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A soup kitchen relied upon by homeless people could be forced to shut unless it can recruit new volunteers.
Whitstable Soup Cellar runs weekly at the Baptist Church in Middle Wall, where volunteers serve up steaming bowls of vegetarian soup with slabs of bread - thanks to donations from Granny Smiths Greengrocers and Hubbards Bakery.
The project - run by Canterbury Food Bank in partnership with the St Vincent de Paul Society - has about 15 regular guests, who visit each week to enjoy a hot, home-made meal.
But in order to keep going beyond July, the Soup Cellar must recruit new volunteers.
Derek, known as Del, has relied on the service since it opened four years ago.
“Without the Soup Cellar I’d be stuffed, really,” he said. “I’ve lived in Whitstable all my life - I’ve been homeless about 20 years. I kip on the streets, I squat.
“It’s nice to come and sit and have a hot meal. The girls here are great.”
Del says he has noticed a marked rise in rough sleepers in Whitstable in recent years.
“I used to know one man, when I was a kid - he was the only street boy,” he said. “But now, I could name 30. That’s a big increase.
“When you see young girls with their kids going in the food banks, that’s not right. There’s one young man I’ve seen up the shelters who’s 25.
“The world’s going crazy. We’re being priced out all over.”
Volunteer Maureen Begent says the Soup Cellar attracts people from all walks of life.
“There are 20-year-olds homeless in Whitstable,” she said. “Children come in with their mums and dads - we had one earlier today with his dad. He was three.
“It’s nice talking to the regulars - I’ve known them a long time. Some of their stories are very sad.”
Belinda now lives in a privately rented flat, but started visiting the Soup Cellar after she was made homeless suddenly last year.
“I was with a lovely man, living in Medway for what would have been 13 years this year,” she explained. “Three years into our relationship, he had a brain haemorrhage. It totally wiped out his short-term memory.”
'You can have all the money in the world and still be lonely and depressed' - Maureen Begent
After caring for him for eight years, Belinda began experiencing issues with her mental health. Her partner was placed in a nursing home, and she was made homeless.
“I’m very well educated,” she said. “I have a degree - I’ve always been employed. We were living in a big, four-bedroom with three bathrooms, sat in an acre of its own grounds - a good home.
“I did not expect it.”
Originally hailing from Whitstable, Belinda returned to the town last May.
“I was lucky because I had a vehicle, so I slept in there,” she said. “I was homeless for eight months, and as a homeless woman on my own, I found it very difficult coming to these places.
“I only came to the soup cellar because I came with someone in the first instance - but the girls here have been amazing.”
Belinda still returns each week. “Now, I make a donation when I come,” she said. “Because I do appreciate all this.”
Organisers are keen to stress the Soup Cellar - which is open from noon until 2pm each Wednesday - is open to everybody, regardless of circumstance.
“Even if you’re earning a lot of money, you can still be lonely,” said Maureen. “You can have all the money in the world and still be lonely and depressed.”
Canterbury Food Bank is urgently seeking volunteers to help run the facility during summer - including cooks, front-of-house volunteers and a team leader to oversee the rota.
For more information, email supervisor@canterburyfoodbank.org.
