The Isle of Wight Bus and Coach Museum in Ryde has been honoured with the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. This is the highest award that a voluntary group can receive in the UK and is the equivalent of an individual being awarded an MBE.
60 volunteers, 15,000 hours
This award recognises the exceptional energy and generosity of a tireless group of 60 volunteers, who put in more than 15,000 hours of voluntary work each year.
Ranging in age from 16 to 85, these highly skilled people rebuild, repair and repaint the buses, drive buses around the Island, guide museum visitors and make the business viable by running an excellent shop and cafe.
Thirty years of determination
Over the last 30 years since the museum’s foundation, the volunteers have shown great determination: raising enough to buy and renovate their bus depot; they recovered from a flood in 2023; they have acquired 28 vintage buses and coaches – some of which have been donated by the volunteers themselves – and they have created one of the best tourist attractions on the Island, with an annual footfall of over 20,000.
Off to Buckingham Palace
The museum is among only 250 charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups to receive the award this year.
Representatives from the museum will receive their award later this year from Susie Sheldon, His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight, and two volunteers will attend a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May 2027.
The Lord-Lieutenant commented,
“I congratulate the Bus and Coach Museum on this fantastic achievement and I thank the volunteers for their commitment and tremendous hard work, which makes such a difference to our community.”
News shared from the office of HM Lord-Lieutenant. Ed
