Refuge for rough sleepers nearing completion

BALLARAT’S long-awaited sleep bus is expected to be in use before the end of the year.

The bus was delivered to Ballarat in June and volunteers are now completing a final fit-out and making other preparations to have it ready for people needing a place to sleep.

The project was in turmoil and was surrounded by uncertainty in April when the charity building and supplying the vehicle, Sleep Bus, announced that it would close down on 30 June.

Sleep Bus was a registered charity and operated buses providing safe overnight accommodation for homeless people in several areas of Australia.

The Committee for Ballarat, which had been heading up the local bus project, was in dispute with Sleep Bus founder Simon Rowe over financial aspects at the time but has stepped away since Mr Rowe delivered the vehicle.

The Ballarat initiative began in 2022 and was driven by a project team from the committee’s Future Shapers community leadership program. A bus was originally supposed to be in operation here by the end of 2023.

A collective of volunteers from several organisations is now working on finalising the bus for use.

Rotary Club of Ballarat West member and a spokesman for the collective, Alan Barham, said it was hoped the bus would be in use by the end of this year, if not before.

“We have a group of volunteers from various groups who are completing the fit-out of the bus and making the bus operational,” he said.

Mr Barham said others were meeting regularly to form the entity that will operate the bus.

“We’re looking at locations and the regulatory requirements for where the bus would be located when it is operating,” he said, adding that potential names for the vehicle were also being considered.

Mr Barham said organisations involved in the project included the Catholic Diocese of Ballarat, Ballarat Central Uniting Church, the On Track Foundation – which runs The SoupBus – and his Rotary club.

Some people involved with the Future Shapers program also remained keen to continue their association with the project, he said.