25 Sep FIRST TEAM PLAYERS TAKE PART IN FIRST BUS CHALLENGE!

Huddersfield Town First Team players participated in the First Bus public transport challenge with the Huddersfield Town Foundation’s Premier League Kicks participants.

The Huddersfield Town Foundation teamed up with First Bus to educate and encourage young people to use public transport.

The partnership facilitated a First Bus Challenge with Huddersfield Town First Team players and three Huddersfield Town Foundation Premier League Kicks participants on Friday 20 September 2019.

The Huddersfield Town Club Partner, First Bus, is one of the UK’s largest bus operators, carrying 1.6 million passengers a day across communities, such as Kirklees.

The challenge was set to educate the Premier League Kicks participants around the prices, timetable, ticket purchases and safety of using the bus public transport system. The participants were taught how to pre-purchase their transport tickets using First Bus’ new online application to pre-pay and download their travel tickets.

Local lad, Ryan Schofield, joined the First Bus challenge to show new-to-the-area, Kamil Grabara, what Huddersfield had to offer and the simplicity of travelling by bus!

The participants were challenged to plan a return trip from PPG Canalside to Beaumont Park from The Chestnut Centre, Deighton, by pre-paying and downloading their day-travel tickets.

The players and participants planned their trip and purchased their tickets at PPG Canalside before heading to catch the bus at The Chestnut Centre, Deighton. The participants were tasked to ensure they flagged down the correct bus to take them to their destination.

Once on board, the players and participants could get comfy and enjoy the relaxing journey while taking note of the bus route to ensure they reached their hop-off destination.

They successfully made it to Beaumont park where the Premier League Kicks participants were allowed to have a Q&A with Ryan and Kamil regarding their footballing careers.

Siobhan Atkinson, Huddersfield Town Foundation CEO, commented:

“It is great that the Huddersfield Town Foundation can get involved in something like this to empower and develop young people to gain their independence.

“First Bus is a great transport provider and I am thrilled to be educating and encouraging young people on travelling with the company.”

Alfie Butwell, Huddersfield Town Premier League Kicks Manager, added:

“The ability for Premier League Kicks participants to use buses as a public transport system allows them to get to and from sessions across Kirklees.

“This experience has allowed the participants to up-skill their awareness of bus routes and how easy it is to purchase tickets.

“Not only did the participants get to show the two players around their local community but they also got the opportunity to gain advice on their potential career paths.”