First South Yorkshire raised £7,000 for local charity St Johns Hospice at an open day held at its Doncaster depot earlier in June, the operator has confirmed.
Although the event, held on the weekend of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and to mark 120 years of buses in the city, saw wet weather for much of the time, PR Manager Ady Culpin tells routeone that an excellent turnout of both attendees and vehicles was recorded.
“Visitors enjoyed afternoon tea on board two of our X78-branded buses thanks to tables on their upper deck, while amusements were popular with families and our younger visitors. The bus wash tours were certainly an experience, with bubbles, lasers and retro lighting,” Mr Culpin adds.
“The engineering tour was very popular along with the driving experience. Both sold out within the first hour of the gates opening. We had a good turnout of heritage buses, stands and enthusiasts from far afield, even though the weather was not as favourable as we would have liked.”
Among exhibits at the charity open day were a multitude of the buses in the First South Yorkshire fleet that carry heritage liveries. One of them was a Volvo B9TL with Wrightbus bodywork in maroon and cream Doncaster Corporation colours, which was treated very recently.
First has also recognised the current, moving quickly to add city wording to its new Doncaster’s Red Buses livery on some buses operating from Leger Way after Doncaster was among eight towns to be awarded city status in May.
As a lasting marker of the 120 years celebrations, First also commissioned a commemorative booklet that explore the history of buses in the town, from the days of trams and trolleybuses to the present and with a look at some of the multitude of independent operators that have served Doncaster in the meantime.
Click on any of the following pictures for a larger version, or to view the gallery; all copyright Mike Sewell:
