Redcliffe's first glimpse at sleepbus

The team from The Breakfast Club in Redcliffe have had their first glimpse a what an sleepbus looks like after one made a pit stop in the Moreton Bay Region.

Michelle Gilchrist and Helen Bambling from The Breakfast Club were delighted to meet sleepbus founder Simon Rowe when he stopped by on Thursday as he made his way from Melbourne to the Fraser Coast to deliver a sleepbus to Hervey Bay. 

This gave both Michele and Helen the opportunity to see how the bus runs, how big the sleep pods are, and to feel how comfortable the beds are before their first bus arrives later this year.

Speaking to Moreton Daily during his brief stopover, Simon said he was thrilled to show off the bus and its features to the small crowd who came down to inspect the bus. This included volunteers from The Breakfast Club as well as a few people who are currently sleeping rough.

“It’s great to be able to pop into Redcliffe while on my way to Hervey Bay now that they have done their fundraising,” Simon said.

“I have got to build them one now, so to be able to show them what’s coming and for them to have an idea of what a sleepbus is, it’s really exciting.

“We are going to have this facility here for them to use a little later on in the year, which will be used by people who need a little help to get back on their feet.”

The sleepbus cost $100,000 which The Breakfast Club raised through generous community donations, including donations from The Jelley Family Foundation, Commbank, Kedron Wavel and the Moreton Bay Regional Council.

The Breakfast Club also contributed funds of their own towards the project.

This will be the first sleepbus for the Moreton Bay Region and will ensure those who are sleeping rough will have a safe place to rest their head at night.

Impressed by what she saw, Michele said “I would like to wish Hervey Bay all the success with their sleepbus”.

Features of the bus

Work on Redcliffe’s sleepbus fitout began in March 2023, and is expected to take roughly six months.

The sleepbus will feature up to 18 individual sleep pods and will ensure people who are homeless or sleeping rough on the Redcliffe Peninsula will have access to a safe place to spend the night.

Each sleep pod will consist of a bed with a memory foam mattress, clean bedding, ducted heating and cooling, its own toilet, iPad, and USB charging port.

There are also interchangeable doors allowing parents to sleep with their children, and pets are welcome too.

Sleepers will be kept safe with CCTV surveillance and can store their belongings under the bus.

Click here to read more about the fitout of the sleepbus. 

Sign up to become a volunteer

To ensure the sleepbus can help people in need, a dedicated team of volunteers are needed to look after the day-to-day running of the bus.

Volunteer positions will be run solely through sleepbus, not The Breakfast Club.

Volunteers are needed to assist people boarding the bus, tidying the pods after each guest, a caretaker to ensure everyone’s safety over the course of the night, as well as a driver.

Each bus also needs sponsors to ensure sleepbus can operate.

Sleepbus doesn’t take any government funding, and relies on donations and sponsorship to do the important work they do.
If you are interested in helping, or would like to sponsor the Redcliffe sleepbus, visit the sleepbus website.