Gallery – Soup Kitchen London

Gallerysoupkitchenlondon2020-11-28T16:29:50+00:00

Gallery

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A MASSIVE thank you to @chefasimmonds for joining

A MASSIVE thank you to @chefasimmonds for joining us last week at the Soup Kitchen. It’s not everyday you get a @michelinguide chef in, but while our own wonderful Chef @laurenyeveret was on a much deserved break, Adam stepped in to help. Thank you also to @alexandralouise__ @arabellad @austyn_farrell @zarazoffany @missoliviachan @missandrealuise @citylife2017 @gabriellavollaire @iamhannahgoodchild @anna_marguerite_c & @eskimo_emmi for helping us feed many hundreds of our friends last week!

Thank you for all of the calls & messages! As we d

Thank you for all of the calls & messages! As we did for the entirety of the first lockdown, we will remain open in order to feed and care for London’s most vulnerable through this one. Please visit our website to find out how you can help. Thank you & stay safe!

We started 2020 with amazing plans and goals to he

We started 2020 with amazing plans and goals to help even more people get off of the streets and be able to better support themselves. While it didn’t quite go as we planned, we’re proud that we were able to remain open throughout the year.

We owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to everyone that has supported us. To every single volunteer and donor, to everyone that liked, followed & messaged us and to every company or corporation that helped us get through the year, thank you.

2020 has been particularly hard on rough sleepers, but because of our wonderful supporters, we’ve been able to continue to provide a critically needed service.

On behalf of the many hundreds of vulnerable people we help weekly and our entire organisation, a very sincere and grateful thank you. Happy New Year everyone.

In what has become a tradition for us at the Soup

In what has become a tradition for us at the Soup Kitchen, last night we spent the evening walking the streets of central London to hand out wrapped gifts and bags filled with essentials to our homeless friends. We passed out about 80 gifts before we ran out of them.

During the holiday season, please spare a moment in thought for the many thousands of rough sleepers who are struggling today and everyday. If you want to find out how you can help, visit our website, soupkitchenlondon.org.

Thank you so much @zarazoffany @ginaharrison @anna_marguerite_c @hamidahbrinkley & @dariabernes for spending your evening with those who are much less fortunate than most of us and for taking the time to talk and to listen to so many vulnerable people.

This past weekend, we held our annual holiday dinn

This past weekend, we held our annual holiday dinner for the homeless with the support of so many wonderful volunteers and our incredible staff. In previous years, we have been able to invite our friends in and allow them to just sit and relax while we served them. That wasn’t possible this year, but we wanted to make it as special as possible nonetheless.

A tremendous thank you to @staceysolomon @zarazoffany @isaaccarew @iamhannahgoodchild @eskimo_emmi @anna_marguerite_c @citylife2017 @photography_by_david_solomon_ @gabriellavollaire @asinlondon and of course to our Head Chef @laurenyeveret for making the day so special to over 200 homeless and vulnerable people.

We had wonderful food, live music and gift bags with donations from @bloombergservice @zurich_uk @dove @lipsylondon @weare_oi @asl.communityservice @15min_mom & many others.

We know that, for many of our guests, this will be the closest they get to spending time with family this holiday season or unwrapping a gift. Your efforts and your time made a huge difference. Thank you for all of the follows, comments, likes & support. To EVERY single person & company who helped us make our holiday dinner a success, a very sincere thank you!

Today was a truly incredible and humbling day for

Today was a truly incredible and humbling day for us at the Soup Kitchen. After many, many months of frustrations, red tape and then COVID-19, we were finally able to start GP consultations for the homeless in collaboration with @harleystreethealthcentre

If you’re a rough sleeper, it can be difficult to register with a doctor as, in most cases, you need to have a fixed address. Because of this, many of our homeless friends suffer with constant aches and pains that they just deal with. Something as simple as getting your feet wet in weather like we’ve had today can lead to chafing, sores & infections.

