by Steven Hallmark
VANTAGE Academies – which runs SS Simon and Jude Great Lever, Bolton, has been presented with a new Variety Sunshine Coach, donated by Together and Landmark Group.
The 17-seater coach, equipped with a tail-lift, will provide essential transport to the 3,500 children who attend Vantage Academies’ ten schools across Manchester, Salford, Trafford, Bolton and Knowsley.
The new coach will help pupils access school trips, learning opportunities and experiences that might otherwise be out of reach because of affordability or complex SEND needs.
Together and Landmark Group agreed to donate this Sunshine Coach at the Variety North West PROPS Awards in November 2025, where almost £400,000 was raised for disabled and disadvantaged children by the North West’s property sector.
Jill Messham, Vantage Academies CEO, said: “A huge thank you to Together, Landmark Group and Variety, the Children’s Charity from all of us at Vantage Academies.
“Our values are aspiration, togetherness and service, and this new Sunshine Coach will bring those values to life.
“For some of our children, opportunities to see the world beyond their immediate communities are limited. This coach will make school trips possible, extend their experiences, broaden their horizons and help secure the happy, memorable childhoods every child deserves.”
Vantage Academies have 10 individual schools which deliver educational excellence to children and young people in the North West of England. Six of the nine primary schools in the academy are in the top 10% of the UK’s most deprived boroughs.
Vantage Academies will share the coach between the sites to support the children’s extra-curricular educations, provide new experiences, and ensure that the children at Vantage Academies are able to enjoy opportunities and activities to better their learning and school experience.
Photo: R – L: Marc Goldberg, CEO of Sales and Distribution at Together Bethan, Irving, Head of School, Gorton Ryan Etchells, Chief Commercial Officer at Together
