Liverpool City Council - Culture bus

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Culture Bus

The Culture Bus with its brand new livery

The Culture Bus is now fully booked during school time up until the summer holidays.  If you would like to make a booking outside of school hours or termtime, please contact the Culture Bus Coordinator using the details below.

Schools can make bookings for September from 9th June.  Bookings for the rest of the Autumn term will not be taken until September.  This is to ensure the service is spread fairly between schools.

WHAT IS THE CULTURE BUS?

The Culture Bus service is run by Liverpool City Council and provides dedicated free transport to schools in Working Neighbourhood Fund (WNF) areas of Liverpool.  A full list of eligible schools is available here (MS Word [103.5Kb] opens in new window).  The aim is to give these schools and their students access to the various cultural venues and events that the city has to offer.  Schools outside of these areas are not eligible to use the service.

HOW THE CULTURE BUS WORKS

The Culture Bus is a 39 seat coach equipped with seatbelts (seatbelts must be worn at all times onboard the coach).  It can be booked through the Culture Bus Coordinator (see contact information/how to book) on a first come first served basis.  There is also an accessible minibus available to hire for those children with mobility issues.

The coach booking times are divided into slots.  You will book the coach to pick you up at the agreed time and take you to the chosen cultural destination.  The coach will also be booked to collect you again at a pre-agreed time and take your group back to school/youth centre.  This means that between your pick up and collection times, the coach will be able to be used by another group to ensure the service is spread fairly.

NB: The Culture Bus provides free transport only.  Whilst most venues offer free entry, certain activities/exhibitions may carry a charge.  Any admission cost must be met by groups.  Please check with the individual venue for information on admissions charges.  Please note that swimming, bowling and similar excursions are not cultural activities and do not qualify for use of the Culture Bus.

LATEST NEWS

The project has been a huge success; last year the Culture Bus provided free transport to cultural venues to 7470 children.   Funding has been granted to continue to project until the end of 2008 to see out the European Capital of Culture 2008 year.  Because the Culture Bus provides groups in WNF areas with free transport they can plan trips to places they would not normally be able to visit because the cost of hiring a coach is prohibitive. 

A new Culture Bus brochure (PDF [2.5Mb] opens in new window) has been sent out to eligible schools. This brochure contains details of the many exciting venues you and your students can visit on the Culture Bus. However, this list is not exhaustive; if there is a cultural venue in Merseyside that your group would like to visit, let me know and I will try to accomodate your needs.                              

QUOTES ABOUT THE SERVICE

"A great resource - I will definitely book it again... The vehicle was clean and well maintained, and the driver was extremely helpful." - St Gregory's Catholic Primary

"This is an excellent idea; it gives children an opportunity to visit places they would otherwise miss out on." - St Michael's Catholic Primary

"To have the opportunity to take the children of the area to experience a variety of different venues where they can experience arts and culture is brilliant." - St Gregory's Youth and Community Initiative

"I am very impressed with the service and delighted it is free of charge enabling us to take children on trips. Parents are delighted too!" -  St Sebastian's Catholic Primary

CONTACT INFORMATION/HOW TO BOOK

If you would like more information on the service or would like to make a booking, simply contact Catherine Murphy, the Culture Bus Coordinator via the Transport Policy team at transport.policy@liverpool.gov.uk or call 0151-233 8147

LINKS

DOWNLOADS

A list of schools that are eligible to use the service is available here (MS Word [103.5Kb] opens in new window)

The new Spring - Summer 2008 Culture Bus brochure is available to download here (PDF [2.5Mb] opens in new window)

For an up to date list of European Capital of Culture events please visit the Liverpool 08 website.

This project received support from the Liverpool First Area-based grant and the European Union