Laundry relief launches at Salvos

THE Salvation Army’s Bendigo Corps Officer Major Andrew Walker has welcomed the introduction of a new mobile clothes washing facility, provided by homeless charity Orange Sky.

The washers and dryers will be available at the Salvos’ Mundy Street headquarters twice a week, from 1pm to 3pm on Mondays and 10.30am to 1pm on Thursdays, to allow those in need to do their laundry.

More than a portable laundromat, its also angled towards helping isolated people build relationships with others.

“I think this is one of the real benefits of Orange Sky,” said Major Walker. “Homeless people often suffer greatly from social isolation. Having this will help people connect with the community and give them a place to belong.

“Orange Sky’s services are vital. People that are homeless often struggle to access laundry facilities, and the more of these we have, the better access people have.”

Megan Collins, growth coordinator at Orange Sky, said clean clothes are something that most of us take for granted.

“It’s so simple. In essence, we go home and do one to two loads of washing per week,” she said.

“When you think about the fact that all of a sudden if you didn’t have access to that, very quickly your clothes are dirty and you’re less likely to be engaged in the community, you’re not going to be interviewing for jobs.

“Hopefully we can take that burden off people and help them take the first step in improving their all round circumstances.”