A homeless charity which operates Scotland’s busiest soup kitchen has warned their resources are becoming increasingly stretched amid a “horrendous” rise in the number of service users.
Homeless Project Scotland has run the kitchen under the Hielanman's Umbrella at Glasgow Central station three nights per week since October 2019, providing around 55,000 litres of hot food per year.
Charity co-founder Colin McInnes revealed that the charity has gone from serving between 2,000 to 2,500 meals a week to 3,500 to 4,500 meals in the last two weeks alone.
He told The Herald: “We’ve gone from 2,000 to 2,500 meals a week to 3,500 to 4,500 meals in the last two weeks alone. It’s put a massive strain on our resources.
“It’s increased the number of pots that we are cooking, it’s increased the amount of money we are having to spend on food, it’s horrendous. It’s that horrendous that we’ve had to move to recyclable food tubs, because it’s costing us an extra £600 a week.”
READ MORE: Under the Umbrella: A night with the hungry and homeless in Glasgow
The demographic of users who attend the soup kitchen has also changed, with Colin noting that he has seen “more children, families” as well as “more people who have no recourse to public funds.”
With winter approaching, the charity has taken to social media repeatedly to call on Glasgow City Council to provide them with a suitable building to move the kitchen indoors.
If Homeless Project Scotland are unable to do so, Colin fears the charity will be providing ‘ambulances’ along with a hot meal to those most in need in Scotland’s biggest city.
He said: “What we are looking for is a building to bring people indoors, to sit down and eat and have some kind of compassion. The soup kitchen would be brought indoors.
“We want a building that’s in Glasgow city centre that we can open up. We want it to be a 24-hour welfare centre. It means people can go in there for warmth, food and an ear.
“My worry going into winter is that along with a hot meal I think we are going to be providing an ambulance for hypothermia. That’s what I think is going to happen in winter. Last week we had 172 people queuing up for food, including mothers and babies and disabled people in wheelchairs.”
Over 170 people queued for hot food tonight under central bridge, we served 1,000 hot meals tonight, We need a building to bring people indoors, @NicolaSturgeon @ScotGovFM @GlasgowCC @LeaderGCC we need your help people are going to be freezing this winter waiting for hot food. pic.twitter.com/xtuvIwX5uD
— Homeless Project Scotland ❤️🏴 (@hp_scotland) September 21, 2022
Colin said the soup kitchen’s users are also asking staff if they can move the soup kitchen moving inside and out of the elements.
The Hielanman's Umbrella, which covers part of Glasgow’s Argyle Street and earned its name as a shelter and meeting place for Highlanders during the Clearances, provides some sanctuary from the elements, but winter is already beginning to bite.
“They are cold,” said Mr McInnes. “Every day we are asked if there’s word on a permanent building. They want somewhere to come in inside.”
Not only is the weather a factor in the charity seeking to move the soup kitchen indoors, but there is also the chance to provide a level of safety to users not afforded by operating the kitchen in area of Glasgow city centre Colin describes as “the most dangerous street in Scotland”.
He added: “If you made an enquiry to the police and asked them how many times they’ve been called to our soup kitchen for assistance in the last three months, I bet you’d be shocked. It’s easily over 100 times. Where the soup kitchen is based, it is the most dangerous street in Scotland.”
After an initial idea to try and open the kitchen in the old Tower Records store on Argyle Street came to nothing, Colin said that plans are afoot to start a petition calling on Glasgow City Council to open up a building for them.
“We’ve also thought about possibly raising funds to buy a building”, he said.
In response, Glasgow City Council said they had offered two properties to Homeless Project Scotland, both of which the charity declined.
The Herald understands that properties that were declined were at the St Francis Centre in the Gorbals area and at Cadogan Square in the city centre.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “Two properties either in or close to the city centre which we believed matched Homeless Scotland’s requirements were offered as options to the charity, but both opportunities were declined.
“Information on property assets that may be available was also shared to allow HPS to consider other options that may be suitable for their needs.
“We will continue to work with the charity as far as possible, but it must be stressed we have a limited number of properties at our disposal in central Glasgow suitable for the project’s purposes.”
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