Reading Buses has announced it raised £11,739 in 2023 for its charity partner The Royal Berks Charity.
The operator announced last month it was extending its support of the charity into a second successive year and unveiled a specially branded bus to mark its association with the Reading-based NHS charity.
Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer, recently visited the Royal Berkshire Hospital to hand over the cheque.
He says: “It is my absolute pleasure to announce the amount raised in 2023 and that we are extending our partnership for a second year. It is unusual for us to select a charity for a second year, demonstrating the really valuable work that The Royal Berks Charity does.
“We hope that all we learned last year helps to make this year even better. We are also extremely delighted to unveil a newly branded Royal Berks Charity bus, which is one of our spare double-decker buses that will run on every route around Reading and the local area. We hope that it will help to raise awareness of the charity and their good work and prompt many more donations!”
The bus design includes a text number via which people can donate money to the charity, which support seven hospital sites across Berkshire and South Oxfordshire.
Jo Warrior, Charity Director, Royal Berks Charity, says: “We were absolutely blown away by the huge success of our partnership with Reading Buses and we look forward to continuing this relationship into 2024.
“This donation really will make a huge impact to local NHS services within Berkshire and South Oxfordshire.”