Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust

  • 2 years ago
Steven Booth speaks about the history and hopes of Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust.

The Glasgow Vintage Vehicle Trust was formed at the end of 2002 and is a registered charity (SC034066) managed by a committee of Trustees who bring a variety of complementary professional and practical skills.

The general objectives of the Trust are:

1. The restoration and preservation of historic passenger carrying and commercial vehicles, and

2. The promotion of the welfare and relief of the needs of addicts and thereby working towards the social inclusion of such individuals.

The Trust has since 2003 leased the former Bridgeton Bus Garage at 76-136 Fordneuk Street, Glasgow from Glasgow City Council. We purchased the Garage in 2020 giving the GVVT a secure home and future. This was built for Glasgow Corporation Transport opening as a bus garage in 1965. It was closed by Greater Glasgow PTE in 1976 and was later used as a local authority internal transport depot.

The garage was built as a bus garage and it is once again a bus garage. Whilst 1960s architecture is usually functional rather than decorative, the building deserves to be retained as a fine example of the building style of that period.

The garage is now well established as a heritage centre for buses and commercial vehicles. There are around 150 buses, coaches, commercial vehicles and fire appliances in the collection. Vehicles are usually owned by individuals or small groups and range from hulks rescued from scrap yards and awaiting restoration to fully restored and active examples. Vehicles from the collection participate in events within the city and beyond, often allowing the public the opportunity to travel on the them.

The Trust has since 2005 operated a project called Back on the Road which aims to assist those with drug or alcohol addiction problems by providing work experience which will prepare them for a return to employment and society in general. The project operates in conjunction with the local addiction agencies and has proved to be very successful in achieving its aims.

Funding of Back on the Road is difficult in the current climate and the Trust welcomes approaches from organisations seeking possible partnerships in developing the programme.

The Trust works closely with various Council departments and agencies including Riverside Museum, the new home of the city’s transport collection, in promoting joint events.

The garage is open to the public on various dates in the year but at the moment this is not possible due to the Coronavirus restrictions. Our open days will return as soon as it is safe for us to do so.

Moving forward to current times, our 2018-2023 business plan can be viewed via this page.

If you require further information then please get in touch – you will find all our details on our Contact Us page.

If you have a vehicle you would like to be part of the collection at Bridgeton there are a number of points to consider:

you must be a member of the GVVT

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