Building Appeal

The Bus Archive has been very successful since its creation three years ago, and already our growth has led to the need for new premises. We need your help in funding this expansion.

Since our inception, the amount of material we have acquired has grown exponentially, so much so that we have outgrown our original premises and urgently need more space.

All of the material we acquire has to be properly catalogued and safely stored so as to make it available for research for many generations to come.

To find out more about our achievements to date, you can read a feature published in the latest Classic Bus magazine on the appeal below (click to go full screen).

What will we do with the new space

We have been fortunate to secure new premises in Droitwich to take over from the smaller building on the same business park. But much work is required. The new building will be purpose-equipped, with bespoke ‘rolling racking’ to provide maximum capacity; temperature and humidity will be maintained through the use of modern building techniques rather than expensive air conditioning; there will be more space for researchers and visitors to do their work in comfort; and a comfortable refreshment room - safely remote from the collections.

Help us raise £300,000 for our new building

We are very lucky that funding the day-to-day running costs of the Archive, approaching £100,000 per year, is now firmly established. This comes partly from the sale of surplus, duplicated material and partly through our many generous, regular donors.

We are asking for your help to fund this necessary and urgent expansion. There is a considerable capital cost and we are able only to fund half of this from our own existing resources.

How to Donate

Donations, however small or large, will all be very much appreciated. Use the ‘NEXT’ button to the right or if you want to discuss your donation first, please email treasurer@busarchive.org.uk.

Your donation means a lot to us, and we are keen to recognise your contribution and to reward you through providing extra archive resources exclusively to you:

Donate £50+ and join our Conductors' Club

This will give you:

  • Early distribution of our sales catalogue, BUSMART
  • 10 digital images of your choice from our extensive archive collection
  • Regular updates of our activities in Bus Archive News
 Conductor
Donate £100+ and join our Drivers' Club

This will give you:

  • Early distribution of our sales catalogue, BUSMART
  • 20 digital images of your choice from our extensive archive collection
  • 50 pages of material photocopied from our archive and sent to you electronically
  • Regular updates of our activities in Bus Archive News
 Driver
Donate £500+ and join our Inspectors' Club

This will give you:

  • Your name on the ‘donor board’ in the foyer of the new building
  • Priority orders for goods from our sales catalogue BUSMART
  • Access to bulk copies from our collection of scanned Notices & Proceedings
  • All of the benefits of the Drivers, upgraded to 50 digital images and 100 pages of photocopied material
 Inspector
Donate £1,000+ and join our Traffic Managers' Club

This will give you:

  • Take advantage of 3 hours (per annum, for 3 years) of volunteer research time to investigate a subject of your choice
  • Exclusive invitation to an open day at one of our centres
  • All of the benefits of the Inspectors upgraded to 100 digital images and 300 pages of photocopied material
 Inspector
Donate £5,000+ and join our General Managers' Club

This will give you:

  • All of the benefits of the Traffic Managers, upgraded to:
  • 5 hours of volunteer research on your behalf per year
  • 150 digital images of your choice
  • 500 pages of photocopied material
 Inspector
Donate £10,000+ and join our Directors' Club

We would be happy to discus with you a suitable package of rewards to meet your requirements, including the naming of rooms and bespoke access to the archives.

 Inspector


the memory of the bus industry

© The Bus Archive, a charity registered in England and Wales (number 1177343), set up as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.