Moving tribute to war dead

Bus will serve local routes

A s t r i k ing new bus designed to commemorate Remembrance Day is set to visit West Lothian.

The Poppy Bus was unveiled in Edinburgh last week and Lothian Buses invited former service personnel who now work for the company to attend.

The bus will run on various routes throughout Edinburgh and the Lothians across November.

G o rd o n Mi c h i e , head of fundraising at Poppyscotland said: “The Poppy Bus is a stunning tribute and underlines Lothian’s continued support of Poppyscotland.

“We are incredibly grateful to them for their ongoing commitment to the charity and in turn to the armed forces community.

“The poppy bus will help to remind the people of Edinburgh and the surrounding area about the importance of the Scottish Poppy Appeal and the Remembrance period.

“We hope it will encourage the public to dig deep so we can continue to provide our life-changing support in the year ahead.”

As well as the specially created bus the company will fundraise internally by making poppies and remembrance garden crosses available for sale to its staff.

The company will also be offering a free hot drink for all current and ex-services personnel every morning in November at its Shandwick Place travel hub in the capital.

Managing director Richard Hall said: “Lothian is proud to have many employees across our business who currently serve in the reserves or are ex-armed forces personnel and the Poppyscotland appeal is particularly close to the hearts of both our staff and our customers.

“We hope that our various activities running throughout the month of November, along with this year’s Poppy Bus, will help raise both awareness and vital funds for this great charity to allow them to continue to support the armed forces community across Scotland.”