Here’s how tour buses can help fight coronavirus
Since musicians can’t tour right now, there are big buses and vans just sitting idle.
Why not put some of them to use?
Vans for Bands, a company that rents — as you might guess — touring vehicles to musicians for their road trips, has decided to place some of their large buses outside hospitals in the UK so hospital workers can get some rest without worrying about going home and contaminating their families.
“At Vans for Bands we are thinking of innovative ways to use our sleeper buses to help the NHS deal with the current COVID-19 crisis,” the organization writes in its fundraising page. “We have been in touch with many hospitals throughout the UK and it’s clear there is a need for on-site sleeping and rest facilities for those NHS staff who are working long or extended shifts or who need to get some well needed rest during or between grueling 12+ hour shifts when going home is not an option.”
The company goes on to say they are doing this on their own, “with no outside financial support and we are not making any profit from this.”
The company is, however, trying to raise money to support their efforts in order to provide these vehicles to hospitals at no cost to them.
And yes, they’re taking all necessary precautions.
Buses have already been parked at Whittington Health in north London and Hillingdon Hospital in Uxbridge, in addition to two more buses at Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading, with another on the way to Lewisham Hospital.
The goal is to raise enough to support all operational costs for the buses at the hospitals for four weeks each, in addition to possibly sending other buses to other locations. They want to keep the buses there for the duration of the outbreak.
If surplus funds are raised, they will be donated to charitable operations at each of the hospitals where the buses have been parked.
As of Monday night, they’ve raised just about $7,000 CAD of their $173,000 goal. Want to help? Here’s the page.
It’s an outstanding idea for companies that can afford to do so. Doesn’t look like any American or Canadian companies are taking this approach yet — if you see some, please name them in the comments and I’ll gladly update this article.
