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Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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The great soup debate

September 26 2009
Many soup runs are a "waste of effort and resources", says Westminster Council With 65 soup runs operating in central London, getting fed on the streets has never been easier, according to Westminster Council. Last month they convened a soup summit to tackle the issue of over-saturation of services in the capital. Research by the council found that many soup runs are a "waste of effort and resources". The vast majority of users of soup runs are not rough sleepers, the report said, and services are duplicated across central London, with some providers travelling in from outer regions. Much of the provision is not joined up with other services for rough sleepers, running counter to the council's rough sleeping strategy, which aims at providing alternatives to street-based life. The summit brought together representatives from the council, homeless agencies and soup run service providers. Councillor Angela Harvey called for a more targeted approach to soup run services, while ex-rough sleeper Mike Briggs told the audience how the sheer quantity of soup runs had helped sustain his life on the streets, to the detriment of his health. Matthew Davenport presented his report, Why doesn't someone do something? A Christian response to homelessness in Westminster, in which he criticised soup providers who come into Westminster from outside. "Ignoring the poor of Luton to serve the poor in London is as bad as walking past the body of the victim in the parable of the Good Samaritan," he said. For John Bird, founder of the Big Issue and a former rough sleeper, the over-saturation of soup run services is indicative of the failings of many homelessness strategies, which focus on emergency response rather than finding challenging solutions to the problem. Representatives from soup run providers themselves hit back at the council's assertions that their food provision is not part of a joined-up service, with Ian Locke from the Simon Community saying that "soup is just the introductory bit" to its other services, and provides contact and consistency to those living on the streets. Chris Peacock, director of services for Aslan (All Souls Local Area Network), blasted the council for seeking a quick fix to homelessness. "You can't force someone who is mentally disturbed and deeply alcoholic into accommodation," he said. "Sometimes it takes years. I've been running a soup run for 18 years and its more than just thrusting a bowl of soup into people's hands." Indeed, rather than an over-provision of services for homeless people in the Westminster area, there is an acute shortage, he said, particularly for hostel beds. He also lambasted Westminster Council for failing to engage with soup run providers. Less than a fifth of soup run providers within Westminster responded to the councils' initial research project, and only a handful were represented at the summit itself. The council said that it does not want to bring an end to soup runs within Westminster, but seeks to avoid duplication and integrate the provision within other services for the homeless. It put forward a "preferred soup run provider model" to dramatically reduce the number of soup runs on the street. Frank Moran of Thames Reach Bondway called for more co-ordination between soup runs and existing services, and highlighted the work of Unleash, an umbrella organisation for churches and projects involved in homeless action in London. Unleash held its own meeting to discuss the "anti-soup run lobby" prior to the Council's soup summit, at which itself and other soup run providers agreed to launch a forum to help groups offering food and outreach to co-ordinate their activities and ensure overlap is avoided. But the soup run providers are not about to call time on their activity, which Unleash says are part of a long tradition of Church and faith group social action, offering "vital, life-saving work at no cost to the taxpayer." For Westminster Council, and many working in with street sleepers in central London, however, the soup run has had its day. "We need more creative responses to homelessness," says Moran. "Is the soup run an adequate response in the 21st century?"
Cafe Arlington: more than tea and sympathy? >
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