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Churches & Resources: Hawkwell Baptist Church
A Tale of Two Buses
A Tale of Two Buses
Route One
www.routeone.org.uk
Simon Ford is Project Coordinator for the Route One bus.
As their web-site says it, “The bus contains an inspiring exhibition and a presentation space with seating for 30 people. The bus can therefore accommodate a class with small groups of 4-6 pupils being shown around the exhibition by trained tour guides while others are in the presentation space.
www.routeone.org.uk
Simon Ford is Project Coordinator for the Route One bus.
As their web-
Talking with John & Carol Bastin on the SoS Bus
Rochford Life: Who actually runs this bus?
John: We run the bus and have done for the past six years
RL: Where does the finance come from?
John: Some come from venues in the town, and also from Clubwatch which is a group of all the venues and they support it as a group as well as individually. We get a minimum amount from the Council and the rest comes from private donations. It costs between £72,000 to £80,000 per year to run this bus and about £60,000 a year for the Basildon bus.
Rochford Life: Who actually runs this bus?
John: We run the bus and have done for the past six years
RL: Where does the finance come from?
John: Some come from venues in the town, and also from Clubwatch which is a group of all the venues and they support it as a group as well as individually. We get a minimum amount from the Council and the rest comes from private donations. It costs between £72,000 to £80,000 per year to run this bus and about £60,000 a year for the Basildon bus.
RL: How does it work?
John: We take it out on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 9.00pm until the early hours which could be as late as 6.00am in the morning in Southend. The one in Basildon tends to go out 9.00pm to 4.00am.
RL: You must have a team I assume. You couldn’t do it on your own.
John: Well we did for the first four and a half years. We had some volunteers. I did it every weekend and Carol some weekends, and we’ve now taken on some permanent people on both buses.
Carol: Apart from doing the night work it does also involve a lot of administration work. We also attend the Air Show and we had both buses last year in the Carnival as a First Aid Post. We also go into schools .
RL: On a Saturday night, where is the bus?
John: Between MacDonald’s and Marks and Spencer’s and it stays there but we also have a seven seater support vehicle and we link up with the police and town centre radio. If we get called out we go out in the support vehicle and deal with them there or we’ll bring them back here and deal with them and we’ve also got a couple of bikes if we can’t get into the middle of the town.
RL: And you are there for vulnerable people?
John: That’s right. It can be people who are drunks or on drugs or who are simply ill or generally needing help.
Carol: Sometimes people just need information, where they can find a B&B to stay or finding a taxi to get home.
John: Southend is now one of the top safest towns in the country now. We have more policemen on the beat, even the venues are safer today.
RL: You have links with the YMCA?
John: Yes, I work for the YMCA
Carol: Yes, but he’s got a background as a builder.
RL: So how did you get into this?
John: I was talked into it.
Carol: We’re members of Leigh Road Baptist Church and they were talking about this SoS Project and they wanted somebody to run it and they asked John to do it.
RL: Well thank you both for that. To give a further flavour of what the bus does, here are statistics from their brochure:
SOS BUS Statistical Snapshot: January to December 2009
John: We take it out on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 9.00pm until the early hours which could be as late as 6.00am in the morning in Southend. The one in Basildon tends to go out 9.00pm to 4.00am.
RL: You must have a team I assume. You couldn’t do it on your own.
John: Well we did for the first four and a half years. We had some volunteers. I did it every weekend and Carol some weekends, and we’ve now taken on some permanent people on both buses.
Carol: Apart from doing the night work it does also involve a lot of administration work. We also attend the Air Show and we had both buses last year in the Carnival as a First Aid Post. We also go into schools .
RL: On a Saturday night, where is the bus?
John: Between MacDonald’s and Marks and Spencer’s and it stays there but we also have a seven seater support vehicle and we link up with the police and town centre radio. If we get called out we go out in the support vehicle and deal with them there or we’ll bring them back here and deal with them and we’ve also got a couple of bikes if we can’t get into the middle of the town.
RL: And you are there for vulnerable people?
John: That’s right. It can be people who are drunks or on drugs or who are simply ill or generally needing help.
Carol: Sometimes people just need information, where they can find a B&B to stay or finding a taxi to get home.
John: Southend is now one of the top safest towns in the country now. We have more policemen on the beat, even the venues are safer today.
RL: You have links with the YMCA?
John: Yes, I work for the YMCA
Carol: Yes, but he’s got a background as a builder.
RL: So how did you get into this?
John: I was talked into it.
Carol: We’re members of Leigh Road Baptist Church and they were talking about this SoS Project and they wanted somebody to run it and they asked John to do it.
RL: Well thank you both for that. To give a further flavour of what the bus does, here are statistics from their brochure:
SOS BUS Statistical Snapshot: January to December 2009
1131 people made contact and visited the bus during the above time frame. Of these who gave (or it was evident they had) a reason for their visit:
Scared to go home 2
Unable to get home 225 (under the influence of drink)
Requested information 148
Sexual Awareness help given 212
Need medical attention 359
Felt vulnerable and needed to get home 70
Clients that needed attention but passed to A&E 74
Homeless and passed onto agency 6
Wanted to talk 35
Total 1131
Unable to get home 225 (under the influence of drink)
Requested information 148
Sexual Awareness help given 212
Need medical attention 359
Felt vulnerable and needed to get home 70
Clients that needed attention but passed to A&E 74
Homeless and passed onto agency 6
Wanted to talk 35
Total 1131
Of the above we were asked to attend by the following agencies: Called by Police 75 / Called by Town link 48 / Called by Nightclubs 298 / Called by Street Pastors and Public 5
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The SoS Bus of Southend
Tel. 07790 869 003
Whereas Route One is primarily a mobile teaching and display resource, since 2006 the SOS Bus has been a ‘safe haven’ bus which is positioned in the Southend town centre high street, several evenings a week.
The bus is equipped to enable basic first aid to be carried out, counselling to take place, people able to walk into a safe environment until assistance is arranged, and literature on alcohol and drug education/intervention support services is provided.
John Bastin is the Project Co-ordinator of the SoS Bus
To see the YouTube video of the bus CLICK HERE
Tel. 07790 869 003
Whereas Route One is primarily a mobile teaching and display resource, since 2006 the SOS Bus has been a ‘safe haven’ bus which is positioned in the Southend town centre high street, several evenings a week.
The bus is equipped to enable basic first aid to be carried out, counselling to take place, people able to walk into a safe environment until assistance is arranged, and literature on alcohol and drug education/intervention support services is provided.
John Bastin is the Project Co-
To see the YouTube video of the bus CLICK HERE
A number of visitors in the lower deck central display area as Simon gives a talk.
Most of the downstairs wall space is taken up with
informative displays.
informative displays.
The upper deck is equipped as a lecture theatre or teaching room.
More display area material.
Route One, as a mobile display and teaching rooms, has been into a number of local secondary schools. For more activity see their web-site above.
Date: 17th July 2011 Venue: Hawkwell Baptist’s ‘Fun Day’ at Magnolia Park