Brixton Soup Kitchen - Feeding The Needy At Christmas

Wrapped in a coat and woolly beanie hat an elderly man called John sits down with a polystyrene cup of tea in hand and a plate of cheese sandwiches parked on the chair next to him. John is waiting for the main event - lunch at Brixton Soup Kitchen.

Despite depending on a team of volunteers and extremely limited finances, the generous hearts – and portions - at Brixton Soup Kitchen ensure everyone who walks through its doors gets a warm welcome.

As co-founder Mahamed Hashi says: “Every single person that comes through here is like family to us."

The kitchen will open up on Christmas Day this year and its new monthly venture - Brixton Big Breakfast - aims to support families and children who aren’t eating enough.

Co-founder Solomon Smith, 31, said: “When I initially started the soup kitchen, it was just for homeless people, and I had to learn that there was way more than people sleeping rough. You know there are a lot of people that are in a home and have no food in the fridge.”

Brixton Big Breakfast is a response to this need. According to a Kelloggs survey, one in three parents of low income families admit to struggling to feed their children during school holidays, when services such as school breakfast clubs aren’t available.

Partnering with two London youth charities Juvenis and Gamechangers, the soup kitchen is now putting on a monthly breakfast to address this.

Through her voluntary work and social work studies, Gamechangers founder Carina White has seen first hand young people resorting to stealing or going hungry because they can’t afford one - let alone three - meals a day.

Carina said: “It is not acceptable in 2016 in the UK for families to be dealing with such hardships, it's not.

“I think at this time of year pressure on families is really big. Families that are already struggling to feed their families now have an extra pressure, they’re thinking, 'I don’t want to disappoint my child, I want to buy them a good Christmas present.'

“It’s not just on the materialistic side; the weather is getting colder, you’re also having to worry about your heating bills, electricity bills. I’ve worked with some families whose parents can’t afford to heat the house and are walking around the house in jackets, dressing gowns, anything to keep them warm.”

Just as Brixton Big Breakfast was born out of the disbelief that people in modern-day Britain struggle to eat enough food, Solomon started Brixton Soup Kitchen due to being unable to comprehend the level of homelessness in his local community.

He said: “I just saw that there was a lot of people that were sleeping rough, and I was confused and was kind of like how is that happening in 2013? And that’s when I thought something had to be done.”

Together with his youth work colleague Mahamed the pair bought a bulk load of paper cups and teabags and started handing out hot drinks from his car. From there they started giving out doughnuts and chicken until they found a site with a kitchen, before moving to their current Coldharbour Lane location.

Thanks to an increased number of volunteers the service now cooks up breakfast and lunch Monday – Thursday, 10-2pm all year round. A clothes and food bank, mental health support, IT help and even a weekly legal advice clinic are all available too.

Mahamed said: “It’s not necessarily just about food. We look at food as the facilitator of engagement so we are able to build up relationships and find out what the actual problems are then signpost or support people to find those solutions.

“I love seeing the change in people because that’s what we’re here for. We’re here to help people find that spark within themselves and get back on the right track.

“Its not about helping people all the time and making them dependent on your help, it's about empowering people to find what they have inside them and make it through what life owes them.”

A Brixton Soup Kitchen regular, Patrick, first heard about the service when he was a DJ and looking to volunteer. After falling to problems with his housing, Patrick found himself going to the kitchen to use the services himself.

He said: “I wasn’t eating properly and had problems with my housing. There were times when I wouldn’t be able to afford to eat - it could be a day - two days sometimes.

"I’m a bit more stable on my feet now and I’d say that this place has been a big help for me.”

For others Brixton Soup Kitchen – which despite its name is more likely to serve up Dominos Pizza, Nandos chicken and scrambled eggs – offers a sense of belonging and community.

Volunteer Philip Garvey, has been helping at Brixton Soup Kitchen for about 10 months.

He said: “There’s a sense of community here. People can come here and it’s a safe haven, they are not judged or stigmatised. They are able to build relationships here and forge friendships.”

The large social media following and press attention the kitchen receives has resulted in a steady supply of volunteers and food and clothes donations; not to mention celebrity support from the likes of Rio Ferdinand.

However, Solomon admits the charity struggles to retain all of its volunteers and has little financial support to build a more sustainable future.

Running a soup kitchen that serves up to 50 people a day, four times a week, should be a full-time gig but for Solomon and Mahamed, its something the duo do alongside their full-time jobs as youth workers.

Solomon said: “We’ve never had any funding whatsoever. Despite all the work we’re doing here, we’ve got a clothes bank, we’ve got a food bank, we do IT support, we got councillors, lawyers, so much support, but no money.

“Our main hurdle is funding. I want to pay some of my staff when I’m not doing this. I’m a youth worker by trade so I’ve been doing youth work for over 14 years for Lambeth Youth Service, so that’s actually my paid job but I want to do the soup kitchen full time.

“When people say, ‘So Solomon, where do you see yourself in five years?’ I say, 'Closed down'.

“I want Brixton Soup Kitchen to be liquidated because there is no more homelessness, that is the thing that I have been saying and I will always say.”