As with many capital cities, Cardiff is a magnet for those in trouble including runaway children, rough sleepers, people with alcohol and drug problems and other vulnerable groups. Many of these individuals would ‘hang around’ the bus station and other key bus stops, which would deter passengers from travelling by bus, particularly at night.
Many of these people, for a whole range of reasons, were not getting vital access to the mainstream services they needed.
Safer Cardiff, the Cardiff City Centre Team, Cardiff Bus and Barclays Bank formed a partnership to come to the rescue of some of Cardiff’s most vulnerable people. The Cardiff Outreach Bus was launched at Christmas 2002, the only resource of its kind in the UK.
Other organisations were also recruited into the partnership including South Wales Police, British Transport Police, NCP Car Parks, The Salvation Army, The Big Issue and the Wallich Clifford Community for Homeless People. All these partners share a common goal – achieving an excellent city centre and taking real opportunities out to vulnerable people.
The Outreach Bus is a double-decker bus, provided by Cardiff Bus and includes the ongoing maintenance and support as well as fuel and insurance. Barclays Bank funded the conversion of the bus into a mobile centre with a kitchen, toilet, electricity, running water, a consulting room and a comfortable seating and socialising area providing time and space in a warm dry environment. The bus has dramatically improved services for rough sleepers in Cardiff and is respected as an important resource.
The bus has been invaluable in helping multi-agencies reach the unreachable. It has enabled vulnerable homeless people to gain access to health and social agencies in a non threatening, relaxed environment, there is also access to outreach workers, a nurse, social workers and a homeless officer, they even issue vouchers for dogs to be seen by the National Canine Defence League, if necessary.
