Oldhamers are being asked to submit their ideas for a chance to win one of nine decommissioned yellow school buses this summer.
From today (May 23), individuals, schools, community groups, sports teams and volunteer organisations can bid to Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) to win one of nine yellow school buses that will be decommissioned from the existing fleet this July.
Interested groups have until Friday, June 24 to submit a proposal online before applications are considered and the winning entries announced.
Entries will be judged on several criteria, including originality, creativity, and benefit to the community.
Entrants must detail how they propose to use the gifted vehicle and who will benefit from it – and are required to promise not to drive it under any circumstance.
Winners will be notified by email on July 1.
The competition has been set up to run once again following the success of similar schemes in summer 2021, 2019, and 2018.
In 2021, a total of 17 buses were donated to various bidders, including Holcombe Brook Primary School in Bury.
The school turned its donated vehicle into a ‘Mindful Bus’ and currently use it as a dedicated sensory space to provide social and emotional support to their pupils.
The bus has become a space to provide further support, particularly for some of the school’s Special Education Needs (SEN) pupils.
Mr Bradshaw, the headteacher of Holcombe Brook Primary School, said: “Children of all ages have been benefitting from the extra space the bus provides, from an educational perspective but also from a mental health perspective too.
“It's been a great space for the children to use their imaginations and have some much-needed sensory stimulation.
“We can’t wait for the next stage, which will be blacking out the windows and installing electricity to allow for light tunnels and bubble tubes!”
The 12-metre long buses due to be decommissioned in July 2022 are Iveco Scolabus 24 models registered in 2007 and 2009, fitted with 67 seats, and each has a powered wheelchair ramp.
Another 2021 recipient, Rochdale AFC Community Trust, turned its bus into a place where vulnerable and at-risk children and young people could access educational support and one-to-one intervention programmes.
The project provides a mix of holistic support around education, life skills and employability and has been a great addition to their work.
In 2018, the first decommissioned bus was delivered to Greswell Primary School in Denton. Using lottery funding, the school transformed the bus into an outdoor library used by both students and the wider community.
Cllr Mark Aldred, chair of the Greater Manchester Transport Committee, said: “Our yellow school buses are a fantastic service that allows children to get to school cheaply, safely and securely but, even when their life as a school service comes to an end, they can still be incredibly useful to communities.
“This scheme has been hugely successful when we have run it previously and I've been impressed with not just the creativity, but also the impact that previous projects have had on crucial issues such as child literacy and mental wellbeing.
“I’m really excited to see what community-spirited and thoughtful schemes people come up with this year.”
Yellow School Buses are a service provided by TfGM for secondary school children in Greater Manchester.
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