Reading Buses gave a round of ap-paws today to their newly announced Charity of the Year, Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs.
The partnership for 2026 was announced last week at their Great Knollys Street depot in Reading which saw the unveiling of a bus with adverts for the charity on both sides and rear of the bus. The charity brought along some of their volunteers, both of the two and four-legged variety, posing for photos in front of the bus. There was even a chance for Otto and Chester to see themselves as the dogs taking pride of place on the adverts.
Berkshire Search Rescue Dogs won two-thirds of an employee vote against two other charities that had been shortlisted from more the 50 charities who had applied.
The charity is a fully qualified Lowland Rescue team of volunteers on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to support the police search for, locate and reunite high risk vulnerable missing people with their loved ones. The charity is constantly training to make sure the dogs, and their handlers, are at the peak of their powers and able to undertake complex searches.
Said Robert Williams, Reading Buses Chief Executive Officer; “We are obviously thrilled to be able to announce our new charity partnership for the coming year. Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs clearly struck a chord with our employees who voted for them in their droves.”
Robert outlined the great work that the charity does and outlined the hopes for the year; “I think it is safe to say that the charity is a lesser known one but vital in the area. We hope that the partnership this year not only raises a huge amount of money for them, but also increases their profile to elicit more donations from further afield.”
Said Peter Duke, Fundraising Officer for Berkshire Search and Rescue Dogs; “It is amazing to have been voted as Reading Buses’ Charity of the Year. As a smaller charity, getting recognition and raising awareness is a huge deal for us. We are thankful to Reading Buses and their employees for giving us this chance to help continue our vital work helping locate vulnerable people when they go missing.”
