Honk For Hope!
On Tuesday two of our coaches will be back on the road heading to Blackpool to join over 150 coaches from all over the country, Blackpool is a destination synonymous with coach travel and it’s not a surprise to see lots of coaches during July.
However this time there is a big difference , not a single coach will be carrying passengers! Why? Because since COVID-19 our industry has ground to a halt with less then 5% of the UK’s coach fleet currently operational.
An industry made up of hundreds of family owned Coach companies who are an integral part of the communities they serve. A once profitable, self sufficient industry.
Coaches are unheralded but essential part of the U.K. transport system – not just day trips to Blackpool, but taking hundreds of thousands of students to school daily, taking students on educational trips, sports teams, transporting workers, tourists – both from the UK and abroad to name a few.
Every large event coaches are vital to the logistics – be it festivals, conferences, concerts, sports events and even protests – how do the people get there?
But when others step back we step in – be it diverted flights, train failures, cruise ships unable to dock, evacuating people from areas due to flooding we are there, often at a moments notice!
The London 2012 Olympics could not have happened without coaches, we move the troops around , we serve the police , even when the first people suspected to have COVID-19 came to the UK they were put in coaches.
Unlike buses or rail we haven’t received additional funding, unlike the arts we haven’t received any funding although many theatres and concerts are reliant on coaches to transport the audience.
One of the biggest coach parks and only multi story coach park has just been constructed at Wembley – the national stadium – such is the importance of coaches to their success.
Whilst we have been there for our communities and country for years this time we need our countries government to be there for us . To recognise that Coaches’s are not a mere option they are part of the fabric of the UK, the beating heart of the Transport network.
On Tuesday we honk for hope, we honk for the future of 1000 coach operators and 42,000 jobs with thousands of coaches creating 6 billion pounds per year for the economy.
Most importantly we honk in hope that we will continue to serve our communities for years to come…
Please support the UK coach industry.