A GROUP of Reading Buses employees, their families and friends have walked some of the company’s bus routes to raise money for charity.
This year’s Charity of the Year as selected by Reading Buses is Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs, a volunteer Lowland Rescue search dog team which assists search and rescue teams, the police, and other emergency services.
From 9.30am on Sunday, groups set out from Reading Station along their chosen bus routes, each ranging from two to six miles.
Each group also was joined by representatives from the charity, including the hard-working dogs.
The routes were chosen as part of the 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, with the only exception being Greenwave 50 where the group followed the river Kennet for a while to avoid having to walk next to the A33, where there would be very few people to try and get donations from.
The fundraiser has already raised £1,500– 20% over its original target of £1,250.
The organiser is Sharmila Perera, Finance Business Partner at Reading Buses. She was keen to mark the company’s 125th year with an activity that could support the charity.
Sharmila said ahead of the walks: “Reading Buses has been serving the community since 1901, so we wanted to celebrate this special milestone by doing something that brings our employees, their families, friends and even their pet dogs out into the community, while at the same time raising vital funds for our Charity of the Year, Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs.
“We chose five routes that added up to 125 and chose £1250 as our target to keep everything symbolic.”
She continued: “The walks will be lots of fun, with five groups each setting off with members of the charity and at least one person dressed up as either a purple dinosaur (for the Purple 17 route) or a dog to represent our charity.
“The plan is then to get the bus back and meet up afterwards in Reading to socialise and rest.”
Full details about the fundraiser, including how to donate, are available via: justgiving.com/page/reading-buses-125-years
