A converted bus giving Taree’s homeless a safe place to sleep is set to be back on the road soon, after a broken throttle cable and failing batteries took it out of action.
The BED INN BUS, run by Manning Homeless Action Group (MHAG), has been offering overnight accommodation to Taree’s homeless three nights a week since April, but a mechanical fault has stopped it being driven while old batteries powering the onboard sleep pods are replaced.
MHAG spent five years working to get the bus on the road. The group needed $100,000 to buy the vehicle, known as a Sleepbus, from a Melbourne company that repurposes old vehicles. By 2023, MHAG had raised over $35,000. Tanya Thompson, now State MP for Great Lakes, whose brother had experienced homelessness, then secured a $65,000 grant that took the group over its target.
The bus was expected by the end of 2023, but delays followed as the Melbourne company ran into financial trouble. In January 2025, the company announced it would close by the end of June, and MHAG was asked for a further $50,000 to secure a bus. A generous benefactor covered the cost, but the vehicle that eventually arrived in Taree, in August 2025, had sat unused for nine months and was in poor external condition.
Terry Stanton, a Manning Homeless Action Group member, said the group very nearly gave up on the project.
“I thought when it reached a certain point, I really thought we would be throwing good money after bad by paying the extra 50 grand,” Mr Stanton said.
Local businesses stepped in to help get the bus ready. Two Taree firms resprayed the bus and produced the BED INN BUS signage for free.
“It is amazing how many people will respond generously to that kind of thing,” Mr Stanton said.
Bob Nelson, who now leads Manning Homeless Action Group, arranged for the bus manufacturer, Hino, to repair the faulty throttle cable at cost, and for the battery manufacturer to supply new batteries at factory prices.
Mr Stanton said the bus, parked in the Chapman Place car park near the bridge, sits close to a community kitchen, Centrelink, op shops and the Uniting Church, which offers homeless people a shower, soap and a towel.
The Wingham Rotary Club manages the group’s finances and separately donates 60 sleeping bags a year to homeless support groups.
Guests sleep in individual pods, each with a toilet, bedding and climate control once the batteries are working. Mr Stanton said the enclosed design is not for everyone, recalling one woman who could not stay once the pod door was shut.
“It’s not going to be everybody’s cup of tea,” Mr Stanton said. “But I would prefer to sleep there than in a doorway in the high street.”
MHAG says its bank balance will fall to around $8,000 once the battery bill is paid, and the group is calling for both volunteers and donations to keep the bus running. Drivers, cleaners, bedding changers and overnight supervisors are all needed.
“We’ve got a number of drivers, but it’s never enough,” Mr Stanton said.
Some critics have suggested the project’s setbacks amount to failure, a claim MHAG firmly rejects. In its press release, the group stated MHAG had overcome every problem it had encountered.
“We didn’t drown in the deep end; we swam. That is SUCCESS,” the group stated.
Anyone wanting to volunteer or donate can contact MHAG at mhagbedinnbus@gmail.com or 0482 032 171. Donations can be made to the Rotary Club of Wingham/MHAG, BSB 932000, account number 100582455.
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