Stepping in to give hope to Edinburgh homeless
A charity which is feeding the homeless in Edinburgh has come forward to fill a gap caused by other providers forced to close because of Covid-19.
Steps To Hope (STH) provides three course meals and hosts a soup kitchen in addition to supporting and mentoring people with addiction and alcohol issues.
While
other charities which operate from church halls and other venues have been
required to shut up shop because of social distancing, STH has become more
active by using a mobile catering van it took possession of just as the
coronavirus was taking hold.
The
charity, which receives no Government or local authority funding and relies
solely on public donations, has gone from providing 150 meals a week to more
than 450.
STH founder
and operations manager, Richard Roncero, said its Sunday to Tuesday food
service was saving lives, and it had recently taken over the operation of the
Souper Saturday soup kitchen which was about close.
He
said: “Fortunately we had been campaigning for several months to buy a catering
van and it arrived at exactly the same time as Covid-19 was taking hold. We
have gone from providing two food services a week to five as lots of the other
food services have closed or had to reduce operations.
“People
using our services are telling us that they have not eaten all day. Those who
were reliant on begging can’t survive because of lockdown as there is no one
around. One person said they sat out for 10 hours and made £2, so with little
support about, Steps To Hope is keeping people alive.”
The charity has more than 70 volunteers and in normal times helps people in to rehab and supports them through the process of becoming clean and sober.
Richard
added: “Once Covid-19 over we will have access to halls and other meeting
places again and we can hold 1-1 meetings and mentor people to a better way of
life. We are really reduced to just a food service at the moment but we are
looking forward to getting back to helping people to change their lives.”
Steps To Hope food services:
Saturday,
Old St Paul’s, Jeffrey Street, breakfast 8am-1pm.
Sunday,
St Cuthbert’s Church courtyard, three course meal, 5-7pm.
Monday,
St Columba’s Church, Johnston Terrace, three course meal 6-8pm.
Tuesday
and Friday, 5pm, three course meal at Jeffrey Street followed by Holyrood Road
and Grassmarket.