OXFORD Bus Group has taken its Brand the Bus charity giving back competition to new heights this year, with more than 100 good causes entering.
For this year’s competition, Oxford Bus Group increased the prize pot of Brand the Bus and expanded the offering to Carousel Buses for the first time to create two contests in two operating areas.
The winning good cause has its branding on a double-decker bus for 12 months and to mark its seventh year of Brand the Bus, Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel are offering a £100,000 prize pot in partnership with Oxford City Football Club and Get Radio.
While Carousel Buses is offering a prize worth £60,000 to good causes in Buckinghamshire in partnership with Wycombe Wanderers and Wycombe Sound.
It resulted in a combined 105 good causes entering across the two competitions, with 64 entering in Oxfordshire and 41 in Buckinghamshire.
The public is now being encouraged to vote for their favourite good cause in each competition before judging panels decide on the ultimate winners from short lists of the 10 that receive the most votes.
Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Group, said:
“We’ve received a huge response to this year’s competition in both Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and it’s clear Brand the Bus continues to capture the public’s imagination.
“We’re particularly pleased with how strongly it has resonated at Carousel Buses in its first year running the competition.
“It is a unique proposition that offers local charities and good causes in the communities we serve the opportunity to raise their profiles to thousands of people. We’re proud to be able to give back in this way and support so many good causes.”
Previous winners of Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel’s Brand the Bus competitions have included Oxford Hospitals Charity, SeeSaw, Girl Guiding Oxfordshire, Home-Start Oxford, Blue Skye-Thinking and Restore.
Prizes are awarded to entries who have, in the panel’s opinion, fulfilled the brief to the highest standard.
Owned by the Go-Ahead Group, Oxford Bus Group consists of Oxford Bus Company, Thames Travel, City Sightseeing Oxford, Carousel Buses and Pulhams.
