Bas Timmer is the designer of the Sheltersuit, a winter coat and sleeping bag in one. The Sheltersuit is made in Enschede and is intended for homeless people who have to sleep on the street. The suit is water-repellent, fire-resistant and does not let wind through. The reason for making the suit was the death of an acquaintance of Timmer who died on the street in front of the night shelter. Bas Timmer decided to do something about it and invented the Sheltersuit for people who are forced to live on the street. The team in Enschede that makes the suit consists of volunteers, ex-homeless people and ex-refugees. In addition to the Netherlands, Timmer is also active in Lesbos, Samos, Sarajevo, Great Britain and South Africa. In addition to the existing Sheltersuit, he developed the Shelterbag, a kind of sleeping bag tent, for the American market. Timmer’s dream is to launch a complete line of outdoor clothing and to have the profits from the clothing benefit the Sheltersuit Foundation.
Winter coat and sleeping bag
Bas Timmer is a fashion designer, he studied Fashion Design and Fine Arts in Arnhem and started a company with his own clothing line. The sweaters designed by him are sold by a number of stores in the Netherlands.
The Sheltersuit is made in Timmer’s studio in Enschede and is intended for homeless people who have to spend the night on the street. The suit is a water -repellent, wind-resistant and fire-resistant jacket to which a sleeping bag can be zipped. The Sheltersuit also has an opening at the bottom, useful if the user needs to get away quickly.
Reason for Sheltersuit
The reason for creating the Sheltersuit was the death of an acquaintance of Bas Timmer. The man died of hypothermia, right in front of the night shelter in Enschede. This event touched Bas, he took the initiative to do something about it and came up with a complete product for people who involuntarily have to live on the street. He also wanted the product to be available for free.
The first design of a warm sweater with scarf resulted in a coat-sleeping bag-storage bag in one. Bas looked for materials that he could use for his Sheltersuit, a manufacturer supplied sleeping bags and a company gave him water-repellent fabric from which he made his first Sheltersuit. This prototype was successfully tried out by a homeless person. Timmer then went to work and collected money and materials to produce more suits. Bas Timmer’s initiative grew into a major project that he is working on day and night in 2019. Timmer sees it as his mission to bring warmth to the whole world and inspire people to help others.
Tailors from Syria
A lot has happened since the first Sheltersuit in 2014. In 2019, the team involved in production consists of 73 employees. These can be volunteers, but also ex-homeless and ex-refugees. The Sheltersuit Foundation offers a job including training and guidance to these people, who each contribute to a better society.
The former refugees in the team come from Syria, men from an asylum seeker center who had worked in a sewing workshop in Syria. For them, the Sheltersuit is an excellent way to spend their life in the Netherlands.
Refugees on Lesbos / Source: Sheltersuit
Sheltersuit on Lesbos
But Bas Timmer wanted more with his suits. In 2017, the Sheltersuit Foundation entered into a partnership with Movement on the Ground and the Waka Waka Foundation. Timmer made his Sheltersuits available to the refugee camps on Lesvos, where an estimated 1,500 children live in the two refugee camps Moria and Kara Tepe. Most refugees come from Syria and have to spend the night in tents under harsh conditions. In addition to the Sheltersuits, the children and adults from the camps receive a Waka Waka so that they are protected against inclement weather and do not have to sit in the dark.
What is a Waka Waka?
A Waka Waka is a product that works on solar energy, it provides people with energy and light in areas that are not connected to the mains. On Lesbos, Movement on the Ground arranges the distribution of Sheltersuits and Waka Wakas.
Sponsorship campaign 2018
In 2018, a sponsorship campaign was started with the aim of financing at least 1,500 Sheltersuits and 1,500 WakaWakas. The first 500 Sheltersuits were distributed on Lesbos during Christmas 2018, a big difference from 2017 when people died in the camps due to the harsh weather conditions.
‘I give you warmth’ in Sarajevo and on Samos
The ‘I give you warmth’ campaign generated 1,500 Sheltersuits. The suits were distributed in refugee camps on Samos and Sarajevo in 2018. The material for the suits came from old sleeping bags handed in by Tubantia readers and the ROCs in the Netherlands made the bags for the Sheltersuits.
Carpenter to America
Bas Timmer traveled to America in March 2019 with the intention of selling his bag of solar panels (in collaboration with the University of Twente) during a conference on technological developments in Austin. Timmer saw with his own eyes that in a big city like Austin nothing is done for the homeless and refugees, there is no social safety net, people are left to fend for themselves.
The Shelter Bag
Bas Timmer wanted to lend a hand and came up with the Shelterbag, a kind of sleeping bag tent, on the spot. Shelter from rain and wind is necessary in Austin (Texas) and the Shelterbag is a bag that can be rolled out into a waterproof and windproof tent with a built-in pillow and a soft surface. A Sheltersuit would be way too warm in Texas.
Timmer received help from the homeless shelter for the distribution of his Shelterbags, for the production he found a sewing workshop that was willing to make the bags for 50 dollars each and through the conference he received the free banners that were made of a waterproof material. The problem was money to pay for all this and that also worked, a generous donor financed the first hundred Shelterbags.
New York
In May 2019, Timmer traveled to America again, he traveled through New York on a tour bus and handed out 100 Sheltersuits to the homeless. Timmer also found sponsors for this project who were willing to finance his trip.
Britain
In December 2019, 30 sheltersuits were distributed in Great Britain, including Edinburgh and London, a Christmas gift for the ,rough sleepers,. This was a collaboration between Sheltersuit and the RISE team in Thanet, an organization that supports the homeless.
South Africa
Sheltersuit is also active in South Africa, and its own sewing workshop The Ark, a homeless institution that houses and provides guidance to more than a thousand people, produces Shelterbags for the African climate. Very necessary, because 7,700 people live on the streets in Cape Town alone.
Dream Bas Timmer
Bas Timmer devotes his life to improving the living conditions of people in need: We want organizations such as the Red Cross and UNHCR to buy Sheltersuits, so that those in need worldwide can receive one., It is his dream to work with his team in Enschede to create a to make a complete line of outdoor clothing. Not only can he then get back to work as a designer, but all profits from the clothing that has been put on the market will benefit the Sheltersuit Foundation.