First Bristol’s inaugural Lawrence Hill depot open day has been called an ‘incredible success’ by the firm’s Managing Director, James Freeman.
Taking place on Saturday, August 19, the event saw over 1,000 people make their way to the depot for a day of family friendly attractions. Highlights of the event included 90 people driving a bus for the first time, over 300 guests being taken through the bus wash and a line-up of buses which included a brand-new biogas double-decker and a pre-war Bristol K type in its traditional blue and white livery.
Throughout the day, 230 people were taken to many locations across the site and given a look behind the scenes. The First Bristol team gave audiences an insight into the engineering facilities, which included the stores, fuelling section, the pits and tyre store. They were then shown the fleet that was on display and given a history lesson about the Lawrence Hill site. The tour concluded with the operations department, detailing what a day in the life of a bus driver is like.
The event also raised £1,225 for Prostate Cancer UK, the First Group charity of the year.
James Freeman said: “We’re amazed by the number of people that took the time out of their day to come and visit us at Lawrence Hill. It really made the event an incredible success.
“As it was the first time we have put one of these events on at Lawrence Hill, we were slightly apprehensive that anyone would turn up at all. But those fears were well and truly dismissed when we saw the amount of people gathering outside the gates with over half an hour until we even opened. One of the most gratifying parts of the day was seeing all the happy faces around the depot, from youngsters sat behind the wheel to adults driving a bus for the very first time.”
