Young eco warriors go all vintage

The visit was part of the transport company’s Green Week ‘Teaching Tuesday’ campaign.

Youngsters from Stanhope, Mortimer and Harton primary schools learned about the green energy that modern buses use, with the latest in ‘eco’ technology taking passengers all across the city, and how it helps to improve the environment that they live in.

The young ‘eco warriors’ were then treated to a journey around the town on an old-fashioned bus and took turns sitting in the driver’s chair and tooting the loud horn.

Bus driver Calum Train and duty manager Barry Dobson also took along some green goodies for the pupils, including recycled bags and pens.

At Stanhope Primary School, around 195 children were able to explore the 1964 Daimler double decker bus.

Year 2 pupil Holly, aged seven, said: “It was not boring, it was very fun!”

John Vasey, Headteacher at Stanhope, said: “It was an exciting day for the children and staff and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.”

Four-year-old Luke, a pupil at Mortimer, said: “It was great, the bus went very bumpy, I loved it upstairs.”

Brenda Catchpole, nursery teacher at Mortimer, said: “The children enjoyed every minute. Not many of our children get the opportunity to ride on a bus, so they were all very excited.”

During Green Week, the Stagecoach depot in South Shields took part in a number of activities to raise awareness among staff and customers.

Brian Sleightholme, Operations Manager at Stagecoach in South Shields, said: “We were delighted to talk to the children about how ‘green’ our modern buses are and then take them on a little trip on an old-style bus, which they enjoyed very much.

“Stagecoach’s annual Green Week is an important awareness campaign which we are keen to support in our local community, and visiting the school offers a great opportunity to encourage youngsters to think’ green’, as well as having fun.”

Schools in the area were also sent activity sheets to complete during half term. The company encouraged the young ‘eco warriors’ with a list of tasks; including waste recycling, litter picking and walking instead of travelling by car, with prizes for the schools with the best results.

This year the Green Week theme was ‘Green Sky Thinking’, which aimed to raise awareness among staff and customers about the need to continue to develop new ideas to tackle climate change.

For further information about Stagecoach North East, visit www.stagecoachbus.com