{"id":118575,"date":"2026-01-10T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/?p=118575"},"modified":"2026-01-09T12:27:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T01:27:26","slug":"new-soupbus-to-serve-southern-suburbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/new-soupbus-to-serve-southern-suburbs\/","title":{"rendered":"New SoupBus to serve southern suburbs"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE Rotary Club of Ballarat launched a new SoupBus last month \u2013 the club’s major project in its centenary year.<\/p>\n

The refurbished bus will serve the suburbs of Sebastopol, Redan and Delacombe and was developed in partnership with the OnTrack Foundation.<\/p>\n

It will be the third SoupBus location and will work in conjunction with the existing Ballarat Central and Wendouree West buses operated by OnTrack.<\/p>\n

The club expects the bus \u2013 known as Gertie \u2013 to provide more than 10,000 meals a year to people in need in the south of Ballarat.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rotarians Holger Knaack and Peter Dunn unveil Gertie’s plaque with the OnTrack Foundation chair Craig Schepis.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It was funded using proceeds from SpringFest over the last two years and was overhauled with additional help from the Rotary Club of Balwyn.<\/p>\n

The refurbishment involved installation of a new and fully operational commercial kitchen with dual ovens, cabinetry, hot and cold water systems, fridges, freezers and storage cupboards.<\/p>\n

The bus was also repainted and repaired.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Gertie the bus was the Rotary Club of Ballarat’s main project in its centenary year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

“This is a proud moment for us,” club president Peter Dunn said. “We have responded to a call by our community and worked with the OnTrack Foundation to increase the number of people in need supported by the SoupBus.<\/p>\n

“We believe access to the meals served from the refurbished SoupBus will make a real difference in people’s lives.”<\/p>\n

The bus was launched by Mr Dunn, Rotary Foundation chair Holger Knaack, and OnTrack Foundation chair Craig Schepis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE Rotary Club of Ballarat launched a new SoupBus last month \u2013 the club’s major project in its centenary year. The refurbished bus will serve the suburbs of Sebastopol, Redan and Delacombe and was developed in partnership with the OnTrack Foundation. It will be the third SoupBus location and will work in conjunction with the […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"featured_media":118586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-118575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew SoupBus to serve southern suburbs - Ballarat Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The new SoupBus "Gertie" launches in Ballarat! Providing 10,000+ free meals a year to Sebastopol, Redan, and Delacombe in 2026.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/ballarat\/news\/new-soupbus-to-serve-southern-suburbs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New SoupBus to serve southern suburbs - Ballarat Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The new SoupBus "Gertie" launches in Ballarat! 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