Music venue announces partnership with First Bus
The soon-to-be-reopened Bristol Beacon has announced a new partnership with First Bus that will reward concert-goers for travelling sustainably.
People buying tickets for concerts and other events taking place at Bristol Beacon after it reopens in November will be able to save up to 10 per cent on bus travel.
First Bus will also supply free bus travel to around 1,300 primary school children at the 13 schools across the city that participate in Bristol Beacon’s unique ‘Earthsong’ music education programme.
First Bus and Bristol Beacon will also be working together to promote low carbon travel to the city.
The new partnership is part of Bristol Beacon’s wider sustainability plans to encourage greener visitor travel, which currently makes up 60 per cent of their overall emissions.
Over the next few months, it will be benchmarking and piloting sustainable travel incentives on five upcoming events as part of the venue’s citywide artistic programme: The Walled Garden Concerts at Belmont Estate, Erland Cooper at Redgrave Theatre, Bristol Beacon’s re-opening party ‘The Housewarming’, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s opening concert, and Penguin Café.
The data and feedback from these events will enable the Beacon team, supported by two climate change researchers – Briony Latter from the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations at Cardiff University and independent researcher Adam Corner, funded by the Gulbenkian Foundation – to understand audience travel and set a benchmark target for future events.
Rosa Corbishley, development director and sustainability lead at Bristol Beacon, said: “A key part of the transformation of Bristol Beacon is to use it as an opportunity to become a more sustainable organisation. We know there are many reasons that our visitors aren’t always able to travel here sustainably, including cost, so it’s fantastic to be able to take these steps that will remove some of the barriers and make it easier for people to travel by bus.”
Rob Pymm, commercial director for First West of England, said: “We’re delighted to announce this partnership with Bristol Beacon, which we hope will encourage people to travel more sustainably with First Bus as they visit this fabulous venue.
“We have about 40 services which stop within a short walking distance from Bristol Beacon and run late into the evening, making them an ideal way for people to get home after a show. It gives event-goers the opportunity to make a night of it, have a drink and not have to worry about the stress of driving or finding a parking space.”
The music charity is aiming to become the first Net Zero concert hall in the UK by 2030 and is making good progress in this direction. It has already reached Net Zero for its direct emissions, which includes running boilers (Scope 1 emissions), and indirect emissions, which includes the electricity it buys for heating or cooling the building (Scope 2 emissions).
