Recent News
For the 2nd time in 3 days a team crossed the Tamar to serve on Plymouth Soup Run. This time from the Lighthouse Community Centre CIC. It was another busy night with approximately 98 people served and by the end of the evening almost all the food and soup had gone. 3 sleeping bags were also given out. Many thanks to all the team and to Plymouth Methodist Central Hall for the use of their kitchen. #MakeADifference #helpingothers
Not surprisingly, with the rain pouring down, Plymouth Soup Run volunteers were busy at Shekinah on Saturday morning with quite a few people waiting outside for us to open. During the morning 33 people joined us with most having breakfast and 10 people having a shower. There were lots of requests for dry clothes and sleeping bags. 2 people were advised to seek medical attention sooner rather than later.Today, we welcomed Laura who did her first shift cooking breakfast, ably supported by Nikki. Many thanks to all our volunteers who helped on a very busy morning. #communitysupport #helpingothers
Mutley Baptist Church is so grateful to the congregations of Our Lady of Lourdes and Holy Family for continuing to support Plymouth Soup Run with donations of food and other goodies!#communitysupport #helpingothers
A Friday night can only mean 1 thing Plymouth Christian Centre will be out on the Plymouth Soup Run.During the afternoon their team of cooks were busy cooking sausage, potatoes and beans, beans, potatoes and cheese plus vegetable curry soup. The sandwiches tonight were cheese and ham or just cheese and there were also crisps, snacks, water and hot drinks for the 80 people served. Apart from stop 1 it was a slightly quieter night. Many thanks to all the volunteers at Plymouth Christian Centre for their help and support every Friday. #teamwork #helpingothers #MakeADifference
Bank holiday weekend meant we were short of volunteers to help with the pick up from FareShare South West and do the shopping so we called in the troops. #helpingothers
Once again the team from Callington crossed the Tamar to serve Plymouth Soup Run. It was a dry evening on Thursday with no serious issues to report. The demand for toiletries was particularly challenging at the first stop as were the requests for socks, underwear, hats, gloves etc. 7 sleeping bags were also given out..With the wide variation in numbers each night the team had catered for 120+ so as 94 people were served, there was plenty of surplus food for George House BCHA. It was great to hear some very positive news from 2 people we have known for a while about finding work and signing their tenancy agreement next week, Thanks to The Salvation Army Devonport Life House Plymouth for the use of their kitchens and to ALL the team. #communitysupport #MakeADifference #helpingothers
Donations from our Plymouth Soup Run Amazon wish list have arrived in abundance today. We have received 10 pairs of men’s joggers, 5 packs of Pot Noodles and a set of women’s underwear. All the donations have arrived anonymously so we can not thank anyone personally but to EVERYONE who has sent items, many, many thanks. These donations will make a HUGE difference to the people we serve. 🙏🙏🙏🙏#communitysupport #helpingothers #MakeADifference
A total of 92 meals were served by the team from Mutley Baptist Church on Wednesday. It was slightly quieter than of late, but still busy.Overall it was a very calm night with everyone very grateful for the support.There were no incidents of any concern with most people in good moods and happy to chat.Generous donations were received from Tesco, Mutley Plain, a group in Plympton (who donated about 20 boxes of eggs, which were extremely popular) and a gentleman on the Hoe who donated some cakes and sandwiches - all well received. 4 sleeping bags were given out and 2 blankets. Many thanks to Mutley Baptist Church and their team of volunteers for continuing to support Plymouth Soup Run every Wednesday.
Many thanks to Jack from Babcock for organising the team on Tuesday. 100 people were served by volunteers from Righton Blackburns who together with Elior funded the evening. It was extremely busy at stop 1 with 62 people queueing for food. The other 3 stops were quieter. The team had catered for 100 so whilst there was enough food for everyone nothing was left at the end of the evening, apart from a little soup.3 sleeping bags were given out. Many thanks to everyone who helped on Tuesday and a special thank you to #jackskorecki who was out on Plymouth Soup Run 2 nights running. #communitysupport #helpingothers #MakeADifference
Another busy but calm Monday evening.Hope Baptist Church prepared the food for the 102 we served.Viv as kitchen lead was ably assisted by Steph and Sammy along with the team from Ridge and Partners. Bronia drove the bus with the Dockyard friends team. Alex and Stephen, our Prayer Pastors spent time chatting to many who came to each stop. StreetVet, as so often, were a welcome addition to the Monday night crew.Thanks to all involved inc Ivor Dewdney for the pasties and Nando's039;s for the chicken.
It was a busy but calm, trouble free Sunday night for the team from St Paul’s Church Efford with 117 people served. The volunteers had lots of good conversations with people and also gave out 4 sleeping bags, a large amount of clothing and toiletries .There was a selection of ambient food available which went down well.Many thanks to Nick, Jo and their team of volunteers who kindly cover for the regular Sunday night team so they can have a break, serve on Saturdays once a month and are often on standby in case they are needed. #communitysupport #MakeADifference
104 people were served on Saturday evening by the team from Plymouth Methodist Central Hall and St Peter & the Holy Apostles, Plymouth. As well as food the team gave out 2 sleeping bags, toiletries, clothes and dog food.At the end of the night some of the surplus food was shared at stop 4 with the remaining fruit and cake taken to George House BCHA. Many thanks to all the volunteers and to Steve Body for the oranges. #communitysupport #teamwork #MakeADifference
We welcomed 25 people into Shekinah this morning for a calm and convivial rough sleeper session. Most had a cooked breakfast and 11 took a shower. A few serious games of UNO were played and the garden proved popular for a relaxing outdoor moment. There were a lot of new faces, several of whom had only recently become homeless and needed signposting advice on sources of help. Two people were advised to go to the Cumberland Centre for treatment for skin lesions. A big thank you to our volunteers who prepared and served the food, chatted to clients, and did all the various jobs of staffing reception, cleaning, and doing the laundry that make the sessions work.
