Target reached!
If we are lucky enough to reach and exceed our target, we would like to start anothe...
Tiffers The Bus Shelter Ipswich
Ipswich, England, United Kingdom
Aim
To help eradicate the need to sleep rough on our streets by providing safe accommodation with full support and guidance to road of recovery.
Our Vision
Nobody deserves a cold concrete floor as a bed
Our Mission
To remove people sleeping on our streets and provide a warm, dry and safe place for them to sleep. Encouraging and helping them get back into everyday society as well as work and a temporary home to live.
Our plan and objective
Our aim is to convert a double decker bus that was donated to us by Stephenson of Essex into a mobile hostel for the rough sleepers in Ipswich. The bus is being converted to accommodate 14 beds each with their own led night light, USB charging socket and privacy curtains, the seating area downstairs will also convert into beds to allow the bus to sleep an extra 4 guests in an emergency. There will also be wash facilities, shower and a toilet, a functional kitchen which will serve breakfast, lunch, tea’s and coffee’s etc throughout the day. Main meals will be provided from an outside company free of charge thanks to The Teapot Project. There is also chill out area, a pc area for guests to use for applications and researching. Clean clothes will also be readily available from our shop Tiffers The Bus Shelter Shop.
The conversion itself has been designed by myself based on the Isle of Wight bus and with the added help and support of other volunteer tradesman and local businesses the conversion is well underway. For anything major that cannot be donated or supported we have had fundraising campaigns ongoing to help fund the project and to help continue funding the day to day running costs once we’re on the road and in service.
The bus will not in any way be used to replace existing services but rather to complement and work alongside them offering additional support that’s needed for the guys/girls on our streets. There will be a constructed plan for anyone signed up to sleep on the bus which will consist of drug/alcohol programmes, mental health counselling and voluntary work will be arranged for at least one day a week within the community. We will also be guiding and supporting our guests when they are ready to move on by offering support regarding benefits, bill paying and keeping on top of things to ensure they maintain and survive in their own accommodation.
There is still a lot of planning to be done with the bus and the ins and outs of its full potential, but I feel that once the bus is converted a lot of services will join forces and we will all work together to hopefully eradicate the need to rough sleep on our streets of Ipswich.
Once we have eradicated the NEED to sleep rough we can then remould the module to start accommodating the surfer surfers and anyone that is made homeless before they have no choice but to sleep rough. The good thing with the bus is that it is mouldable to suit a wide range of uses that will benefit so many less fortunate people.
As you can see the top deck is 99% complete with the mattresses. The bedding is already purchased and waiting for the works to finish before being fitted. I have made a start downstairs but still need a few materials to be able to complete. We are also raising funds to cover the cost of the road tax, MOT, road insurance and public liability insurance which comes to about £3000 alone.
On the 28th of August we are holding an event in Christchurch park to officially launch the bus to the public. This will give everyone that has donated, supported, funded the project or just interested to come on board and see the conversion in all its glory and get a real feel for what life will be like for the rough sleepers once they are guests on the bus. The day will be filled with trade and craft stalls as well as lots of classic activities for all the family to enjoy.
For more information and all our updates please find us on Facebook and click like to follow and keep up to date with our progress.
We thank you in advance and anything you can pledge will be gratefully received and very much needed.
Many Thanks
Gareth & Sarah Jane Brenland
This project successfully funded on 25th July 2017