The fact that there are over 3000 people sleeping rough on the streets of London shows that there’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to tackling homelessness. Dan Atkins is doing something about it with his venture Buses4Homeless. Previously running a party bus operation, Atkins pivoted his business after seeing a man sleeping in a luggage store, buying and refurbishing a double-decker bus and letting the man use it as a shelter.
Now Buses4Homeless has four buses, which save the old double-deckers that no longer meet the clean air requirements from the scrapheap, providing shelter to the homeless. Each bus has twenty sleeping pods with storage space, and people can stay for a minimum of three months. The company is also creating bus restaurant and a ‘learning bus’ complete with computers so residents can get a hot meal and find work.
The aim is to park the buses in a square to create a community space, which will be in Thornton Heath until a permanent site becomes available. To keep the good work going Buses4Homeless needs donations, so you can get involved here.