VIDEO: '˜Helping Hand' run by Brighton bus company wins major awards

Helping Hand is considered to be the best assistive information card available, and was developed by Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company. The card gives drivers a brief – but valuable – piece of information so they can provide the right level and type of help needed by a customer with accessibility needs It is now used widely by other bus operators in surrounding areas, and the deliberately unbranded cards are also used in cinemas, shops and even as far afield as the continent. The card’s bespoke messages don’t label the customer’s condition (unless they wish it to) but instead focus on the type of help needed such as ‘Please be patient if I’m confused’. The judges enthusiastically received the entry as brilliant, noting that the Brighton & Hove Bus and Coach Company had shown how the bus industry can be a leader and has developed something with wide appeal well beyond buses. Exemplary engagement with organisations and the local community has allowed person-led development which it is hoped will be adopted across the country. The judges considered Helping Hand to be a very worthy Gold Winner. The UK Bus Awards Scheme is designed to recognise and reward excellence and good practice in a wide range of disciplines associated with the operation, design and promotion of bus services. The UK Bus Awards scheme was founded in 1996 and is organised and run by an independent not-for-dividend company which works with a Management Committee of industry stakeholders to administer and develop the scheme. Entries are judged by panels of independent experts. Before deciding the winners, finalists in the operating and driving categories were checked by “mystery travellers” to ensure that service delivery is up to the mark. The mission of the UK Bus Awards is to inspire others to emulate the winning people, projects or organisations. Weblinks: www.ukbusawards.org.uk