A charity that provided temporarily relief to those impacted by the continuing housing crisis has been forced to wind up.
Sleepbus, which arrived on the Sunshine Coast in January 2022 after a community campaign led by the Maroochydore Neighbourhood Centre in 2020, offered a safe night’s sleep in a private, comfortable pod within a reconfigured bus.
But the organisation – which helps people in eight locations across Queensland, NSW and Victoria – is winding up due to insufficient funds to maintain the buses and sustain the service.
“This weekend will be the final operation of the Sleepbus service, leaving a significant gap in support for those experiencing homelessness in our community,” a social media post on Tuesday by the Maroochydore Neighbourhood Centre said.
“This sudden development has come as a shock to us at the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre and is a significant blow to the many individuals who relied on this vital service, as well as those who generously supported it through fundraising efforts.”
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Sleepbus CEO and founder Simon Rowe posted a video to social media on Wednesday morning detailing the situation.
“I’ve got some unfortunate news. As many of you would know, if you’ve followed me for any of this 10-year journey, you would know that we’ve really been struggling financially as a very small organisation for the past 18 months,” he said.
“It has come to a head I’m afraid, we cannot continue as we’ve been going and I’ve had to let go of all the staff and we’ll have to start winding up the Sleepbus charity.
“It wasn’t supposed to last forever. I anticipated I might do this for five years and then government would get their act together and put us out of business, but it hasn’t happened and I’ve soldiered on.
“It’s certainly gotten harder and not easier since Covid. Money is certainly hard to find to do the work that we do and as such as a small organisation it’s just become impossible and I don’t see an improvement coming in this 2025.
“We had a few grants that we’d applied for and weren’t successful and so we’ve just run out of money and we can’t do this anymore.”
Mr Rowe said he would continue on his own until June 30 to finish any buses that are already under construction, then find new organisations to take over the ownership of those vehicles.
“In Maroochydore, we were trying to find a charity partner there that we can hand the bus over to. We did have one in mind, unfortunately things have turned a little bit sour with this news,” he said.
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“We’ll try and find a partner that we can work with on the Sunshine Coast there to keep that service up and running. Obviously it’s very needed and we’ll do everything we can to make sure that that service remains in Maroochydore and can keep providing safe sleeps.
“So there’s a lot to happen, bear with me. I’m not going anywhere. Sleepbus hasn’t folded. We’re still ticking along. It’s just that I cannot afford (to continue). I’ve had to let go of all of the staff, I’m on my own, so please understand that.
“Any of the media outlets that are calling me and wanting to do an interview about the devastating demise of Sleepbus, I won’t be taking your calls. It’s not the devastating demise of Sleepbus. Sometimes these things happen, charities aren’t meant to last forever and, unfortunately, Sleepbus has come to its end.
“We will make sure that we tie it off with a nice little bow and make sure that the services that are currently running, stay running.”
The Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre’s post said it was hopeful of finding a way to continue to support those in need.
“Despite this setback, the Maroochy Neighbourhood Centre remains committed to finding ways to ensure this critical service can continue,” it said.
“We have begun discussions with Simon Rowe to explore how the Sleepbus service might be sustained in the long term. In the short term, however, the service will be paused as we work together toward a practical and sustainable solution.
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“Our goal is to identify a sustainable way to maintain this vital service for our community. We will keep you updated as these conversations progress and share any developments as they arise.
“Thank you for your understanding and continued support as we navigate this challenging situation together.”
