As of 1st October 2024 the SOS Bus Norwich is now an independent charity entirely led and managed by volunteers.
For over 23 years the SOS Bus has been a fixture of the night-time economy in Norwich. The new charity will initially continue the service in the same format as before and has set out its vision for:
- The night-time community of Norwich to be safe, healthy, empowered and protected.
- Our emergency services to have maximum capacity to assist people most in need of their help within Norwich’s night-time community.
- Norwich’s night-time economy consumers to adopt safe, wise and healthy habits and have sensible plans for the entire length of their evening.
The SOS Team do everything from supporting those whose wellbeing is threatened, aiding people in planning their safe journey home, providing medical care to the injured or ill (by a qualified medical team), offering bottles of water, flip flops and a phone charging facility. All these activities reduce, non-urgent, demand on the city’s emergency services – freeing them up to attend the most urgent calls. This is particularly important given the pressures on emergency and health services particularly out of hours and over the weekend.
Changes to the funding for the service last financial year meant that a new way had to be found for Norwich’s SOS Bus to continue.
Voluntary Norfolk, along with a committed group of staff and volunteers, has been working towards transitioning the SOS Bus service to an independent, volunteer-led charity. Now, the charities’ most pressing strategy action is to build financial sustainability, to secure the future of the service and then grow its coverage to help as many people as it can.
Their volunteers have been actively fundraising and successful grant applications have been made.
In 2023-2024 the service had 38 volunteers. There are three core volunteer roles on shift: One Shift Coordinator, three Shift Support and a Support Vehicle Driver alongside a contracted paramedic, emergency first responder and security guard.
Last year, the volunteers gave over 3,000 hours of their time over the course of 94 shifts. A further 125 hours were spent cleaning and maintaining the vehicle.
In that time the service ensured that 51 emergency department visits and 170 ambulance callouts were prevented. The team spent over 144 hours caring for people brought to the service by the police who they would otherwise have had to look after, thus freeing up operational capacity for the Norfolk Constabulary at some of their busiest times. In total the SOS Bus service helped over 2,919 people last year.
The service remains busy with 840 people having been helped by the SOS Bus’ volunteers since April. The team of volunteers continue to prevent avoidable emergency service callouts, however tight finances has restricted the number of nights the service can operate and number of people it can help.
“The SOS Bus will continue to be a crucial part of Norwich’s night-time safety.”
Belinda Buxton, the Operational Manager, said: “As we start our journey as an entirely volunteer-led charity, the SOS Bus will continue to be a crucial part of Norwich’s night-time safety. Our team of dedicated volunteers is committed to maintaining the professional high levels of support that the community has come to associate with our service. This service is more important than ever, and we’re excited to ensure it remains a lifeline for those in need for years to come”.
The charity does need everyone’s help to continue the service. The SOS bus welcomes both financial support and material donations.
We have several corporate sponsors and have launched a JustGiving page to raise funds and awareness for the new charity (registered charity number 1208922).” To donate visit: https://www.justgiving.com/page/fiona-muller-1728027905709?newPage=true
If your employer or business would like to sponsor the SOS Bus Norwich, please do get in touch at info@sosbus.co.uk.
SOS Bus Norwich has open volunteer roles both client facing and also in fundraising, cleaning and stocking the bus, vehicle maintenance. Please get in touch at info@sosbus.co.uk if you can support them.
