On
Sunday 11th March approx. 30 people came along to an open meeting to
talk about the homelessness situation in Bristol, what is being done to help
and how people can get involved.
Philip
McWilliams spoke about The Bristol Soup Run Trust – a charity set up in about
1980 whose aims are to ensure that, on every night of the year, food, advice
and other essential supplies are made available, free of charge, to homeless
and other needy people on the streets of Bristol.
Philip
shared his many years’ of experience with the soup run and we learned that,
while some of the clients are homeless and sleep on the streets, others may
actually have accommodation of some kind. However, they are often people who
lead chaotic lives, possibly down to loneliness, breakdown in relationships drug
or alcohol addiction or mental health issues. Clients turn up at the Soup Run
for many reasons: hunger, isolation, companionship, advice.
Whatever the reason, the volunteers are not there to judge: their job is
to provide food, refreshment, a sleeping-bag, a pair of socks, toiletries,
advice if needed and, above all, a friendly smile and a willing ear.
St
Augustine’s Church in Downend got involved with the trust back in the 90’s and
now provides 2 of the 20 teams who operate the 28 day, constant cycle of soup
runs for the trust. Theirs operates on alternate Saturdays, nicknamed by some
of the clients as ‘Super Saturday’ due to the large amount of food and supplies
they are able to offer.
The
Church’s teams have 62 ‘back office’ volunteers who, as part of a large rota,
take turns to make rolls, heat soup, make cakes and even cook and fill a ‘hot
box’ of burgers, pasties or sausages (it is Super Saturday after all!) ready
for the ‘front line’ volunteers to take out and serve to those who turn up to
the well-established meeting points in the centre of Bristol.
They
also have a generously stocked store of essential supplies, such as blankets, sleeping
bags, rain ponchos, toiletries, snacks, clothes, underwear etc that
parishioners and friends kindly donate throughout the year when stocks run low and
a small hard working team organise and prepare for every run – being as
creative with the limited storage space as possible!
The
soup run is a fantastic success story of the Parish. As Fr Frank Bermingham,
Parish Priest, said, “This is a true example of Christianity in action.”
Phil
concluded by saying that “If many do a little, something big can happen”
proving that the willingness to help others, who, for whatever reason, are in
need is alive and well in the community.
If
you would like to find out more about the Bristol Soup Run trust, visit their
new website at www.bristolsoupruntrust.org.uk
