First Bus fleet to ‘wear’ poppies as donation exceeds £3,350 in the region

The First Bus fleet in Leeds will be ‘wearing’ giant poppies in the lead up to Remembrance events.

The bus operator in the North & West Yorkshire region has donated more than £3,350 to the appeal and is arranging for 300 buses including 100 at its depots in Hunslet and Bramley in Leeds to carry the famous emblem of the Royal British Legion annual fundraising campaign to support veterans and their families.

First Bus is also enabling serving Armed Forces personnel, cadets and veterans to travel for free to events commemorating Remembrance Sunday on 10 November and Armistice Day on Monday 11 November. 

All current and former members of the military and cadets need to do is show the driver their Armed Forces ID or wear their medals or uniform.

If safe to do so, First Bus drivers will be allowed to pull over at 11:00am on both days to observe the two minutes’ silence.

Paul Atkinson, Operations Manager at the Hunslet Park depot, said: “We have a number of colleagues who have served in the military or have friends and family connections so this is always a poignant time of the year.

“We hope free travel on our services will make it as easy as possible for as many veterans, serving personnel and cadets to attend Remembrance services and events in the region. The patience of customers in helping our drivers to pay their respects is much appreciated.”

Picture captions:

Hunslet: Paul Atkinson (left) and engineer Ian help fix poppies to the Leeds fleet.

Bramley: Engineers Sean (left) and Adam begin work on the Bramley fleet.

Ends