A STREET kitchen set up by army veterans to feed the homeless has found a new home and the full backing of Barnsley Council after being shut down by officials just two weeks ago.
Volunteers had been feeding people in the Peace Gardens on Churchfield opposite the police station when they were approached by council officers who ordered them to pack up and go. They said they weren’t allowed to be there amid concerns including a lack of food hygiene certificates.
Organisers were furious. But this week Tony Simpson, a former member of the Territorial Army, who helped set up the street kitchen, said they’d held a very successful and positive meeting with council officials Wendy Lowder and Paul Brannan which left him feeling great about the future of the project. About 50 people were fed at the event on Wednesday night.
“It was an absolutely smashing meeting to be honest,” said Tony, 62, of Wilbrook Rise.
“It went really well and they’re wanting to help us if we need any support, with things like providing drug counsellors, they’re going to provide useful leaflets we can put out on the street kitchen tables.
“I went in there thinking we were going to have a battle, like we did that night they shut us down.
“But now we’ve got a temporary home which I think will see us through the winter, at Temperance Hall, Pitt Street, opposite the Post Office. I think we will be there at least through the winter.
“We’ve also met with environmental health, and some of the stuff I thought was going to cause great difficulty, conforming to this, that and the other, is not that much of a barrier.
“One of our volunteers has already re-sat her health and hygiene course, and her food hygiene course, and a few of us have got first aid at work qualifications, and the council is very pleased that we are organised and at least partially qualified.
“The hoops I thought they were going to make us jump through have turned out not to be quite the hoops I thought they were.”
The project is run by the Barnsley Branch of the Yorkshire Regiment Association, in conjunction with the Yorkshire Volunteers Association Penistone Branch.
Tony said it was about feeding the homeless, and those who were in need. As veterans, he said if they fed 1,000 homeless people, and in the process helped one veteran among them, they would be happy.
But they have already helped three veterans, one of whom is now being found accommodation in a bed and breakfast thanks to teaming up with Tom Wood at the Barnsley Charity Help for Homeless Veterans.
There have been many sponsors and supporters who have donated produce, including a mystery donor this week of 20 bags full of fruit and vegetables.
Wendy Lowder, Barnsley Council’s executive director of communities, said: “We are always happy to meet with organisations who want to offer support.
“We were able to exchange lots of information with Tony about the needs in the borough and also risks to be sighted on.
“We agreed that our shared goal is to support people to get on in life and not encourage dependency a ‘hand-up not a hand-out’.
“Any groups who are thinking about providing support should contact housingadvice@barnsley.gov.uk”
The street kitchen is open every Wednesday, 6pm, at Temperance Hall, Pitt Street. For more details search ‘Street Kitchen UK Barnsley Tarn’ on Facebook.
