Mum opens soup kitchen (From Bournemouth Echo)
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Mum opens soup kitchen
3:00pm Wednesday 20th February 2013 in News By Alex Winter
FOOD NEEDED: Claire Matthews, right, daughter Jessica, centre, and Lauren Burgess
A MUM-of-three is turning tragic news into positive action with a new soup kitchen in Bournemouth.
Kind-hearted Claire Matthews, 40, and her 16-year-old daughter Jessica were motivated to help after realising friends were unable to feed their children and heat their homes at the same time.
The death of 42-year-old Karl Lambe in the doorway of Richmond Hill St Andrew’s in Bournemouth earlier this month spurred the pair on and the church has now offered to assist.
Claire, of Bournemouth, said: “We found out that people we know are having to make the choice between heating and eating, so we decided to set up Hope for Food on Facebook.
“Within about 24 hours, we had more than 100 people, so there’s real demand out there.”
With no help from the council, Claire and Jessica encouraged friends and family to donate food, clothes and time towards the initiative.
They have had so much support that a food bank and soup kitchen will open twice a week at Richmond Hill St Andrew’s for the needy for the next three months.
Claire said: “We need as much support as we can get.
“Everything we get has been donated and volunteers will be running it. We need everything.
“One of my friends told me she could see her kids’ breath when they were in their house. I told her, ‘Turn the heating up,’ and she said, ‘I can’t afford it.’ “It really is ridiculous that she has to choose between keeping her kids warm and feeding them.
“Another friend was taking her kids’ toys so she could wrap them back up for Christmas presents. It’s awful.”
Claire needs £5,000 to register as a charity but already has £300, raised by a friend who sells items on eBay for Hope for Food.
“The more the word gets around, the more people we can help,” she said.
“We’d love to be able to do this seven days a week, but we’re off to a great start.”
The kitchen and food bank will be open by the south door of the church on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6.30pm until 8.30pm.
Comments(10)
HRH of Boscombe
says...
3:40pm Wed 20 Feb 13
summerchild wrote:Well done Claire and Jessica but the reason they're needed is people have been living far beyond their means for age. Most people these days just have kids without thinking if they can afford them.
Well done Claire & Jessica but how absolutely disgusting that soup kitchens, food banks & the like are needed in the 21st century.
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Overall I'm glad the state is cutting benefits. People need to wake up to the real world.
hadvar
says...
4:05pm Wed 20 Feb 13
HRH of Boscombe wrote:Sensible policies for a happier Britain HRH. The population of the proletariat needs to be controlled : what better way than starving some sense into them eh? How about re-introducing the workhouse?
summerchild wrote:Well done Claire and Jessica but the reason they're needed is people have been living far beyond their means for age. Most people these days just have kids without thinking if they can afford them.
Well done Claire & Jessica but how absolutely disgusting that soup kitchens, food banks & the like are needed in the 21st century.
.
Overall I'm glad the state is cutting benefits. People need to wake up to the real world.
Morrigan
says...
5:02pm Wed 20 Feb 13
Just a thought .....
guisselle
says...
5:02pm Wed 20 Feb 13
HRH of Boscombe
says...
9:14pm Wed 20 Feb 13
hadvar wrote:The workhouses are actually a good idea. I prefer it to paying for Sky tv benefits. Also I've always seen it as; if I'm not happy with my salary it's a reason to try harder or something different. I don't believe people can't earn more. You just can't do it overnight.
HRH of Boscombe wrote:Sensible policies for a happier Britain HRH. The population of the proletariat needs to be controlled : what better way than starving some sense into them eh? How about re-introducing the workhouse?
summerchild wrote:Well done Claire and Jessica but the reason they're needed is people have been living far beyond their means for age. Most people these days just have kids without thinking if they can afford them.
Well done Claire & Jessica but how absolutely disgusting that soup kitchens, food banks & the like are needed in the 21st century.
.
Overall I'm glad the state is cutting benefits. People need to wake up to the real world.
Phixer
says...
6:49am Thu 21 Feb 13
It says much about today's society that so many people cannot make something as basic as soup for themselves.
Food banks are just a way for the feckless to get something else for nothing. Make a meal from the donations, don't just give it away to be wasted.
ben111
says...
8:20am Thu 21 Feb 13
rozmister
says...
9:31am Thu 21 Feb 13
Phixer wrote:It says in the article it's made from donations so maybe no one donated any fresh vegetables just cans.
Using tinned soup is hardly the way to run a 'soup kitchen'. If you're going to feed 100/day then it would be much cheaper and healthier to use fresh ingredients, maybe surplus provided by a supermarket.
It says much about today's society that so many people cannot make something as basic as soup for themselves.
Food banks are just a way for the feckless to get something else for nothing. Make a meal from the donations, don't just give it away to be wasted.
Also that picture isn't of their soup kitchen it's been posed for the Echo's camera man. For all we know they may be serving fresh soup on the day (and giving people those tins to take home from the food bank) but the photographer wanted something in the picture that represented soup.
Instead of trying to pick holes in someone whose doing a really good thing why don't you try and help them? If you think they should have fresh soup get off your backside, get in contact with them and offer to donate/help make it/teach them to make it if you don't know how. If you can't be bothered to actually do something yourself keep your mouth shut about the people who are doing something to make the world a better place.
LBurgess
says...
9:22pm Sun 24 Feb 13
For whatever reason, there are thousands of people freezing, starving and living on the streets. We feed approx 60 homeless per evening. They get a choice of coffee or tea, soup, and a hot meal. They can also get clothes, bedding and shoes from us which have been donated.
The Food Bank is where the tinned donations go and they get sorted into food parcels for people/families who are struggling. Times are hard for most people these days, however, they're a lot harder for others, again for many reasons.
We as Hope For Food will not sit back and leave these people out there starving and cold. The more people who pull together, the better.
summerchild says...
3:11pm Wed 20 Feb 13