By Parker McKenzie
Volunteers from Orange Sky offer free washing services for those attending Foothills Community Care’s regular meals every Monday and Wednesday night.
On this particular blue-skied Wednesday afternoon at the Ferntree Gully Girl Guide Hall, Pam, Gary, Ron and Colleen are on hand, manning the bright orange van fitted with mobile washing machines and offering more than just a wash to those who access the free service.
“I saw it on TV — I think most people see it on TV or read it in the newspaper — but my daughter said this would be a good organisation to join, so she said she’d put my name down for it,” Gary said.
“You get the nicest people doing Orange Sky, it’s really interesting.”
The volunteers know their regulars and often see the same people weekly for months, forming a personal connection in the process.
“We had a guy come in about three months ago and I don’t think he’d washed his clothes in 18 months,” Ron said.
Ron said the man was very introverted — “It took a couple of weeks to convince him we wouldn’t steal his socks,” Colleen interjects — but eventually he bought a blanket out to be washed too.
“He told us it hadn’t been washed in three years.”
The volunteers were amazed by his transformation over the following months, as they saw him take pride in his appearance and continue connecting with those at Foothills and Orange Sky.
When their friends stop appearing to get their washing done, it can be stressful and worrying, and often they never find out what happened.
“There are a lot of people that have severe, but not immediately obvious, mental health issues,” Pam said.
“They’ve often got nothing, so they are coming to get food and get their washing done, so people come and go to different locations,” Colleen said.
“Then all of a sudden, we don’t see somebody. We don’t know where they’ve got, whether they died or not.”
In October 2014 Orange Sky Laundry was started by Nic Marchesi and Lucas Patchett in Brisbane, offering a free washing and drying service but also a human connection.
Mr Patchett said the service first started in the Dandenong Ranges after the 2021 storm weather event, before beginning a partnership with Foothills Community Care six months ago.
“I was out at a Foothills shift around a month ago and you see people drift in and out, but that connection and conversation week on week keeps people coming back,” he said.
“The laundry is really a catalyst for bringing people together and then once the washing is on, you aren’t going to go anywhere.”
He said forming collaborative partnerships is a core value of the organisation.
“We know that we can’t go at it alone, so we really want to work in conjunction with lots of service providers,” Mr Patchett said.
“That’s massive not-for-profits through to tiny community centres, it’s a big mix. We operate around 300 locations across the country every week.”
Over 3000 volunteers have washed 3 million kilograms of washing across Australia and New Zealand since Orange Sky Laundry started with a single van.
Mr Patchett said the organisation is seeing more demand across the board.
“We just want to be there as much as we can, supporting as many people as possible,” he said.
“We need more volunteers, more funding and committed people to be able to help out however they can.”
For more information on Orange Sky, visit orangesky.org.au
