Harrogate buses to wear poppies as towns marks 75 years since the end of World War Two

New Harrogate lights unveiled to mark Remembrance Day as town honours war dead

The company is adorning many of its buses on routes across Harrogate, Knaresborough, Ripon and beyond with commemorative poppies to encourage its thousands of customers travelling each day to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

The poppies will also be prominently displayed on the front of buses on parent company Transdev’s network of routes covering hundreds of miles across the North, from Preston and Manchester in the west to the Yorkshire Coast in the east.

The bus operator is also making a substantial donation to support this year’s Poppy Appeal.

The Harrogate Bus Company’s CEO Alex Hornby said: “This year’s Remembrance has additional significance, marking 75 years since the end of World War Two.

"With the pandemic continuing, this is a year like no other for us all, so we believe it’s right to continue our support for the excellent work done by the Royal British Legion.

“We hope that by prominently showing our support for the Poppy Appeal on our buses, many of our customers will join us in contributing to this excellent cause.

“All our teams at our depot in Starbeck and right across the North are fully behind this – we want to remember those who gave their lives for our freedom, and to support those living with the impact of conflict today.”

The Royal British Legion’s Area Manager for Yorkshire, Debbie Harding, said: “We are very grateful for this support – the COVID-19 pandemic has had an overwhelming impact on people’s livelihoods and way of life, leaving some in our Armed Forces community in dire need of urgent help and support.

“The Legion’s work is more vital than ever as we support our community through additional hardships, from those struggling with social isolation, financial difficulties and unemployment to those who have lost loved ones or are facing the threat of homelessness. Every poppy counts.”

The Harrogate Bus Company now hopes that as a highly visible symbol of remembrance, its bus poppies will help to encourage its customers to buy and wear their own poppies with pride.

Buses run by each of Transdev’s nine local bus operators across the North, including The Harrogate Bus Company, will now display poppies ahead of Remembrance Day this Sunday, when despite the pandemic restrictions, the region and the nation will pause to remember the fallen.

New lockdown: Harrogate business leader warns of 'economic crisis'

A message from the Editor

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.