One wash at a time, the Vanguard Laundry Service is changing the lives of its employees who all suffer from mental illness.

Vanguard Laundry Service opened in December and is Australia’s largest mental health employment project. 

Federal Member for Groom Dr John McVeigh and State Member for Toowoomba South David Janetzki MP joined Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the official opening in January.

The Federal Government committed $1million funding towards the project.

“Mental health is one of the greatest challenges we can face … and as a caring, compassionate community Toowoomba has once again shone the light on ways we can help those in need,” Dr McVeigh said.

“The Prime Minister came to Toowoomba in January to officially open the laundry and he did that because he has taken a personal interest in the social investment this city was making and he wanted to see it in person,” he said.

“Our Government is committed to tackling mental health and revealed $170 million for support and prevention, including $80 million for community psychosocial services, more than $50 million to support veterans and $15 million for research initiatives in the Budget this month.

“We all have a vested interest in the mental health of our community and I am proud to support what has been achieved at Vanguard Laundry.”

Mr Janetzki was director of the Vanguard Laundry project before he was elected to State Parliament. He was heavily involved in fundraising and securing donors for the $5million project.

“This is a great achievement for Toowoomba and shows what can be done when government and communities work together,” Mr Janetzki said.

“This is an excellent example of one-off government funding to help establish the laundry which is now self-sustaining,” he said.

The state-of-the-art commercial laundry has a nine year linen contract with St Vincent’s Hospital.

By 2020, more than 100 people annually will be supported by the social enterprise laundry to develop the skills and confidence they need to transform their lives.

The laundry project was created by the Toowoomba Clubhouse which is a not-for-profit organisation supporting people who suffer from mental illness and struggle to secure employment.

Employees say they are grateful for the opportunity to re-enter the workforce. Some workers had not been employed for many years or at all.

Vanguard Laundry Services CEO Luke Terry said he truly believed in their tag line “We change lives, one wash at a time”.

“We’ve been able to place people in their mid-30s and 40s who have never had a job before,” Mr Terry said.

“This gives them the opportunity to put something on their resume and then move onto another job, which then frees up a space for someone else.”

Mr Terry said that any profit made by the laundry was reinvested into improving their services or supporting local mental health employment projects.