Soup runs in London

On Saturday night I desperately wanted to go out. However, London decided to dress up in white and force me to stay home. After some months of bizarrely nice weather, it snowed. A lot. But that didn’t put me off. The mood for going out was still there and so, on Sunday morning I put on my snow boots and walked alone from Covent Garden to Westminster and then to Tate Modern Gallery (approximately 1 hour). I wouldn’t say it was a very cold day but the streets were empty. Keeping in mind it was Sunday in Central London, it looked like the middle of the Sahara desert. Two things grabbed my attention. By Thames River, which passes through the city, big transparent trash bags were left on the road. This was weird for two reasons: First, there is no trash in London. Second, the bags were full of clothes. These were obviously for the numerous homeless of the city. I don’t know who left them there, nor do I know why. I just know that some people tried to prevent more fatal incidents from happening because of the cold (as was the case recently in Eastern Europe). Further down the road, under Waterloo Bridge a van was giving away soups. Some of the homeless looked to be more in need than others. A distinctive figure was an Asian woman who had fended off the crowd and had dedicated all her attention (standing still) to her soup. At the same time, a man was collecting the thrown away paper soup cups (proof that there is no uncollected garbage in London).

In comparison to Greece, this situation is not at all original in London. On the contrary, these soup runs are so common that a lot of people complain. It is a fact that soup runs are a huge relief for this social group. But why is that?

To begin with, the number of these organisations is ever growing and the fact that they do not cooperate with each other makes the situation even harder. This means that in areas of Central London where the organisations gather attract more and more homeless creating ghettos. Complaints from the residents are numerous. Another problem is the fact that other social groups like ones outside of London are deprived of these benefits. At the same time, many of these organisations are based outside London and thus have to travel big distances. They could as well support their local social groups that are in need. Another criticism supports that soup runs help the maintenance of this situation instead of helping the homeless escape poverty. The Mayor of London has proposed the ban of soup runs, a fact that raised a lot of criticism.

The discussions on the topic have just started revolving around how these benefits are going to be organised so that: Everyone that is in need can benefit, avoid creating further reactions from the citizens and, finally, to get those in need to start using other similar benefits – such as those offered by churches and institutions. Time will show..

 
This is the article – translated by me – as appears at http://www.popuppress.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=432%3Asoup-runs-&catid=107%3A2010-05-07-15-34-56&Itemid=204 - The online version of the POP UP magazine!

Written on the 6^th of February 2011.