Kitchen and washroom fitted on bus to house homeless people in Portsmouth

A KITCHEN and washroom have now been fitted into a double decker bus which will be a shelter for homeless people.
Work is getting underway on the Bus Project. Pictured: Mike Foster and Tony Crane, from Fareham Mens Shed who have been helping. Picture: Malcolm Wells.Work is getting underway on the Bus Project. Pictured: Mike Foster and Tony Crane, from Fareham Mens Shed who have been helping. Picture: Malcolm Wells.
Work is getting underway on the Bus Project. Pictured: Mike Foster and Tony Crane, from Fareham Mens Shed who have been helping. Picture: Malcolm Wells.

The Bus Project is on track to be completed later this year with money and services still being donated.

Joanne Vines and Sonny Barcroft have been working to turn the vehicle into a suitable place for homeless people to spend the night.

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And thanks to donations from companies, groups and members of the public, the bus is already starting to transform.

The News donated £800 to the project this week after staff from the editorial team ran 35 miles around the lake at 1000 Lakeside, in North Harbour, in a relay.

Generous readers rallied to make their donations and show their support for the project.

Sonny, who has been working with Joanne for the past three years on the Rucksack Project, said: ‘Things with the bus are moving along nicely.

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‘The kitchen has been fitted thanks to Vivid Housing who donated it and put it in place.

‘The washroom has been built by AGS Quality Construction, based in Horndean, and a plumber is coming to the bus on the weekend to see about fitting the toilet and sink.’

Students at Highbury College are also getting involved in the project.

They have been given wood to build bunks for the top deck after measuring and getting the specifications.

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Sonny said the bus, donated by Stagecoach, is on track to be completed around late September and early October.

‘We are sticking to the time we wanted and things are happening as planned,’ she added.

‘A lot of that is thanks to the community and businesses getting involved and offering their services.

‘We are really grateful to people giving their skills and time but also the public who have fundraised and donated.’

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As previously reported in The News, the Bus Project will give 12 beds to homeless people in Portsmouth as figures show 60 people are rough sleepers in the city.

Homelessness was in the spotlight this week when Portsmouth City Council Ukip councillor Colin Galloway demanded the removal of homeless people from city streets, calling them ‘unwelcome detritus’.

His comments were made in a motion submitted to a full council meeting set for July 11.

For more details visit facebook.com/Rucksackbus/.

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