charity walk success

A group of our employees, along with friends and family, successfully completed their walk raising money for our Charity of the Year, Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs. Members of the charity also joined on the five walking routes which were picked as part of our 125 year celebrations so the numbers add up to 125 – sky blue 15, purple 17, white knight 20, berry 23 and greenwave 50. All the walks followed the bus routes as closely as possible.

The walks were the brainchild of Sharmila Perera, Finance Business Partner. She was keen to mark our 125th year with an activity that could support the charity.

target achieved

Sharmila set a challenging target that also reflected the 125 years of the company, with £1250 the aim. A Just Giving page was set up and before the walk, they had already raised around £600. Once the teams got underway, shaking buckets and collecting donations en route, also helped by some social media support, the total currently stands at £1500! An amazing result and testament to the generosity of our town. 

team captains led the way

The walks started from Reading Station at 9.30am with each group seen off by our Chief Executive Officer, Robert Williams, and led by a team captain, whose job it was to ensure the walkers were on the correct path and to keep morale high! They followed their chosen bus route as closely as possible to the end. The routes ranged from two to six miles and each group had representatives from the charity – including the hard-working dogs. 

bright t-shirts and inflatable surprises

To help identify the walkers, we kitted them out in gold t-shirts with our 125 year logo on them - reminding everyone of Reading Buses local ownership and big birthday. ! There were also inflatable dogs for each group to represent out charity and a purple dinosaur that roamed the purple 17 route. 

We are extremely grateful to all the volunteers who walked or helped out before, during or after the event. And we are extremely grateful to everyone who donated to this amazing cause. If you would like to donate, no matter how small, click the link below. 

https://www.justgiving.com/page/reading-buses-125-years