Crawley homeless charity secures location for shelter

This follows a campaign, backed by the Observer, to find a permanent location for the converted double decker bus, owned by the Danny Gallivan Trust.

Known as ‘Danny’, the bus is intended to act as a safe haven and is outfitted with a kitchen and dormitory, with separate areas for men and women.

Steve Swain, chairman of the charity said: “It will be somewhere they [the homeless] can feel safe.

“Our mission is to help these people get their lives back on track.”

The bus will house up to 12 people at a time and Steve hopes it will open in November.

It is to be based in the car park of the old Travelodge in Lowfield Heath.

Steve told how grateful he was to the owners of the land, Arlo Holdings, who have also offered free water and electricity for the bus.

As well as providing shelter for the homeless the bus will be registered as a permanent address.

This allows its residents to access things like doctors, dentists and gives them work opportunities they may otherwise miss out on.

It is not just Arlo Holdings who have helped the charity’s work.

Steve said: “Tesco has been very good to the charity.

“Working for a charity restores your faith in human nature.”

The Hookwood store raised around £2,000 for the charity, however Steve also thanked Food Cloud and Crawley Men in Sheds for their work.

The Sheds group provided tradesmen who worked to fit the bus out to give the inhabitants as comfortable a life as possible.

He told how a ‘band of volunteers’ made the shelter happen.

Steve added: “The list [of thanks] is a very, very long list.

“I would like to extend my thanks to everyone who has helped this project get off the ground.”

The Danny Gallivan trust was originally set up to help homeless ex-service people however they quickly realised they could help homeless people of all backgrounds.

The charity was founded by Kerry Gallivan, whose father Danny served in the Irish Guards and the Guards Independent Parachute Company, serving in Aden, Libya and Malaya.

Danny passed away in 2012. The charity was started to support anyone who had fallen on hard times.

For further information or to donate you can visit the charity’s website at dgtrust.org.uk

Alternatively you can visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dg.trust2/