• Open day attracted over 400 visitors and raised over £2,000 for charity

• BEAR Scotland pledges to repeat the event next year

Doors Open Day at the Forth Road Bridge has been hailed a great success, attracting over 400 visitors and raising over £2,000 for charity.

The event on Saturday 24 September was organised by Transport Scotland’s operating company BEAR Scotland, who have pledged to repeat the event next year.

Guided tours of the bridge hosted by experienced members of staff departed every 15 minutes throughout the day, stopping at points of interest along the bridge deck and visiting one of the main cable anchorages, normally hidden from public view. BEAR Scotland had received an overwhelming response to the offer of tours, with over 1,000 applications for 336 places received within hours of them being advertised.

The Forth Bridges Contact and Education Centre was also open to the public, featuring competitions, special exhibits and educational activities for young people, as well as sales of Forth Bridges branded merchandise.

All money raised at the event went to BEAR Scotland’s national charity partner of the year, the Scottish SPCA. In total, over £2,000 was raised for the animal welfare charity.

One lucky visitor won a charity raffle for a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two to the top of the Forth Road Bridge’s main towers.

BEAR Scotland Managing Director, Iain Murray, said: “BEAR Scotland was delighted to welcome the public to the Forth Road Bridge on Doors Open Day and share our passion for maintaining this iconic structure.

“We were overwhelmed by the response to our offer of bridge tours, however the team did an excellent job organising a seamless event and we’ve had great feedback from our visitors.

“After this success I’m pleased to confirm that we’ll be repeating the event next year.

“Our thanks go to all who attended and helped to raise money for such a deserving cause in the Scottish SPCA.”

Scottish SPCA head of fundraising, Natasha MacKinnon, said, “The Scottish SPCA were delighted to attend Doors Open Day and are thrilled with the total proceeds raised for Scotland’s animals. The guided tours, exhibition and brilliant raffle prize on offer from BEAR Scotland made for a truly unique day out and a hugely successful event.

“This was the latest event in our ongoing work with BEAR Scotland who have voted us as their charity of choice for 2022. We are thrilled at their show of support which will help us towards our aim of being there for all animals, always.”