Reading Buses has unveiled its ‘Charity of the Year 2017’ at an event at its Great Knollys Street depot.
The operator’s partnership for the next 12 months will be with Red Balloon Learner Centre, a charity that helps bullied children.
The decision to choose the charity was a ‘hard-fought affair’ with over 50 charities putting themselves forward. The criteria, as previous, was for a charity to be local or, if they were a national charity, to have a strong local base.
Martijn Gilbert, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer, says: “It was an overwhelming win for Red Balloon.
“All the charities that made it to the final vote would have been great organisations with which to partner, but we were delighted to see Red Balloon come out on top.”
For the launch event, Reading Buses picked up the representatives from Red Balloon, including some of its students, in the newly liveried charity bus.
They were then taken to the depot where Martijn gave a speech outlining how much it means to Reading Buses to support a charity each year.
Martijn adds: “We hope to raise awareness as well as funds for Red Balloon to ensure that children who need help, and their parents and guardians, know that support is out there.
“This is such a worthwhile charity and we are really looking forward to a great partnership for the rest of the year.”
