The quietest night for ages this week, with only 33 in. Food went down very well, we had Roasted Vegetable Soup, Spaghetti Bolognese, and Tuna Pasta, and for a nice change we had Pancakes...

Newbury Soup Kitchen has a drop in service to help rough sleepers, homeless and vulnerable in Newbury and West Berkshire set up and run by Meryl Praill and a team of dedicated volunteers.

It was a quieter session this evening, with 38 in through the door. It did seem much busier than that. There were a few comings and goings - we think many people came in for the supermarket donations, as they are always so generous...

The queue was long this evening, with 48 people through the door in total. Many people left quite quickly after they had eaten and helped themselves to the supermarket donations. For some this makes a huge difference to their weekly food accessibility.

The weather was much milder this week so people were generally in high spirits. We had 49 people through the door and 21 in by 6.02pm which we think is a record...

We had 48 people in this evening and we all had extra jobs to do whilst setting up as we were a couple of people down. On the menu this week we had Carrot and Sweet potato soup, Beef in Black Bean sauce with rice, Vegetable Korma, Jacket potatoes, Roasted peppers and Apricot bread and butter pudding.

We had a fantastic day at the Tesco Community Cookery School who work together with Jamie Oliver developing recipes that can be prepared, using a huge variety of foods, with the intention of inspiring us to think of ways we can use the food that is donated so that as little as possible goes to waste. Before[...]

An incredibly cold night so we were not sure how busy we would be. I did wonder whether or not it would keep housed people indoors and the rough sleepers in their tents. In total 39 people came through the door. We even had a few people from Two Saints who braved the cold and pending snow.

The cold weather can force people to live on harder flooring to help reduce damp coming up through the ground. This can make someone more vulnerable as they choose to sleep in a place that is more visible. Many rough sleepers choose to be invisible for safety. Through this cold weather, hot food and drinks are essential to help prevent hypothermia.

We’re always in need and appreciative of Pot Noodle donations! We use them at the Wharf on a Saturday and at the Soup Kitchen on Thursday. We list them on our Amazon wish list and of course you can purchase at a local store.