News

Arriva Christmas lights trip brightens childrens’ day

How exciting seeing the Christmas lightsI've made a friendCarrying children to see the Christmas lights in London is a treat for everyone, and that’s what the Heritage Fleet’s RM 1124 recently had the privilege of doing.

The trip was organised in conjunction with Momentum, a Kingston based charity, which supports children with cancer and life limiting conditions.

The children and parents were taken into London on a red Routemaster to view the Christmas lights, and were dropped off in Regent Street for a tour of Hamleys, the famous toy store. They returned to the bus for a further tour of the lights, and the trip home

Founder of the charity Bianca Effemey said she was delighted with the bus trip, and passed on her own and some of the families' comments…

The lead up to Friday the 2nd of December was so exciting for us all, a bus trip on the Route Master to see the Christmas Lights.

It has taken a long time for the Charity to be able to arrange a trip for Families with children who have Cancer or any life limiting condition to all come together and experience a magical evening. This has been made possible by the generous offer from Arriva. I started the Charity six years ago and personally it made it all seem worthwhile when I was able to see the smiling families ,children, parents, grandparents and siblings all come together.

We left promptly at 4pm with music playing, endless treats for the children, wine for the grownups filled with laughter and noise, shrieks of joy at seeing the lights then a visit to Hamleys or the M&M store .

Friendships were made and a chance to share happy times.

We returned at 8pm, I felt humbled and so very grateful for this fantastic opportunity ,I now would like to share with you some of the comments.

What a special trip and a fantastic way to get into the Christmas spirit!! My daughter, Chloe, was in hospital over Christmas last year and so this was extra magical for us - and of course the painted pictures, glitter tattoos and stickers at Hamleys as well as the wine and Christmas songs also helped (and not all for Chloe)!

Thank you so much, I only wish the photos Chloe took on the bus could be printed but she hasn't got photography on a moving bus quite mastered yet!
I'm writing this to say thank you for an amazing trip to London.

I was so excited to see that we were going on an old fashioned double Decker bus, as I've always wanted to go on of them!

I was diagnosed with leukaemia when I was 7 and had 3 years of treatment. Momentum helped me throughout all my treatment and still helps me now I’m in remission.

The trip to London was great because I could meet other people my age who have gone through a similar thing to me.

I hope we get a chance to go on it again as it was so good

Thank you again for the wonderful trip
Holly

Simply saying thank you is just not enough to express how wonderful the bus trip to London was. We all had such fun - both the adults and children - and it was lovely to meet people, share the experience and make new friends. It would not have been possible, nor indeed any fun, to have done this independently so it was an amazing opportunity to have the bus and SO exciting for the children to go on a double Decker bus!"

Hi Bianca,
Thank you so much for organising the trip on Friday.

It was lovely to meet you and chat with the other families on the bus. Both of my girls, Erin and Caitlyn had a lovely time. Caitlyn asks if we could have the bus to go to school in!

They loved the lights and enjoyed being on the bus as we never travel by bus anywhere.

Caitlyn took her cap to school yesterday for show and tell and the teacher said she has never seen such an enthusiastic talk from a pupil before, so it obviously made a great impression on her.

As I said on the bus it was so lovely to be enjoying Christmas this year, last year we were in hospital for most of December and only got out on Christmas eve evening. Already this Christmas has been so much better and so much more enjoyable thanks to you and the bus company. Both girls loved Hamleys and Erin has not stopped talking about the really big toy shop. We would love to send you the pictures Caitlyn took but she left her camera in Hamleys, I am trying to obtain contact numbers as Caitlyn was a bit upset that she has lost all her pretty lights photos, but never mind it doesn't distract from the fact that Friday was very magical for both us and our girls. We all got off the bus and all agreed that we really felt all festive and ready for Christmas. Thank you again for making us all smile and for treating us to a bit of Christmas magic.

Hi Bianca,

The following is from Jack...

Thanks for a awesome time on our bus trip to London. I enjoyed seeing the sights and meeting new friends like Holly and Grace. The visit to M & M world was brilliant and Jamie the tour guide was very helpful with me and my wheelchair and when he offered us all a free M & M dispenser I knew that I had to spend my £5 on chocolate M & M’s. This is now sitting on my bedroom shelf for me to have a sneaky chocolate when I go up to my room.

The conductor was funny and very helpful to me getting on and off the bus and looking after my wheelchair. Thank you for including me on this great trip.

Jack

Published: Wed 7 Dec 2011Modified: Thu 8 Dec 2011

Return to main News page