Santa Bus History
The history of the Santa Bus
The Brighton & Hove Buses, Santa Bus has become a Brighton and Hove institution since it began in 2003.
For many, seeing the Santa Bus signals the very start of the festive season. The main star Santa Claus, leads the way from the front waving to all as the Santa Bus carries him to over 200 areas across the city and beyond. 10,000 twinkling fairy lights shine out and the festive music plays joyful tunes to the crowds. A magical event for all.
Due to the incredible generosity of everyone donating, the support of local businesses and all the volunteers, over £453,000 has already been raised by the Santa Bus for local charities and community groups with ore to be raised in 2025.
A huge thank you to you everyone who has supported, volunteered, donated and shared the message of the Santa Bus.
The Santa Bus all began when Elsa Gillio, from The Argus Newspaper, approached Brighton & Hove Buses with an idea to bring some festive magic and joy to the streets of Brighton & Hove whilst also fundraising for charity.
The original partners were: Brighton & Hove Buses, The Martlets and The Argus Appeal - The Argus Newspaper.
In the early days, the bus visited only a handful of streets and the lights and music were run on a generator which had to be filled every day with diesel.
When Elsa retired from The Argus Appeal and The Argus Appeal closed and it was agreed with The Martlets, The Argus Appeal and the Argus Newspaper to introduce other charities.
So now every year the Brighton & Hove Buses, Santa Bus, raises money for Martlets Hospice and Chestnut Tree Children's hospice as well as 10 other charities which are chosen each year. .
Covid brought further changes to the Santa Bus. Sadly for one year but despite this challenge the fundraising didn't stop as we sold Santa Bus face coverings on line and launched our Santa Bus pages in the same year providing free games and downloads. We also introduced donations being made on line as well as collection points across the city.
Further improvements have been made including the lights being being battery powered, instead of using a diesel generator. We've increased the nights from a small handful to 20 nights. We also organise special visits including visiting the children at Chestnut Tree Children's hospice.
The Santa Bus has modernised too as it can now be tracked on a very special Santa Tracker so Santa can be tracked in real-time and everyone knows when he's due on their street and also through the generosity of one of our partners Hanover we now have a moving digital screen. With thanks to one of our other partners SPS Over 20,000 leaflets are posted through letter boxes before we visit the roads.
And the bus isn't just powered by batteries; it’s been powered by the generosity and goodwill of thousands of volunteers over the years who have walked alongside the bus or went door-to-door with charity collection buckets as large crowds amassed in the streets to greet Santa Claus
Santa Claus aboard his trusty steed (the Santa Bus)
Over the years, a large volunteer team from Brighton & Hove Buses has been joined by volunteers from local businesses and organisations including Legal & General, Lloyds Bank, UK Power Networks, The Argus, the Theatre Royal, Brand Vaughn, SPS leaflets, the NHS, Co-op and Brighton & Hove City Council, as well as volunteers from every participating charity. The bus has also been powered by the love and the smiles from Brightonians as it drives around.
Just within the company at Brighton & Hove Buses and Metrobus over 1950 hours of colleague time is donated every year to keep the bus moving.. Everyone on the bus is a volunteer from the driver to the wheel-walkers and support walkers. And of course Santa Claus always donates his time!
So this year we are out again on the Santa Bus as well as online donating for local charities. You will also find heaps of children’s activities, colouring in, competitions and a downloadable letter to Santa.
Santa says: "Ho Ho Ho, I’ve loved seeing everyone come out to wave and share their love for the festive season with me over the last 21 years and I'm looking forward to seeing you all again in our 22nd year. So come out and give me a wave as my trusty steed comes driving down your street. And if I'm not visiting your street this year check out all the places I am visiting and come along and say hi"
The Santa Bus is named after Santa Mike - the video was filmed in 2018 ( which was the Santa bus's 15th year) and at this time had raised over £250,000.