Dr. Abood, Alya, Khalid, Adaugo & their entire staff showed such genuine interest in our guests and treated each one with kindness and patience. Thank you so much Dr. Abood for taking time out of your busy schedule and away from your own clinic to help us. I don’t think any of us even understood how something as simple as paracetamol can be so valuable to people who would otherwise struggle to obtain it. Thank you!

UPDATE So many of you have messaged to ask about

UPDATE

So many of you have messaged to ask about what happened with this incredible homeless guest and our attempt, with our amazing volunteer @tashsoodeen to reunite her with her son.

Like many situations in life, there is so much more to these stories than any of us really know. This one was no different. We were able to track down her son via social media and we obtained a mobile number for him. He is safe, well and living in California with his own family.

Unfortunately, he did not want to have any contact with his mum and while he didn’t spell out the reasons, understandably, it was fairly easy to see that there was a lot of hurt, anguish and mistrust in their relationship, going back decades. For him, the pain ran too deep for him to reconnect right now. Our call must have been overwhelming for him.

He does have our contact details and hopefully, things will change while there is still time. In the meantime, we’ll continue to do our best to look after her and all of the homeless and vulnerable people that we support each day. Thank you to everyone who has asked about her and supported our work through our website and social media channels. It makes a difference for so many people.

Another extremely busy morning serving London’s

Another extremely busy morning serving London’s most vulnerable. There are new faces every single day and we’re only able to help everyone because of the tremendous support we receive from all of you. Thank you!

In just a few short hours, this pavement will have

In just a few short hours, this pavement will have between 120 and 150 people queued up for a hot meal. The vast majority of them will be rough sleepers. Increasingly, however, more & more people are coming to us after they’ve lost their job and are worried about their future. A meal from the Soup Kitchen relieves a little bit of the anxiety that they’re facing each day. We are open to anyone who needs us and while our focus is on people experiencing homelessness, recent events have shown us that so many people are in need.

With the pending national lockdown upon us, we wanted to let our friends and supporters know that we WILL remain open in order to serve London’s most vulnerable. As we did during the previous lockdown, we’ll continue our food service everyday beginning at 11:30. If you see someone on the street who may need our help or know someone that’s struggling, please send them our way. If you’re able to donate a pound, please help us via the link in our bio, as EVERY single pound makes a difference. Your support has been incredible. Thank you!

Every single day can be mad, but today seemed exce

Every single day can be mad, but today seemed exceptionally busy. The last 6-8 weeks we’ve seen a very noticeable increase in the number of people who aren’t sleeping rough, but are struggling for a hot meal on a consistent basis. While the majority of our guests are homeless, we feed anyone who needs it and we never ask people to register or what their individual circumstances are. Lately we’ve seen so many more pension age guests utilising our service. Thank you to the wonderful supporters, volunteers, suppliers and staff that make our work possible. NOBODY should ever go hungry!

This was quite an emotional day. On a regular basi

This was quite an emotional day. On a regular basis, we like to take a guest for a sit-down lunch in a local cafe. If you’re homeless, sleeping on the streets is tough for many reasons and one of them is the loneliness and isolation that come with it. Sitting down one on one allows our guests to feel special, even if it’s only for a short time. We always have great conversation.

It’s difficult for anyone sleeping rough, but women face additional challenges on the street. This particular guest has been estranged from her family for quite a few years. She spoke glowingly of her only child, a son who lives in another country. She told us that she’s tried for years to find out how and where he was, but she couldn’t and faced hurdle after hurdle. In addition to her daily struggle to find food and a safe place to sleep, she copes with some mental health issues.

She told us about his childhood, how she was a very young mother who had a hard time coping with a baby and about many of her regrets in life. All of us make mistakes and have things we wish we could do over.

As she was describing how wonderful and handsome her son was, as only a mother could do, our incredible volunteer @tashsoodeen took out her phone and searched for him on social media. A short time later she found a photo, which she showed to our guest, and what followed was a muffled scream and a few minutes of nonstop tears. It was him and they are the spitting image of each other. She was so overcome with emotion that she couldn’t speak.