As always on a Friday the cooks at Plymouth Christian Centre were busy preparing the food for Plymouth Soup Run. On the menu was a cheesy vegetable soup, pizza and garlic bread, and chicken Thai noodles. There was a choice of cheese and salad, ham and cheese or ham sandwiches. All this plus lots of snacks, chocolate treats, crisps and fruit.99 people were served join the evening. 5 sleeping bags, five coats, underwear, socks and toiletries were also given out. Many thanks to all the team who were joined by Tina back visiting friends and family. As always great #teamwork providing #communitysupport and #helpingothers.
Once again, the number was 107! The team from Plymouth Mayflower Rotary Club catered for 110 and gave out the remaining 3 bags at Kings Road.The team arrived early at Mayflower Street at 8.30 and a considerable queue had already built up. During the evening 2 sleeping bags were given out plus the team’s entire stock of toiletries and lots of jackets and other clothing. The team on clothes had lots of good conversations but did meet some people with complex issues.At stop 3 there was an altercation involving service users but not directed at the team. However the team did pack up early and left this stop quickly. Many thanks to all the team for their continued support. #communitysupport #WeServe
On Wednesday the team from Mutley Baptist Church prepared 121 meals with 107 meals served in total. A large donation from Tesco Mutley Plain was added to by a further Tesco donation at the Hoe from a kind member of the public.4 sleeping bags and 3 blankets were given out together with lots of clothes and toiletries. Many thanks to Mutley Baptist and their team of volunteers for serving on Plymouth Soup Run every Wednesday. Thanks also to the people who kindly donate items from our Amazon wish list. Men’s and ladies underwear has recently been received plus some men’s deodorants. Huge thanks. #MakeADifference #communitysupport #helpingothers
Tuesday was not as busy as the previous few nights for the team from St Matts Plymouth who had catered for over 130. So with 116 people served during the evening they were able to give out some extras at the last stop. The team started the run with a selection of food including chicken and vegetable soup, pizza, chilli and rice, and veggie pasta. The sandwiches were ham, cheese or egg with the egg being very popular and running out at stop 1. 1 sleeping bag was given out as well as some toiletries, socks and underwear. There was a calm relaxed atmosphere during the evening with a short burst of singing at stop 3. Many thanks to all the St Matts volunteers both those who collected the food, cooked, did the washing up and served on Plymouth Soup Run.Great #teamwork. #communitysupport #MakeADifferenece.
Although Monday was busy, fortunately it was quieter and far more manageable at stop 1 which meant there was time to chat to people as well as serve. 110 people were served during the evening.Zoe with Dockyard friends prepared the food while Mary, Greg, Gabby and Saltash medical centre served on the run. Mary was thanked for all her work as she is stepping down from her team leader/driving role but she will continue to serve on the individuals team. The StreetVet team had a very busy night with a queue of dogs waiting to be seen. Many thanks to everyone involved on a Monday night, to Hope Baptist Church for coordinating the run, to all the business and community teams who help and to The Cornwall Bakery and Gingsters for the savoury items. 4 sleeping bags were given out. #teamwork #communitysupport #helpingothers
It was another busy night on Sunday, but thankfully not as busy as Saturday. During the evening we served 131 people. All the team worked hard, Lyndsey in the kitchen preparing plenty of hot meals and the volunteers from STORM running making the sandwiches. In fact, they made 131 sandwiches just the right number! Thanks also to our Duke of Edinburgh student, Lexi, who packs all the bags. The hot food, cottage pie or a vegetarian pasta dish, was appreciated by everyone. We served a choice of French onion soup or spicy lentil soup thanks to FareShare South West.There was enough food for everyone as we had anticipated higher numbers following Saturday.Two sleeping bags were given out.Huge thanks to everyone who helped both front and back of house. We really appreciate the support we are now getting from storm running. We couldn’t do it without them.Great #teamwork offering #communitysupport and #helpingothers.
Saturday evening saw a new record for Plymouth Soup Run with so many people at stop 1 it was impossible for the team from St Paul’s Church Efford to count and impossible to keep to time!! By counting the number of food bags left, the estimate was 110 people were served at this one stop alone !Because of these unprecedented numbers the team were running both late and low on food which meant that emotions were sometimes high at the other stops. Sadly, one person kicked off big-time and was very threatening and abusive to one of the team! This was not pleasant as the team were all trying to manage the large numbers in a difficult situation.By the end of the night a total of about 165 people had been served.The team took out 120 snack bags, 120 hot meals+ some extra sandwiches and extra chicken nuggets.Teams are currently at their maximum capacity producing food for this high number of people and it isn't sustainable in the long run.As well as food, 6 sleeping bags and a large quantity of clothes and toiletries were also given out. HUGE thanks to the team for their hard work on a very stressful evening!!
