Kindness bus tour reaches thousands of UK school pupils with ‘Be Nice online’ message

The Diana Award, the youth charity set up in Princess Diana’s name, and Stagecoach, the UK’s largest bus and coach operator, have reached over 11,000 young people across the country with their ground-breaking anti-bullying tour.

The country’s first and only #BeNiceBus – launched as a joint collaboration between Stagecoach and The Diana Award charity in 2017– has completed a three-year tour of UK schools to spread its anti-cyber bullying message and encourage young people to be nicer online.

As part of the innovative project, young people were invited onto the refurbished bus to take part in an interactive session to encourage positive online behaviour and to warn of the consequences of cyber bullying.

Following each session, pupils were invited to sign a ‘Be Nice’ pledge, marking their commitment to behave in a way that will not cause offence or upset to others.

“We are delighted to have had the opportunity to help shape the behaviour of 11,000 young people across our country, teaching them about kindness and empathy especially whilst online. This is even more apt in light of how we’re living much of our lives online in these uncertain times.

“We know that those 11,000 are navigating the online world today with kindness and are clicking with compassion, thanks to this partnership with Stagecoach.

“We hope to continue to support many more young people across the country in this fun and empowering way delivering our message of kindness and respect, which we believe is now as important as ever.”

Tessy Ojo, Chief Executive of The Diana Award

Funded by Stagecoach the project involved the interior refurbishment of a single deck bus to include a number of educational resources to help deliver the sessions. Content was delivered through video, presentations and interactive sessions.

“We’re incredibly proud to have reached over 11,000 children and visited 156 schools across the country with our #BeNiceBus.

“We have thousands of employees who are parents themselves, and whose children may have experienced the impacts of bullying behaviour, making it even more important for us to play our part.

“In these uncertain times for the country, it’s more important than ever for people to be kind to each other and help each other and we’re pleased to have been involved in such a successful and worthwhile initiative.”

Martin Griffiths, Chief Executive for Stagecoach