00:00 SOS Bus is a charity that's been working on the streets of Belfast for 17 years.
00:04 Our amazing volunteers support the most vulnerable people in our city. We do this
00:09 by relieving the pressure off the emergency services, by providing a safe
00:13 space at Shaftesbury Square at our big SOS Bus and by travelling across the city
00:16 in our response vehicles, responding to calls from the police, the emergency
00:20 services and members of the public. Well on a typical Friday and Saturday night
00:24 we come across clients from all walks of life. We help clients who are under the
00:30 influence of alcohol or drugs. We have dealt with people and signposted people
00:36 who are victims of domestic violence. We also provide on the street cover. We are
00:41 out walking around the streets of Belfast providing tea, coffee, water and
00:45 clothes to the homeless and also sleeping bags if necessary. The majority
00:51 of our clients would be under the influence of alcohol although we have seen a spike
00:55 in the last two years of those under the influence of drugs and those overdosing which has
01:01 led us to carry naloxone in our walkabout bags at all times now. The
01:05 service that we provide on a Friday and Saturday night isn't cheap to run. There
01:09 is maintenance of our large bus, there is maintenance of our mini bus and there's
01:14 also the cost for resources for maintaining our defibrillators for
01:19 replacing the laxatone and with the use of these mini buses which the funding is
01:22 essential for we're able to go out and actively seek those who need the help
01:26 and if necessary use the mini buses to either transport them to our large bus
01:30 to a safe place or to bring them home or somewhere to stay for the night. As a
01:35 charity we rely on donations from the public and from corporate sponsors. In
01:38 2023 we were delighted to receive funding from the Spar and I community
01:42 cashback program to keep our essential services on the road along with our
01:46 buses. It's generous funding like this that allows us to equip our volunteers
01:50 with life-saving defibrillators, radio communication equipment and it goes
01:54 towards the refurbishment of the SOS vehicles including our SOS response mini
01:58 buses to provide a better service on the streets of Belfast. So if you are a
02:02 charity that does rely on donations and doesn't get the government funding then
02:05 I would strongly suggest that you get involved in this scheme because it's
02:08 incredibly worthwhile and it keeps us providing the services that we can for
02:13 our service users and to provide safety on the streets.
02:17 you
02:19 you
02:21 you
02:23 (gentle music)
02:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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