Mental health charity One-Eighty announced as 2025 Brand the Bus winners!

Oxford Bus Company has confirmed that children’s mental health and behaviour support charity One-Eighty has won its seventh Brand the Bus competition. 

Founded in 2011, One-Eighty works across Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire by empowering children and young people struggling with mental health, neurodiversity or SEND challenges re-engage with education through 1:1 interventions, preventative mental health projects and professional training and supervision.  

The charity will now have its branding emblazoned across one of Oxford Bus Company’s electric double-decker buses for winning this year’s competition, which attracted a record number of entries and public votes. 

The winning package also includes free onboard advertising, advertising on Get Radio and being named Oxford City Football Club’s charity of choice for the 2025-26 season. In total, the prize pool is worth £100,000. 

Get Radio breakfast show host Rich Smith surprised the charity by announcing them as the winners live on air on Wednesday morning. 

Susie Besant, CEO and founder of One-Eighty, said: “This is incredible news – we are so pleased to be named as Oxford Bus Company’s Brand the Bus winner for 2025!

“We are so grateful to every person who took time to vote for One-Eighty so we made the final shortlist from 65 fantastic charities and good causes which entered and operate to improve the lives of people in Oxfordshire. 

“Our focus has always been to deliver sustainable, long-term, change for each young person we engage. 

“By equipping them and their families with the tools required to return to education, we can ensure as many schoolchildren locally can become the best version of themselves both today and in years to come. 

“Winning Brand the Bus will have such a positive impact on people’s awareness and understanding of our work, and we’d like to thank everyone at Oxford Bus Group, Get Radio and Oxford City FC for this tremendous opportunity.” 

Since the pandemic, demand for One-Eighty’s services has increased exponentially, with referrals tripling since 2019 alone. 

Additionally, recent government research found one in five children show some evidence of mental ill health, including anxiety and depression, with one in three adult mental health conditions relating directly to an adverse childhood experience. 

One-Eighty operates to combat these figures by delivering more than 2,000 one-to-one sessions to young people and their families annually, with an additional 850 children engaging with its preventative mental health awareness project Make Me Smile across the county in the last academic year. 

Luke Marion, Managing Director of Oxford Bus Company, added: “A huge congratulations to One-Eighty for winning this year’s Brand the Bus competition.

“After receiving a record number of entries, choosing a winner this year was more challenging than ever, and a huge thank you to all our entrants for taking the time to engage with the competition. 

“One-Eighty’s submission and work to address mental health challenges children in Oxfordshire are facing right now really resonated with our team and we’re looking forward to working with the charity on its design for this year’s electric bus.

“It was genuinely touching to hear how much winning Brand the Bus meant to Susie and her team, and underlined to us why running this competition annually is an important aspect of our engagement with the communities we serve.” 

Helen and Douglas House was chosen as Brand the Bus 2025’s first runner-up and will receive a bus rear advertisement, on-bus advertising package and advertising with Get Radio, valued at more than £20,000. 

The charity provides palliative, respite, end-of-life and bereavement care to life-limited children and their families and was the world’s first hospice built specifically for children. 

Sobell House will receive the second runner-up prize, an increased on-bus digital advertising package worth £5,000. It delivers specialist palliative and end-of-life care to adults living in Oxfordshire with a life-limiting illness, plus support to their friends and family.