Look at the new Arriva ‘Umbrella Bus’ raising awareness of ADHD

Arriva have partnered with the ADHD Foundation to create an ‘Umbrella Bus’ to celebrate neurodiversity.

The Foundation’s Umbrella Project returned to Church Alley in Liverpool city centre (in front of the Bluecoat) for the third consecutive year in 2019 and sees a suspended canopy of coloured umbrellas. The installation celebrates the gifts, talents and employability of those who are neurodiverse, and is part of a wider education project to raise awareness about neurodiversity and challenge stigma and discrimination. Other sites include MediaCityUK in Salford, and for the first time, Heathrow’s Terminal 5 in London.

Arriva have taken the umbrella imagery and applied it to the ceiling of one of their electric buses. The umbrella vinyl will stay on the bus for the remainder of its service, to show customers and staff that support is available.

Now in its twelfth year, ADHD Foundation is a leading mental health charity and the largest ‘user-led’ ADHD agency in Europe, supporting more than 5,000 families every year with children and young people living with ADHD, and delivering training to over 15,000 professionals across the UK annually, including teachers, nurses and doctors.

The ADHD Foundation works in partnership with individuals, families, doctors, teachers and other agencies to improve emotional wellbeing, educational attainment, behaviour and life chances through better understanding and self-management of ADHD, ASD and related learning difficulties such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, Irlen’s Syndrome, dyscalculia and Tourette’s Syndrome.

Head of Marketing for Arriva North West and Wales, Lisa Pearson said; ‘Working with the ADHD Foundation to raise awareness of neurodiversity in all of its many forms has been an amazing experience. We’re incredibly excited to share our ‘Umbrella Bus’ with people living and working in the Liverpool City Region.

‘We are proud to show customers and staff that we celebrate neurodiversity and that our buses are welcoming safe environments that everybody can enjoy using.’

Dr Tony Lloyd, CEO of ADHD Foundation, said; ‘It is fantastic that Arriva recognise that 20% of its staff and passengers will probably be neurodiverse – that’s one in five people who have autism, dyslexia, ADHD, dyspraxia, dysgraphia, Tourette’s or dyscalculia. The Umbrella Project is all about promoting neurodiversity and celebrating the intelligence, ability and employability of neurodiverse people.

The Umbrella Bus looks amazing, and what a brilliant message to greet the thousands upon thousands of passengers and international tourists who will board this bus over the next 15 plus years.”

For more information about the ADHD Foundation and the great work they do visit the website here.

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