A further operator to offer free travel to military personnel and veterans is Stagecoach, which will make the concession across its UK bus and tram services on Remembrance Day, 11 November, and Remembrance Sunday, 14 November.
Stagecoach says that the commitment will recur each year. In addition to the free travel offer, the group’s long-term support of the Poppy Appeal will see it operate several specially decorated buses around its networks, including in Merseyside and South Lancashire, Cumbria and North Lancashire, Portsmouth, and Aldershot. Poppies will also be displayed on the front of some buses.
The work comes on the back of Stagecoach’s newly launched employee-led Veterans Network. It was developed to allow colleagues to come together to make change, raise awareness, help to influence business decision and introduce new ways of working “to make the company even stronger,” the group says.
The Veterans Network is also currently engaging with the armed forces on a recruitment campaign directly targeting those who are leaving the military and highlighting job opportunities at Stagecoach.
Stagecoach’s Veterans Network is co-led by Simon Tramalloni, who is Operations Manager for Preston and Chorley at the group’s Merseyside and South Lancashire operating company. He previously served in Africa, Bosnia, Kosovo, the Middle East and Northern Ireland.
Says Simon: “Stagecoach has a strong commitment to supporting the armed forces and our veterans, and it’s great that we are able to offer free bus and tram travel across the whole country as we mark Remembrance Day.
“We have thousands of ex-forces personnel working across our business and having the Veterans Network is allowing us to build on the work that Stagecoach has led on over many years and identify how else we can support those veterans already working for us and those that that may want to join the company.
“Remembrance Day and the Poppy Appeal are causes close to the hearts of many of our employees and customers. We are pleased to be making this commitment that will hopefully help people to attend memorials across the UK.”
