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Whether cheese and onion with coffee, Caribbean goat or classic tomato, soup slurping for charity is back for its 20th year next week – and one islander has been working hard to ensure it all goes sippingly.
Richard Robins has been putting the final preparations in place ahead of next Tuesday when around 4,000 mugs of the warm lunch treat will be served in aid of the Shelter Trust, which over the past two decades has raised nearly £150,000 through its annual soup kitchen to support homeless people in the community.
The charity say the demand for their services is “as great as ever”, with 524 people needing help in the first 10 months of this year alone.
Putting deliberations on hold over which of this year's 42 soups (full menu here) to choose next week, Richard shared with Express the menu of improvements he’d serve up if he were in charge of the island…
With Christmas and winter just around the corner, islanders are suddenly being made more aware of poverty in our apparently affluent community. The Jersey Christmas Appeal will do its customary fantastic job helping around 1,500 individuals and families with food parcels, fuel vouchers etc. Next Tuesday the Shelter Trust will hold its annual Soup Kitchen to raise awareness of its work with the homeless.
Pictured: Now in its 20th year, the Soup Kitchen helps raise money to support homeless people in the community.
Thanks to the Jersey Homeless Outreach Group’s work with Shelter and others, there are no more than two or three rough sleepers and the problem is not as visible as in other communities in Europe. Nevertheless, at Shelter we have around 100 people sleeping every night of the year and so far this year we have helped 524 individuals in one way or another. The problem is with us all the year round and I would like to see more recognition and support for the many charities dealing with it
On a similar theme, whilst we are fortunate to have a thriving charity sector covering virtually every aspect of community life, the many calls on the public for donations cannot all be met and this results in funding issues for some of those charities.
Pictured: Charity shouldn't be a sticking plaster for longstanding problems the States should be dealing with, Richard says.
Many take responsibility for necessary services that would otherwise have to be provided by the States and in doing so relieve the States of a substantial financial burden. Recognition of this fact plus more sympathetic cooperation between the relevant ministries and charities receiving States funding would benefit the whole community.
We live in a relative paradise despite some recent overdevelopment, but the threat of global warming is not a myth. I applaud the gradually increasing numbers of electric and hybrid cars on our roads, more cycle paths and the dabbling in solar energy, but we need to be more proactive.
Pictured: Richard wonders why there aren't more incentives for islanders to ditch gas-guzzling cars.
Where are the incentives for people to ditch their large diesel-guzzling SUVs, and install solar and wind power in their homes? Why are we not investing in wave power? I don’t have the answers but I am sure we have access to experts who do and future generations will thank us if we get it right.
It is disheartening to read that our Arts Centre or the Opera House may have to close through lack of funding. The arts, theatre, music, comedy and our heritage are integral to making Jersey such a wonderful place to live.
Pictured: Growing and protecting the island's arts scene, which offers a needed escape from screens, will require investment, Richard argues.
They are vital for the education of our children, they add to the island’s tourism offering and most of all, live entertainment gets us all away from the dreaded “screens”. I read that we spend per head of population, less than 50% of the Isle of Wight’s spend on the arts and culture. This is shameful!
So far, so predictable and so serious. My fifth and most important wish for Jersey is that we should all have more fun and laughter in our lives. We have lots of problems as I’ve already touched on, and we live constantly amid doom and gloom media stories and fake news.
Pictured: Getting out and about and away from screens and social media is just one way Richard suggests will help islanders look after their wellbeing.
I read that the United Arab Emirates now has a Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing. I wouldn’t go that far (and it doesn’t seem to be doing the UAE much good!) but let’s enjoy our relative paradise in Jersey, get out and about and take in the scenery and the wildlife, meet and greet people, reduce our reliance on social media and help others whenever we can.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author, and not of Bailiwick Express.
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