A number of historic and modern-day buses were on display at Romford Bus Garage to celebrate its 70th anniversary – helping to raise money for charity.
Transport enthusiasts were treated to a total of 20 buses, of all ages, lined up in Romford’s main bus depot on Saturday, April 22.
Stagecoach’s regional director, Paul Lynch, said the various kinds of buses on show represented all the “vehicle types to have graced Romford Garage over the last 70 years”.
READ MORE: Vintage buses serve Dagenham and Romford during heritage day
To commemorate the milestone, children and parents had free rein to jump on buses and could buy a number of vintage toy models.
The first-ever bus to leave Romford Bus Garage, working on the 103 route, left the station in August 1953.
Today, the 103 bus route is no longer in service but, seven decades on, there are a total of 11 routes operating out of the garage.
The event also helped to raise cash for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Mayor of Havering, Cllr Trevor McKeever, was one of the hundreds of people to show up on Saturday.
He told the Recorder: “It was very nostalgic seeing the old Routemaster buses and memorabilia available. I was happy to attend the 70th anniversary of Romford Bus Garage in conjunction with the Macmillan cancer fundraiser.”
Stagecoach has run Romford Bus Garage since 1994 and has been partnered with Macmillan for several years now.
It has been raising money to commemorate Romford bus driver, Martyn Henderson, who died from cancer in 2017.
The Mayor is at Romford Bus Garage open day supporting McMillan Cancer research pic.twitter.com/8ajYq2StnZ
— Mayor of Havering (@MayorOfHavering) April 22, 2023
Stagecoach has so far raised £71,600 for the charity, but hopes to get that figure up to £100,000 by the end of the year.
A spokesperson confirmed that, during the open day, they were able to raise £8,500 from cash donations only but more is expected once cashless donations from the event have all been calculated.
Paul Lyons, fundraising manager for Macmillan, said Stagecoach’s help has enabled it to fund 205 grants to people who have had a direct cancer diagnosis as well as hire various Macmillan nurses.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here