Ballarat SoupBus finds new temporary home on Doveton Street

Last week, the Ballarat SoupBus was hit with a notice by the Ballarat Council to relocate from their former address outside of Camerons Welding and Industrial at 124 Armstrong Street South.

The Courier understands the forced move was spurred by the owner of the neighbouring vacant building, who had promised prospective tenants, the SoupBus along with the Shower Bus, which has operated in tandem with the SoupBus since the pandemic, would no longer be visible once the tenant set up shop.

Ballarat SoupBus founder Craig Schepis said, while he understood the impact having the buses outside a business owner's property could have, finding a new home in such a short time had put them in situation of "mounting pressure".

Mr Schepis said their main concern around relocating stemmed from the Shower Bus and the problems that could arise with discharging greywater.

"We had been given a timeline from the owner that the new business moving in, would be taking over at the end of March; so we were working frantically," he said.

For Sebastopol man, Bradley Yates, 36, who was homeless three months ago due to a previous relationship, he said the thought of not having the SoupBus was something which would leave him "shattered".

"They were all I had to eat and survive when I was homeless," Mr Yates said.

"If they closed I'd be impacted massively."

Mr Yates said the free food service was not only a source of a hearty meal but a lifeline for friendship.

"It helped me meet and keep in touch with other people who were also homeless and they (the SoupBus) always made sure everyone was okay," he said.

Similarly, Ballarat's Jason Neck, 39, who had been sleeping rough on and off for the last few years, said if the SoupBus was closed he would have to bear with the "anxieties of the unknown".

"I'd be disappointed, stressed, saddened and I'd go without food," Mr Neck said.

"It's (the SoupBus) a good fail safe and great place to meet new people and catch up with old friends."

Since Thursday night, the Ballarat SoupBus has secured a new temporary location outside of 132 Doveton Street South all thanks to the help of Camerons Welding and Industrial.

"They (Camerons Welding and Industrial) had said to me, 'you tell us what you need and we'll make it happen'," Mr Schepis said.

"I had suggested to them that we possibly relocate to the Doveton Street side to their steel side and they responded by saying, 'if that's where you want to be, then we'll make it happen' and they were fantastic.

"So all we had to do was organise water lines for both the Shower Bus and the SoupBus and also 15 amp power for both buses and we were lucky enough just to have a few connections to an electrician who his whole team dropped all of their work and donated their time and we managed to get that finished at about 5:30 on Thursday night."

Ballarat mayor Des Hudson said the council was exploring a new permanent location for both the SoupBus and the Shower Bus.

"A change in use of nearby buildings on Armstrong Street has meant that it was appropriate to consider an alternative location," Cr Hudson said.

"We are assisting volunteers who run both buses in gaining the required permits to achieve this outcome, which is currently underway."

IN THE NEWS:

Over the last few months, the SoupBus has witnessed at least one in three people who visited the meal service enquiring about the availability of dog food to cope with soaring cost of living pressures.

Uniting Ballarat homelessness senior manager Adam Liversage said he had bore witness to a similar trend emerging with pet food in "high demand" among their emergency relief group clientele.

Have you signed up to The Courier's variety of news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in Ballarat.