Dear valued volunteers and all supporters of the Bendigo Winter Night Shelter (BWNS), it is with great regret that the BWNS board announce the cancellation of the Bendigo Winter Night Shelter for 2024.

This decision has been thoughtfully and prayerfully made, in the light of the fact that despite our best efforts, we have been unable to secure sufficient volunteers to fill all essential shifts, making it impossible for us to operate safely and effectively.

We understand the importance of BWNS to our community, and understand that you – along with ourselves – will be deeply disappointed that we cannot provide support to those experiencing homelessness this winter.

The board’s immediate focus will now be working towards reopening BWNS in 2025 and ensuring future sustainability, by exploring alternative processes of volunteer recruitment assigning a dedicated “Beyond The Shelter Working Group” to be authorised campaign drive ambassadors within our churches and our community to spread the news.

If this is you, please let us know by email, we would value your support in helping us help others.

We will also be looking at all strategic points of the current BWNS plan with a greater focus on transparency website and social media platforms for 2025.

If you would further like to support the board in this work by providing feedback, or if you would like to be kept informed about future developments, please email us at admin@bwns.org.au.

Thank you for volunteering and supporting BWNS both this year and in previous years, we look forward to working together with you in 2025.

Sincerely,

Andrew Plant – BWNS Board Chairperson