Ipswich soup kitchen always out for the homeless

The Christmas period sees a brief respite for the volunteers who run the Ipswich soup kitchen.

 

The service for homeless people has its only two days off on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. The service is run by Churches Together and 150 helpers. "We're a rather quiet organisation," said project co-ordinator Ian Walters. "A lot of people don't know we're out on the streets, but that's exactly how Christians work."

 

The Ipswich Soup Kitchen started in 1992 and it's on Tower Street near the bus station every evening 8-9pm. Fourteen church-based groups are on the rota and they fund their own individual services. The exceptions to this are on Christmas Day, when churches open their doors and provide a meal, and New Year's Eve when the streets are a bit too hectic.

 

"There's always going to be a need out there," said Ian Walters. "Homelessness has been around since time began. I don't think we're ever going to eradicate it. There's a lot of people out there with other problems and if they have got any money they're not necessarily going to spend it on food. They're going to spend it on their addictions so if we can give them something to eat that gives them a better quality of life and hopefully through chatting to them, we can get through to them and help them from their addiction.”

 

"We all have our escape route in some way or another. Granted a lot of people don't drink to excess, but there are people at home who pick up the bottle or smoke. I don't think anybody can judge somebody else."

 

Alongside handing out soup and sandwiches, the kitchen tries to provide bedding when it can. At the moment there's a need for sleeping bags and blankets. Blankets are particularly scarce, because most people sleep under duvets these days. The NHS health outreach project joins the soup kitchen on Wednesdays, while they all try and provide a contact point.

 

"We're just a listening ear really," said Ian. "We're not there to give advice because we're not qualified to do that, but there are lots of organisations out there that we can pass them on to."

 

Ian said the idea of having a drop-in night shelter in Ipswich isn't a goer at the moment because it would be too expensive to provide a purpose-built building. He said previous attempts to do it more cheaply failed because they couldn't offer adequate kitchen facilities or enough personal space. "A night shelter would be nice if we had somebody who's got the money, but in the real world that's just not going to happen unless some organisation comes forward to supply that money."

 

 

The soup kitchen is always looking for volunteer helpers and you don't have to be a Christian or even religious. "It's absolutely enjoyable - the different people that we meet and the different stories that they tell. Once we've served the food and can have a chat - I believe that's just as beneficial as supplying food and sustenance to them. I see some of the girls down there which are younger than my own daughter and to actually have to leave some of these people on the streets - it's very hard to come home.”

 

"But, like any job dealing with people, I wouldn't say you have to be hard, but you have to be able to switch off. You make up for it with the feeling that you've done the best that you can for that night."