A volunteer team from Newport, Wales, has helped raise $24,000 for a project of converting a double-decker bus into a shelter for the homeless.
It has a total of 12 beds, two toilets, two showers, a kitchen, and a sitting room.
The project was started by a team of volunteers from Helping Open People’s Eyes about a year ago. According to the team, the bus will be on the road within a couple of months, just before the intense cold sets in.
Ian Smith, a bus driver, and his wife, Tammy, got the idea of creating a mobile night shelter from a similar project they saw last year in Bristol.
Ian told Wales Online: “We have been feeding the homeless for the last four years. It is getting more and more common and we are seeing a lot more people on the streets.
“I first seen Jasper Thompson and his Bristol Home for the Night campaign.
“He had a bus there which was converted. I saw his project and I thought what a wonderful thing so I thought we should start fundraising for it.”
Forty-four-year-old Ian started fundraising in October 2018. The main source of funds for the project were raffles and donations.
He eventually raised enough money to buy a $6,662 bus and convert it into a shelter. Now he just has to complete a couple of repairs and the bus will be up and running for the purpose it is built.
Ian said: “No grants whatsoever. It was fundraising and people and businesses helping out.
“It has been hard work but worth it. We want to get it out before Christmas but it is just whether we can get through these repairs.
“But we are still looking for funding. To take the bus from Cefn Fforest to Newport is £60($80) in fuel.”
In a similar 2017 project, a team of around 80 volunteers from Portsmouth helped convert a 20-year-old Stagecoach to be used as a shelter for the homeless.
The project cost $8,000, all of which was raised through donations and crowdfunding.
Replaced!