The $60,000 shower and laundry van and its tow vehicle loaner will improve the lives of people experiencing homelessness on the southern Peninsula.
Lions club members with shire councillor Antonella Celi (black top), Monica Holland (white jacket) and Mark Holland (dark blue sports jacket) from initiating club Flinders Lions in front of the shower and laundry van.
Lions clubs on the Mornington Peninsula have funded a mobile shower and laundry unit for people experiencing homelessness. The Jayco brand van has two showers and toilet cubicles as well as a commercial washing machine and dryer. The $60,000 van will be hauled around the southern Peninsula for 12 months by a Mazda BT-50 dual cab utility loaned by Mornington Mazda.
The SPLaSh (Southern Peninsula Laundry and Shower) van was funded by Lions clubs of Flinders, Rye, Dromana and McCrae with contributions from Lions Australia and Lions International as well as private benefactors. It was presented last month to Rosebud-based Southern Peninsula Community Support.
SPCS CEO Jeremy Maxwell said the van was “a great initiative from local community groups and businesses working together to assist the community. The SPLaSh project assists those living rough on the southern Peninsula”. The van was currently parked on the foreshore at Rosebud to meet a need for “female-friendly facilities”, he said, and a trial was about to start to see where the van would best be utilised, similar to how Mornington Peninsula Shire’s library bus used to operate, visiting 16 towns on a set schedule each week. The mobile library prime mover was decommissioned in September 2021, a victim of the pandemic.
Mr Maxwell said the van was the initiative of Flinders Lions “which set out to assist SPCS, which supports hundreds of clients each year who need food, toiletries, temporary accommodation and counselling. The Flinders club initially raised $15,000 through events and donations, and successfully applied for a matching grant from the Australian Lions Foundation. Flinders then approached Dromana, McCrae and Rye Lions and their contributions enabled a second grant to be obtained, from Lions Clubs International Foundation”.
Fundraising started in November 2021 and the van was launched on February 21. Mr Maxwell said the launch was attended by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council CEO John Baker, some councillors, more than 100 supporters and Lions club members, and Lions district and foundation representatives. “The project is a great example of people doing one more thing to help the community.”
Details: SPCS, 5986 1285.
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