Hull soup kitchen: 'Please don't treat homeless worse than a dog'

Volunteers operating a soup kitchen on a street corner say they desperately need more support from Hull City Council.

BBC Look North's Shirley Henry went along to speak with volunteers from Ladled With Love as well as those who rely on it, as the local authority says it is working towards "an appropriate solution".

Within minutes, dozens of hungry people are forming an orderly queue, hoping for hot food on this cold evening.

Some carry belongings in a bag for life; their life in a bag.

Over the road, illuminated by the glow of street lights, placards on a comedy club entice passers-by with promises of belly laughs.

But on this side of Grimston Street there is no laughter or joy. Only despair. And it is a feeling not only felt by those waiting patiently to be handed a tray.

Since 2019, community group Ladled With Love has been providing hot meals for some of Hull's most vulnerable.

Prior to work starting on the redevelopment of Queens Gardens last year, this volunteer-led group at least had somewhere safe, away from traffic, to feed the hungry.

Now they serve meals on this blustery street corner.

Neither they, nor the people being helped, are happy with the situation.

In a message to the council, Suzanne Moulson, who has been volunteering since 2016, says: "Please don't treat our service users worse than you would treat a dog."

As well as stripping the needy of their dignity, with their plight bare for passers-by to see, she feels the current location is putting people at risk.

"It's an accident waiting to happen," warns Ms Moulson. "The way the cars come around the corner into Grimston Street, drivers don't know we're here."

The volunteers want a building; a warm sanctuary to welcome the hungry.

The council says there are a number of independent soup kitchens in Hull, adding it was working towards a solution.

Karl Skerrett has been volunteering with the group since 2012, and tells me: "It doesn't even have to be a decent building, just somewhere with a freezer.

"It doesn't have to be indoors. A bit of shelter and a bit of light, that's all we ask. A big bus shelter would do us."

Mr Skerrett says Hull City Council had offered them the use of Jubilee Church in nearby King Edward Street.

However, the volunteers say they had been told, for health and safety reasons, any food given out to the public would need to be cooked on the premises rather than prepared by volunteers in their own homes.

"All my volunteers work," says Mr Skerrett. "We don't get home from work until 5pm. We don't have time to go there and start preparing food."

Kyle, 25, has been homeless for a week after being evicted from his flat. He now helps to serve food.

He says: "They (the council) need to really pull their finger out."

Selina, a regular at the soup kitchen, tells me after she has paid her bills and fed her cat she has nothing left for food.

"There are loads of empty department stores," she says. "I don't know who owns them but they'd be ideal for a soup kitchen. Sometimes you feel like you're just a number and they [the council] don't really care at all."

As food is handed out, a 21-year-old man collapses with suspected sepsis. An ambulance is called.

Ms Moulson adds: "If we had a building, this gentleman would not be laid on a concrete floor. He would be in the dry, in the warmth. It's the saddest thing ever.

"We believe in what we're doing and no-one should have an empty tummy."

In response to concerns raised by Ladled With Love, a Hull City Council spokesperson said: "There are a number of independent soup kitchens in the city. We are working with them and other partners, towards an appropriate solution, and we would like to thank Look North for bringing this situation to our attention."

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