Arriva Shines A Light On It's Local Leicester Stars

Added by Love Business East Midlands | 2 September 2016

Arriva’s campaign to find a collection of regionally inspired names suitable for its new fleet of high-spec eco-buses in Leicester, has drawn to a close with a flurry of very worthy nominations from across the local community. 

Having asked people to submit their naming ideas earlier this year, Arriva is happy to announce the final 10 ‘Leicester Stars’ who will have their names immortalised on board the new buses went into operation last month on routes that serve Melton Mowbray, Blaby, Lutterworth, Enderby and Narborough.

At an unveiling event on Thursday 18th August, friends, family and colleagues of those who are to be honoured with a naming plaque joined Arriva at its ‘Leicester Walk of Stars’ which was set up especially on Humberstone Gate,  prior to finally seeing their names going up in lights. 

                                                          Athena Orchard's friends & family

The final 10 names chosen by the local community, are:

Tracey Witty – Founder of www.b12deficiency.info, a free information hub aimed at raising awareness of the vitamin B12 deficiency, whilst helping patients and their loved ones to access accurate, reliable information and journals in one place.

Tony Fowler MBE – A milkman from Grimston, near Melton, applauded both locally and by the Queen for his services in protecting the people he serves, having chased burglars, foiled robberies and generally being the eyes and ears of the community.

Gez Varney - An ice cream man does the rounds across Leicester with his puppet Colin, encouraging people to support the Leicester charity Wishes 4 Kids, which grants wishes for youngsters with serious medical conditions.

John Breen – Customer service champion, having spent nearly 52 years offering advice to bus users in Leicester as an integral part of Midland Red and Arriva’s frontline sales and advisory team.

Athena Lea Orchard - 13-year-old British schoolgirl who tragically lost her battle with the bone cancer osteosarcoma in 2014, but inspired the whole nation by leaving behind a 3,000-word courageous message of hope handwritten on the back of her bedroom mirror.

Sir Malcolm Sargent – Celebrated conductor, and founder of the Leicester Symphony Orchestra.

Jamie Vardy - English professional footballer credited with helping club Leicester City FC claim the Premiership title in 2015/16.

Mark Selby – 2014 and 2016 World Snooker Champion.

James Dudfield – Local teenager who is dedicated to helping out with the St Johns Ambulance, whilst also supporting elderly people in the Loughborough Hospital.

Serge Pizzorno - Leicester-born guitarist, music producer and songwriter, best known for his work with the rock band Kasabian.

                                                          James Dudfield with Friends

Arriva’s area managing director, Simon Mathieson said:

“We’re hoping that these new vehicles will make a real difference to our customers living across the county, but to make sure they truly become part of the community here, we wanted to instil some local pride in them by naming each one in honour of some the county's most deserving individuals.

“We have been blown-away by the response we had to our plea, and it has been fabulous to hear some of the many stories about the true ‘Stars’ that this great city has been home to. Each of them has achieved something outstanding in their own unique way, and we are quite humbled that we are able to honour them in this way.”

                                                          John Breen with Friends

The new buses have been launched as part of the wider ‘Leicester Stars’ initiative, which pledges to make network improvements throughout the county in support of the business’ on-going commitment to enhancing customer experience through providing better quality bus travel. The vehicles provide premium level comfort and connectivity for customers with E-Leather seating and USB charging points as standard, but are also be the greenest diesel buses in the county, featuring the very latest low-emission engines and stop-start technology.

The new vehicles are currently service 5/5A, operating every 10 minutes during the daytime to Melton Mowbray, 84/85 with departures every 10 minutes from St Margaret’s Bus Station serving Aylestone and Lutterworth, and 50/50A which runs every 20 minutes to Narborough.

 

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