READING Buses has relaunched its Star of the Month Awards — and the first round has seen a bumper crop of winners.
The monthly Awards ceremony was created to recognise employees and managers who have gone above and beyond to support customers in need.
It was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic and replaced with a large ceremony at the end of last year.
Now, Reading Buses has announced its first winner since reintroducing the scheme, starting with a joint prize.
Awais Iqbal (right), from Reading, and Steve Saunders (left), from Calcot, were praised for taking swift action after a man collapsed from a seizure on the purple 17 route.
While Mr Saunders rolled the man onto his side and contacted the emergency services, Mr Iqbal stopped another bus to get passengers on their way.
Caroline Anscombe, Reading Buses HR director, said: “This was a great team effort by Steve and Awais and shows how much our employees work for each other.
“We are relieved that the customer was okay and it was in no small part to the quick thinking of Steve and then the reassuring presence of Awais.”
Christos Papachristodolou, who is also from Reading, was nominated for Star of the Month after helping a visually impaired person use the bus for the first time.
“We love that Christos was able to help this person gain confidence in using our service,” Ms Anscombe added. “We have an award-winning training team who give the drivers the tools to help in situations like this, but it is obviously on the driver to use them to the fullest and Christos certainly did that.
“These are superb examples of everything that’s great about Team Reading Buses.”
Jordan McKie, from Reading, was also nominated for consistently helping the control room team and drivers.
Customers can nominate employees for the next Star of the Month Awards at: www.reading-buses.co.uk/star
