Your Lothian Buses People's Champion is revealed

The winner of the first ever Lothian Buses People's Champion has been named for spreading kindness throughout the Capital with his good deeds.

Lothian Buses People's Champion Raul Campos-Falgado with Evening News deputy editor Euan McGrory.

After dozens of nominations and more than 1,000 votes, your People’s Champion is Raul Campos-Folgado.

Raul was presented with his award at the Lothian People Awards in a glittering ceremony at the Hilton Carlton Hotel on North Bridge.

The Evening News teamed up with Lothian Buses for the People’s Champion award, which represents the random acts of kindness from our city’s bus drivers.

Central Garage driver Raul was nominated for going above and beyond for his customers and was a popular choice, with 60 per cent of the vote.

Will Pare, general manager at Central Garage, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that Raul’s passion and enthusiasm for delivering a consistently excellent service for our customers has been recognised by the public with this award.

“The title of this award perfectly sums up Raul as he is certainly a people person. He is admired by colleagues and customers alike and a true ambassador for Lothian.”

Raul is usually driving the Airlink 100 service and his unique personality comes across and makes him highly regarded by both colleagues and customers. Originally from Spain, Raul joined the firm in 2008 and has become a real ambassador for Lothian.

He is well known for leaving passengers with a smile on their face with his friendly and helpful demeanour. The other finalists were Joe Burnett and Joy Innes-Greig, with our judges really having their work cut out to narrow the shortlist down to three.

Euan McGrory, deputy editor of the Evening News, said: “Raul was a worthy winner, but what was clear was how much our readers appreciate the great service they get from so many of his colleagues too.” The People’s Champion award was part of the annual Lothian People Awards ceremony where employees were recognised for their outstanding contribution to the business. Lothian managing director Richard Hall said: “Our awards allow us the opportunity to recognise the exceptional individuals across our business who go above and beyond to deliver an exceptional service for our customers.”