Street swag phenomenon

JEAN Madden's passion about the plight of homeless people is contagious.

The founder of the nationwide Street Swag project came to Grafton jail yesterday to pick up 300 of the new commercial versions of the swag - Walkabout Beds - which have been made by Grafton inmates.

The new commercial arm of the charity will help fund its main drive - to provide Street Swags, a waterproof and compact bedding product, to as many homeless people as possible.

The Street Swag was voted the People's Choice on the ABC's The New Inventors program a fortnight ago and is the only Australian product to make it to the finals of the Denmark-based Index Design Awards. Index's premise rewards designs that improve life.

Grafton jail manager of industries Paul Lancaster said inmates were proud to be a part of the project which hit close to home for some of them.

“There's just no negatives, the inmates are now getting experience on a real commercial product,” he said.

“And a few of these guys can see a direct benefit because they've lived on the streets themselves.”

Inmates finish up with a Certificate III in textile fabrication after plying their skills to the swags.

Jean, who still manages to teach in a high school one day per week in Brisbane, said the Street Swag project had handed out 11,000 swags to Australia's homeless since its inception in 2005.

But this, she admits, is the tip of the iceberg. She scoffs at 'official' figures of 100,000 homeless people in Australia, saying the government had grossly underestimated the problem. Instead, Jean estimates there are upwards of 600,000 people living without proper shelter in Australia.

“One shelter in Nambour turns away about 70 families per week,” she said.

Jean said she had recently shown pregnant women how to roll up Street Swags on their knees before she put one on the shoulder of a four-year-old child.

“I'd love to have everyone in housing ... what we're doing is keeping people alive until communities can take responsibility for all their members,” she said.

Jean said she had noticed a shift from the traditional homeless demographic - people with mental illness or drug or alcohol dependency - to regular families who just couldn't make ends meet.

“Now it's mostly families sleeping in our swags,” she said.

Jean said the Street Swags had been designed not to look like bedding in order to maintain people's dignity.

“Homeless people have to hide for their own survival,” she said. “That's why you don't see the families because kids will be taken away from them if they're discovered without homes.”

Jean modestly believes higher powers are at work on the Street Swag phenomenon.

“Whether it's God or the universe or whatever - when you're doing good work it's not you that's doing it you're just a helper.”

And Grafton jail, she said, was a key part of the project.

Grafton jail manager of textiles Allan Somerville moved from Woodford jail which began making Street Swags several years ago.

Jean said Woodford jail first contacted her about making the swags because it was sometimes difficult to find meaningful jobs for inmates. The concept was embraced by prison staff and inmates alike at Woodford and the idea was similarly taken on when Allan brought it to Grafton early last year.

This first batch of 300 Walkabout Beds will be sent to Timor for cyclists to use in a competition. Jean said the beds would be donated to the poor hill people of Timor once the competition had ended.

The newly designed Walkabout Beds have thicker foam and are more colourful than their Street Swag cousin. They come complete with eyelets which can be roped to nearby structures to create a mini tent and their modular design allows two of them to be joined for more space.

“They are perfect for kids sleepovers and even camping ... we are expecting to sell quite a few to scouts and girl guides,” Jean said.

The Walkabout Beds are sold exclusively through the Street Swag website ( www.streetswags.org) for $175 each.

Anyone wishing to sponsor a Street Swag for one of Australia's many homeless people can do so at the same website for $60 per swag.