harrogate bus passengers could end up sharing their seat with a goat.

Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre put out an appeal on Twitter to find an owner willing to loan a pair of goats to maintain the lawns in their sensory garden.

The Tweets were spotted by bus company Transdev, which then offered to pick up the owner and the animals and drop them off at the centre in Knaresborough.

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The firm’s managing director, Alex Hornby, said: “We love working with Henshaws and this unique, worthy cause.

“We really wanted to do something different, yet helpful to this project. We know how many human customers enjoy using our frequent route 1 along Knaresborough Road and I’m sure a goat will find it equally delightful and convenient to use.

“We will put on a special bus just for the goat but passengers will still be able to see the goat boarding at the bus station.”

Katie Chung, marketing manager at Henshaws Society for Blind People, said the charity was delighted with the response to their social media appeal.

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She said: “We got quite a few retweets and it has been nice to see the community getting involved and trying to help us.

“Transdev picked up on it and offered to help us out. To see a goat arriving on a bus would just be brilliant.”

The charity is ideally looking for two goats, which are friendly enough to be petted, to graze in the garden at the centre in Bond End.

Katie said: “We have got a really nice sensory garden at the back which is getting overgrown so we wanted to try and find a way to keep it in check.

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“We thought goats would be a good idea and if they were petting goats that would be even better as visitors and art makers can then get involved. It would be a fantastic sensory experience.

“If anyone in Harrogate and Knaresborough has any goats who fancy some nice green grass and they want to help us out, they should get in touch.”

Jennie Roux, admin co-ordinator at the Arts and Craft Centre, which provides training for people with disabilities, added: “A lot of work has gone into the garden, so this would obviously be a fun way to help volunteers keep on top of it. It would be a really nice natural way of doing it. It’s also a really nice opportunity for our visitors and art makers to meet some goats.

“I think the offer from Transdev is brilliant and it would be a real buzz for people. I love the idea of them coming on a bus. It’s very us!”

Goat owners can contact Henshaws Arts and Crafts Centre on 01423 541888 and Transdev on 01423 566061.