Stagecoach East is celebrating the first year of its award-winning Buses and Businesses Against Abuse scheme.
Set up in collaboration with Cambridgeshire Constabulary and the Cambridge and Peterborough Rape Crisis Centre, the initiative has been hailed by the operator as a success in confronting violence against women and girls.
Since its launch in October 2024, the scheme has won the Collaboration award at the Cambridge Independent Business Awards.
The scheme promotes Stagecoach East’s buses in Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire as a place of refuge for those who feel threatened.
As well as drivers receiving training on how to identify and help victims, buses carry stickers promoting the campaign and are equipped with CCTV.
Darren Roe, Managing Director of Stagecoach East, says: “A year on, I would like to reiterate the same message that we gave at the launch: your local bus is a place of safety. Anyone who is in fear of abuse, either on the bus or if they see a bus, should make themselves known to the driver, who will try to help you.
“Over the past 12 months, we have had numerous incidents where drivers have intervened to stop abuse against women, and their actions have kept them safe on our vehicles.
“These have ranged from young women feeling safe seeing our destination messages, diverting a bus service to take a vulnerable women to a safe area, and also direct interventions to keep predators away from a young girl, one of whom was arrested.”
