Homelessness-fighting ‘Ur Bus’ hits the road in Coventry

A new project aiming to combat homelessness and loneliness in Coventry hit the road on 21 March.

The ‘Ur Bus’ is a renovated bus, painted bright purple, which offers sleeping pods for rough sleepers and a place for the community to meet.

The project was the brainchild of Aiden Feeney, who hopes that the project will be able to combat loneliness.

Feeney described the bus as a “hub for the community” during the day which will be an inviting space for people to sit and have a tea or coffee.

The bus, refurbished over the months since October, has been fitted upstairs with seven sleeping pods, and downstairs with a table and tea-making facilities

At night, it will be a “double-decker bus to help get people to the next step of finding a home”, while providing a warm place to sleep.

The bus, refurbished over the months since October, has been fitted upstairs with seven sleeping pods, and downstairs with a table and tea-making facilities.

The remaining seats have been reupholstered with purple velvet, matching the external appearance of the bus which Feeney described as a “calming, soothing colour”.

The bus provides people with a place to stay for a week at a time, from 7pm – 7am. During their stay, the inviting and calm setting will function as a place for guests to discuss their next steps with charities and social workers.

Former Coventry City footballer Kirk Stephens is an ambassador for the project, as part of his pledge to “give back”  to the city.

[The project will be] a great opportunity to get [homeless people] a safe place to sleep and, hopefully with the help of charities, moved on to a full-time home

Kirk Stephens, former Coventry City footballer and project ambassador

He recalled seeing “an old lady a few months ago living in the bin stores behind a block of flats” and thinking “‘this shouldn’t be happening’”.

Stephens thought that the project would be “a great opportunity to get people like her a safe place to sleep and, hopefully with the help of charities, moved on to a full-time home”.

There have been some concerns over the viability of the ‘Ur Bus’, however.

Feeney admitted that they are still looking for landowners willing to allow overnight parking and electrical plug-in provision. He pleaded for landowners to do a “good deed”.

Meanwhile, he assured that “there will be no drugs and no drinking on board.”

Amid the rising issue of homelessness in Coventry, it is hoped that the project, while unorthodox, may offer a refuge for some of society’s most vulnerable people.