The diligence of Antoinette Comley in investigating an alleged incident of bullying has come at a poignant time – as this year Red Balloon Learner Centres are Reading Buses charity of the year.
For Customer Service Assistant Antoinette patiently examined CCTV footage to resolve the bullying incident which has resulted in her achieving ‘Star of the Month’ status.
Antoinette was nominated by a customer whose son had been involved in an incident on a Reading bus.
The boy had been bullied at school and the mother was concerned that he had been bullied on the bus as well.
One day on the bus the boy had retaliated to his bullies and was worried about consequences from the school.
Antoinette, who has worked for Reading Buses for three years, painstakingly examined the footage, recognised what was going on and was able to be a witness for the boy to let the school know that he had indeed been bullied and was antagonised into retaliating.
This all occurred whilst the boy was taking exams so it was a key time for him.
Said Reading Buses HR Director Caroline Anscombe: “It’s extremely appropriate that Antoinette is recognised as a star for helping this boy and his mother expose bullying.
“We have been lucky enough to partner with Red Balloon Learner Centre this year as our charity of the year and they have shown us the impact that bullying can have on young people.
“Antoinette showed great diligence and compassion when dealing with this incident which fortunately is rare on our buses though it can of course happen without our staff knowing.
“Antoinette started her career at Reading Buses as a driver and was seconded into our customer services team after showing great customer service skills.
“She showed some of our core values in dealing with this: unrelenting customer focus, demonstrating a caring attitude and of course doing the right thing. We cannot ask more.”