A group of volunteers from Wales, England have transformed a double-decker bus into a portable night-time shelter for homeless people.
The volunteer group HOPE (Helping Open People’s Eyes) has been doing their best to support the homeless people in their community around 4 years by supplying them with food.
However, a year ago, they decided to fundraise and use the money to buy a bus and transform it into a shelter for the homeless to be able to have a good night’s sleep, prepare some food in the kitchen, and go to the bathroom like all people deserve to.
They were inspired to do this move by a similar project that happened in Bristol.
HOPE Buys Second-Hand Bus & Transforms It
Ian and Tammy Smith who’re a couple and part of the HOPE organization purchased the second-hand bus for 5000 English pounds and spent almost a year to refurbish it-they added beds, showers, toilets, and a kitchen.
The iconic red London double-decker by HOPE was officially launched before Christmas last year.
Around 20,000 English pounds of work was done to make it a suitable place for homeless people to feel good.
A Hard Project, but a Rewarding One
Even though this has been quite the challenging project, HOPE claims that it was all worth it.
Unfortunately, homelessness is becoming more and more common and the number of people who’re living on the streets is growing.
The group has opened up a Crowdfunding campaign online and their target is 8,000 pounds.
They wrote on their website that the immense support and help has been amazing and everyone has done their best to help them reach this goal.
Thanks to these wonderful people and their donations, the bus is ready for launch.
Looking Forward to the New Project
The people from HOPE note that at least 2 people from their 9 volunteers will be on duty while the bus is being used.
They plan on using the bus for several nights per week at first and may increase the usage in the future.
Ian Smith is a self-employed minibus driver who started collecting money for the project in October 2018.
However, HOPE isn’t a registered charity so most of the money was collected through donations and raffles.
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