Newbury Soup Kitchen is a voluntary organisation providing help and support to our homeless, our rough sleeper community, our vulnerable and those generally less fortunate than others. The primary operation started as a friendly drop-in centre each and every Thursday where we welcomed vulnerable adults who perhaps had mental health issues or were just lonely. We have now expanded our services to three evenings per week – Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Wharf and Thursdays at the Salvation Army.
Our arms & doors are open to all. We provide hot food for the evening, a friendly face and a welcome opportunity to chat. A warm welcome awaits anyone wishing to socialise, find support, enjoy a hot meal and interact with like-minded people. Our Thursday sessions at the Salvation Army also offer Hair Cuts, Covid Jabs when appropiate/ testing (by arrangement) & access to basic provisions & amenities such as Shower and laundry coupons, Food bank tokens, toiletries. If there is a need – we find a way to fulfil it!
We also provide an invaluable outreach service each Tuesday where our clients can access Optometry services free of charge and also have access to a community Nurse. These services are essential to start the journey of engagement, building up trust with our clients and more often than not highlighting serious health issues.
The team are non-judgemental and are always there to hold a hand, guide, support and listen.
Whilst we do not offer a daily service, we are busy every day as we operate solely through our wonderful network of volunteers, this could involve plumbing in a washing machine for a client that we have just helped to find accommodation for, dropping off a much needed hot meal to a client in temporary accommodation through to collecting food supplies from our very supportive local community.
