Swindon Bus Community Fund - next open June 2025

Every month, Swindon's Bus Company is approached by many organisations in the community asking for help, or donations towards their local efforts. In the past, we have dealt with these requests in a very ad-hoc manner and the result differs dramatically depending on who gets the call, question or email.

Our Community Fund is a dedicated resource for supporting local causes, charities and organisations, whether it is monetary support, marketing help, free travel or the use of a bus/coach for an event required.

The Community Fund is open for applications from everyone in our local community; whether it’s a charity, a sports team, a school or a one of the local events that makes Swindon and the wider Wiltshire area an exciting place to live.

Local people are able to apply via our website and we have two rounds of applications per year in June and December. There is a judging panel to see which causes we can support and this will involve some of our local management team. This process will help us streamline the constant requests we get for help and support and ensure we give to the ones that fit closely with our brands.

Causes we've helped

We have supported many projects through the community fund including:

Wiltshire Search & Rescue

It’s a pleasure supporting Wiltshire Search and Rescue. As a fully established part of the community, we’re delighted to be able to help this vital local resource.

Wiltshire Search and Rescue is a voluntary organisation, deployed at the request of the emergency services control room. Their primary aim is to locate high-risk, vulnerable, individuals and return them to a place of safety.

They are self-sufficient, in that they deploy the resources to search but also manage the incident - using qualified incident managers - and have a wide range of equipment and specialist capabilities, such as water rescue. 

Owen's World

Owen’s World was created following the fatal stabbing of Penhill teenager Owen Dunn in December 2022. As a much-loved member of his local community, Owen’s passing has deeply affected many.

Through Owen’s World, his family and friends are devoted to creating a safer community and addressing the challenge young people face today - including the pressing issue of knife crime.

Growbaby Swindon

Growbaby, which is based at Pattern Church in Swindon, provides essential clothing and equipment, completely free-of-charge, to local families who are in need - regardless of income, background or faith.

It's crucial that some items - like cot mattresses, bottle teats, breast pumps and baby monitors - must be bought new. And that’s why our donation provided much needed equipment to families in our town.

How does it work?

There are two months a year where local charities, organizations and events can apply for community funding, donated by us. These months are June and December.

This application could be as small as a raffle prize or as large as a £500 donation. We have a total of £500 to give away, twice per year.

It will be at the discretion of the assigned judging panel to select the worthiest causes and allocate the support/donation to the causes they feel would most benefit from our support.

By applying for the community fund, applicants must agree and acknowledge that Swindon's Bus Company must be given the opportunity to take a press photograph at the applicant's premises/with their cause/group in order to issue a press release that they will be obliged to provide a comment for. They agree that this will be used on the Swindon's Bus Company website and social media channels.

What is the benefit?

The Community Fund enables us to engage and support the local community as needed, allowing us to build firm relationships within the community, while making support more accessible – providing a fairer system and inviting applications twice annually.

All you need to do is fill in our online form to apply, which will be live from 01 June 2025. Good luck!