Newbury Soup Kitchen purchases new van with £18,000 grant from Freemasons

The Newbury Soup Kitchen has taken full advantage of an £18,000 grant in upgrading its mobile services, purchasing a van for a community outreach operation.

The charity will now be able to serve people in the West Berkshire area directly from the van.

While it is associated locally with its work among the homeless, the Soup Kitchen also provides jabs, administrative assistance, educational opportunities, and other services to vulnerable adults.

The Soup Kitchen van.

In addition to enhancing these aspects of the charity’s work, it is hoped that the van will enable staff when distributing clothing and camping equipment to rough sleepers.

The £18,000 grant was made by Newbury Freemasons, and it is set to go into action over the summer.

Currently, staff operate from stall placed out the back of the van, although modifications will soon allow them to serve the public from inside the vehicle.

The Soup Kitchen’s founder and operations manager, Meryl Praill, said: “Without the kindness and support of wonderful organisations like Newbury Freemasons we would not be able to carry out the support we do on a day-to-day basis.

“With this donation we will be able to carry on providing safer food provision, outreach and support to anyone who needs that extra helping hand and support.

“It is very important to us that everyone is treated with respect, kindness and treated as equals in society, often not experienced by some previously.

“We love our work and are committed to strive forward to eventually open a permanent Community Support Centre in the centre of Newbury.” Find out more about the Newbury Soup Kitchen by visiting https://newburysoupkitchen.org.uk/