Bus for the homeless takes to the road in Coventry
BBCA new project aimed at tackling homelessness in Coventry hits the road today.
The Ur Bus is a double-decker, with seven sleeping pods on the top deck and a meeting place on the lower deck to help get rough sleepers get back on their feet.
Aiden Feeney came up with the idea to convert the vehicle. He said: "We identified an issue with the homelessness and had the idea to renovate a double-decker bus to help get people to the next step of finding a home."
Former Coventry City player, Kirk Stephens, is an ambassador for the project and says he wanted to "give back" to the city.
Kirk said he was keen to get involved when Aiden asked him because of the homelessness he'd seen around the city.
"We're hoping we can get a lot of people off the street," he said.
"I saw an old lady a few months ago living in the bin stores behind a block of flats and I thought to myself 'this shouldn't be happening'.
"Aiden came up with the idea and I thought it was a great opportunity to get people like her a safe place to sleep and, hopefully with the help of charities, moved on to a full-time home."
The lower deck of the bus has been converted into a meeting space where people can discuss their next steps with charities and social workers.
A table with tea making facilities has been installed, and the remaining seats have been re-upholstered with purple velvet.
Upstairs there are seven sleeping pods, which people will be able to use for a stretch of seven nights at a time from 7pm to 7am.
Aiden said they're looking for landowners who are willing to allow them to park up and plug in.
"What we need are landowners to say you can park the bus up at night, and do their good deed like we're doing ours.
"There will be no drugs and no drinking on board."
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