This photo captured the moment that she needed and received a big hug from Tash. It can be easy to forget that homeless people have families, have stories, have history and, regardless of how they might have ended up in these positions, deserve to be loved, just like anyone else.

Although she gave us permission to write about her story and post an unedited photo, we’ve blurred out her face. We’re happy to say that we’re currently working on arranging communication between these two and we hope to have a happy and positive update sometime very soon. Thank you to every person & every company that support our work. Nothing that we do is possible without you.

WHEW! A MASSIVE thank you to @londonfirebrigade fo

WHEW! A MASSIVE thank you to @londonfirebrigade for helping us this morning. As our wonderful Head Chef @laurenyeveret was busy preparing breakfast & lunch, our old washing machine caught fire. Luckily, she put it out and the LFB came by to make sure we could continue with our service. It’s a good thing they did, as we fed & helped 140 of our vulnerable friends this morning! Thank you!

In recognition of World Mental Health Day, let’s

In recognition of World Mental Health Day, let’s remember some of those in our society that suffer in silence and don’t have the same access to help that many of us do. Last year, we launched Europe’s first-ever mental health drop-in clinic, within a soup kitchen, for the homeless & vulnerable. As many as 80% of rough sleepers suffer from some type of mental health illness. Read more about our groundbreaking project via the link in our bio. Let’s take care of each other EVERYday!

On cold & rainy days like this, it’s easy to wan

On cold & rainy days like this, it’s easy to want to stay in bed, get warm and enjoy a hot drink. Unfortunately, that’s not possible for so many people in our society. Thank you @iamashleyroberts and our wonderful @laurenyeveret @anna_marguerite_c & @citylife2017 for feeding nearly 130 of our friends today.

Always a good day when @fredrikferrier comes to vo

Always a good day when @fredrikferrier comes to volunteer! Thank you Fred & thank you Chef @laurenyeveret for a wonderful meal of bangers, mash and fresh veg! #CommunitiesCan

Our wonderful Chef @laurenyeveret has done it once

Our wonderful Chef @laurenyeveret has done it once again! We had salmon on the menu today, courtesy of @cityharvestlondon and it’s proving to be a massive hit. Thank you @vegware for providing the supplies and thank you @anna_marguerite_c & @citylife2017 for preparing everything. Thank you @londonbreadbaker for the fresh rolls today!

Along with our daily vegan & vegetarian options, e

Along with our daily vegan & vegetarian options, every so often we get a surprise donation from @cityharvestlondon. Yesterday morning they brought over steaks that were donated to them by @wholefoodsuk and today, our incredible Head Chef @laurenyeveret turned them into magic! Thank you to everyone who contributes to helping us feed hundreds of people each week!

Another busy morning at The Soup Kitchen! Thank yo

Another busy morning at The Soup Kitchen! Thank you @lucybeecoconut & @bankslouiset for helping us feed 100 of our homeless & vulnerable friends. Thank you Chef @laurenyeveret for making another incredible meal!

We wouldn’t normally share such an intimate mome

We wouldn’t normally share such an intimate moment, but we got permission from @iamashleyroberts & our friend “Yella” to post this, because there’s such a powerful message involved.

Yella had all of her belongings stolen, including her tent, a few days ago. When Ashley found out, the two of them talked and she brought her a few new dresses, which caused the tears to flow. When you don’t have many possessions in life, the ones you do have become so much more important to you. When they’re taken, it can have a significant emotional effect.

It doesn’t take a lot to have a tremendous impact on people. Kindness and empathy go such a long way. If you see someone you think may be sleeping rough or having a hard time, ask them if they’re ok, what they need or how you can help and please feel free to refer them to the Soup Kitchen. Thank you Ash!

@iamashleyroberts & @lukas_mcfarlane getting their

@iamashleyroberts & @lukas_mcfarlane getting their steps in today as we fed 110 of our homeless & vulnerable friends. Thank you Ashley, Lukas @marthapirrie @citylife2017 @anna_marguerite_c and Chef @laurenyeveret for feeding and helping so many people!

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