First Bus fleet to ‘wear’ poppies with £3,000 donation to appeal in West Yorkshire
- First Bus fleet in North & West Yorkshire supports Poppy Appeal
- Free travel to Remembrance events for serving Armed Forces, cadets and veterans
The First Bus fleet in North & West Yorkshire will be ‘wearing’ giant poppies in the lead up to the weekend of Remembrance on Armistice Day (Saturday 11) and Remembrance Sunday (12 November).
The bus operator has donated £3,000 to the appeal and is arranging for 300 buses in West Yorkshire and York to carry the famous emblem of the Royal British Legion annual fundraising campaign to support veterans and their families.
The poppies will be seen on buses in Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield and York.
Frances Barker, Poppy Appeal Manager for the Royal British Legion in West Yorkshire, said: "We are very grateful for the support of First Bus for our 2023 Poppy Appeal.
“All funds raised from the Poppy Appeal are used by the RBL to support veterans and their families, from help with the cost of living, employment and housing, to support with recovery after trauma or illness.”
First Bus is also enabling serving Armed Forces personnel, cadets and veterans to travel for free to events commemorating Armistice Day on Saturday 11 and Remembrance Sunday on 12 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 11:00 on both days to observe the two minutes’ silence.
Tom Bridge, Operations Director for North & West Yorkshire, 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.”
Frances Barker added: “We want to encourage as many people as possible to get a poppy this year and show their gratitude and support to those in the Armed Forces whose service and sacrifice should never be forgotten.
“We’re so proud that this year, we have our new plastic-free poppy too, so that the public can wear this poignant symbol of Remembrance, with less impact on the environment."
Picture caption: Engineers at First Bus depots in Leeds and York help out with fitting giant poppies to the fleet.
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Notes to editors
Media enquiries to Richard Harrison, PR Manager, First Bus North & West Yorkshire 07973 668116 richard.m.harrison@firstbus.co.uk
About First Bus
First Bus is one of the UK’s largest bus operators. Making journeys easier for our customers, we were the first national bus operator to accept contactless card payments across all of our services and our First Bus App is voted ‘best in class’ amongst UK bus operators. Our most recent investments are in new, state-of-the-art buses across our key networks.
We work proactively with our local authority partners, making a positive impact on air quality, tackling congestion and improving customer experience. We are focused on First Bus becoming a leader in the transition to a low-carbon future and are committed to operating a zero emission bus fleet by 2035; we have pledged not to purchase any new diesel buses after December 2022. We also operate the Aircoach network in Ireland.
First Bus is an equal opportunities employer and a division of FirstGroup.