What a day! A huge effort to deliver the COVID-19 vaccine to people experiencing homelessness resulted in around 200 receiving the vaccine at a special pop-up clinic at the Bournemouth YMCA today. Everyone vaccinated is homeless, rough sleeping or has been temporarily housed by Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council due to the COVID pandemic. To make today possible Dr Maggie Kirk GP, Founder of the HealthBus Trust charity, and Kate Hibbit, Operations Director, [...]

As Christmas approaches, rough sleepers in the Bournemouth area are receiving bags of treats and necessities. The goodie bags are being handed out to those attending HealthBus clinics. The idea for Bags of Hope comes from Reg Chapman, a retired naval chef and one of our volunteers. He was given some sweet treats to hand out to HealthBus patients but knew that they were in great need of facemasks and hand gel, as well [...]

We have reached our fundraising target of £60,000!  This means we can now purchase a brand-new vehicle to give rough sleepers and people experiencing homelessness access to healthcare and other support services through a mobile drop-in clinic.  Our HealthBus Team have needed a new vehicle since the first COVID-19 lockdown when they found that the hired bus they were using was unsuitable for face-to-face contact. Patients who live on the street are particularly vulnerable [...]

We've encountered unprecedented challenges and successes in our first year as a registered charity! Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, we've not only faced unforeseen challenges in providing our mobile drop-in clinic for rough sleepers in the Bournemouth area, but also successful outcomes. Our team began providing healthcare and specialist GP services for people living on the streets and in emergency hotel accommodation in 2016. Our charity status was accepted in early December 2019. When [...]

Thank you to everyone who took part in our ‘Covid-19 Heroes Campaign’. Amazingly, over 70 creative Covid-19 Heroes responded to our appeal to cut out and decorate a HealthBus Badge in such artistic ways! Thank you for sharing these amazing works of art on social media. YOU have helped us to raise awareness of people sleeping rough and also those who have been temporarily housed in emergency accommodation during this pandemic.  We have loved [...]

At the end of March 2020, the Trustees took to the difficult decision to suspend operations due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Sadly, we have not been able to have face to face contact with our homeless and rough sleeping patients. The current YMCA bus we hire is no longer adequate to see patients. During the past few months, the HealthBus GPs have been communicating with patients regularly providing a lifeline and helping to signpost [...]

A huge thank you to everyone who supported our launch event on 30 January. We raised nearly £4,000 (without including Gift Aid)! Since becoming a registered charity at the end of last year, we can now start fundraising and applying for grants. So we invited supporters old and new to an evening of music and a silent auction at St Stephen’s Church hall in central Bournemouth to celebrate our new status and kick-start our [...]

Today we met six year-old Zac Swift, our youngest donor so far! He visited the HealthBus with his older brother, Finn (aged nine), and his mum to hand over £100 to Dr Maggie Kirk and the team. Zac Swift and his brother Finn with the HealthBus team Zac raised the money by doing jobs around the house and selling old toys over the year. He'd decided to support a homeless charity after [...]

Swanky London hotels are not our usual Friday night hangout. But on 29 November, we had a very special reason to be at the glitzy Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel: Dr Maggie Kirk and the HealthBus team, were nominated for an award at the prestigious annual GP Awards in the category of Clinical Improvement: Public Health and Prevention. HealthBus volunteers at the GP Awards in London The awards ceremony took place during [...]