Orange Sky Laundry
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Orange Sky Laundry is a charity based in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
that offers a free mobile
laundry Laundry refers to the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with t ...
service for the homeless. It was established on 4 September 2014 and began operations on 10 October 2014. In January 2016 its founders, Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett, were awarded joint Young Australians of the Year for their
social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of o ...
.


Background

Marchesi describes himself and Patchett as "two normal everyday blokes who had a crazy idea". They had previously volunteered at food vans and other
outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...
programs while still at school, and had a passion to help the homeless. Their idea "started as a fun test project — to see if it would work. From there, it took a life of its own.” They took the name for their service from the
Alexi Murdoch Alexi Murdoch (born 27 December 1973) is a British folk musician and songwriter.Elms, Robert (22 April 2011), "BBC London 94.9". Since his debut in 2002, Murdoch has released two LPs and one EP. His music has been featured in numerous televisio ...
song " Orange Sky", which is about lending a hand to those in need. Orange Sky Laundry is a government registered charity. The service is believed to be a world first. In February 2015, five months after they started with the first van in Brisbane in October 2014, and two weeks after their expansion into Cairns,
Cyclone Marcia Severe Tropical Cyclone Marcia was a powerful tropical cyclone that made landfall at its peak strength over central Queensland, near Shoalwater Bay on 20 February 2015. The cyclone went on to affect various areas including Yeppoon and Rockhampton ...
hit the central Queensland coast and the then 20-year-olds headed to the area to offer their free service to affected communities. Similarly, in January 2016, they travelled to
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
to provide laundry services to people affected by the Great Ocean Road bushfires. The laundry vans filled a service gap and not only offered clean clothes and blankets but also dignity. Marchesi says the human connections enabled to the isolated is the most important aspect of their initiative. Each van also carries six orange chairs. During the time the laundry is being washed and dried in the vans, the volunteers sit and socialise with the visitors.


Expansion

Orange Sky began operating its second van (in
Cairns Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
) by February 2015, and its third in Melbourne in June. Their first birthday, and World Homeless Day 2015, were celebrated with a new service in south east Victoria, funded by partners The Good Guys (who provided half of the funding for the van), the Jelley Family Foundation, and the Bennelong Foundation. Other vans began operating in
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
in November 2015,
Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...
in January 2016,
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
in February 2016,
Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
in March 2016, Sunshine Coast in April 2016,
Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
in April 2016, and
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
in July 2016. By July 2016, Orange Sky had 10 vans and 600 volunteers, and were estimated to be washing nearly six tonnes of laundry each week. They now have 13 vans servicing 121 locations with over 800 volunteers. there are services in all
Australian states The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing pol ...
plus the
Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...
. They have plans to expand to the US.


Awards

On
Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...
2016, the two co-founders were jointly named Young Australians of the Year. In their acceptance speeches after being announced as winners by the Australian prime minister,
Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...
, Patchett said "we can restore respect, raise health standards and be a catalyst for conversation". Marchesi continued "It's so crazy and humbling to think such a simple idea has had such a significant impact". In June 2016 they were invited to
Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, Germany to receive a Global Best Practices Award: Special Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. In October 2018, Orange Sky was given the People's Choice Award in the Google Impact Challenge Australia.


Orange Sky Showers

On 23 August 2016, Orange Sky launched a new mobile service: free hot showers for the homeless. One of the homeless to first try the shower van described it as "bloody awesome". The first van is being trialled in Brisbane, but will then be permanently moved to
Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
as it was funded by the Shine On Foundation which is based in Melbourne.


See also

*
Homelessness in Australia Homelessness in Australia is a social issue concerning the number of people in Australia that are considered to be homeless. There are no internationally agreed upon definitions of homelessness, making it difficult to compare levels of homelessnes ...


References


External links


ABC TV video interview

Website
{{Homelessness in Australia Charities based in Australia Non-profit organisations based in Queensland Organizations established in 2014 Homelessness in Australia 2014 establishments in Australia Laundry organizations