A GLASGOW soup kitchen has issued an appeal to the Prime Minister to help them find a suitable building to serve hot food to vulnerable people.
The Homeless Project Scotland (HPS) which operates a seven-day-a-week service under Central Bridge on Argyle Street has been trying to locate a new home for their charity which would allow people in need of a meal a place to gather 24 hours a day.
The charity is now asking the UK Government if it can have access to one of the Ministry of Defence buildings.
Colin McInnes, chairman of HPS, said: “We are submitting an appeal to the Prime Minister to help us find a building for our soup kitchen.
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“The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has a lot of empty buildings in Glasgow so we have asked if the MoD could give us access to one of their empty ones.
“We have also appealed to the Prime Minister and asked him if he will have a telephone call with myself to talk about the crisis these people in Glasgow are facing as well as the hunger crisis across Scotland.
“We want him to help us find a resolution to our building problem rather than having people standing out in the cold.”
Glasgow City Council previously offered the HPS use of the St Francis Centre on Cumberland Street, which is open from 9am until 9pm most days. The local authority said it was willing to “come and go” on the opening times but this was knocked back by HPS who say they want a building they can operate 24/7 with a capacity of more than 200 people.
That left the council struggling to find a suitable building, with a spokesperson saying they do not have a property which would match the “change in requirements” for HPS.
At the time a council spokesman said: “We have tried to find a suitable building for HPS to host their evening soup kitchen, but they have rejected the three options offered to them.
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“We just don’t have a place that matches the revised requirements set out by HPS.”
The new appeal was launched by the charity last Thursday, January 5.
McInnes added: “We will be sending a public letter to Mr Sunak this week as part of our campaign to end food poverty and to ramp up the pressure on him.
“We feel that the Scottish Government isn’t listening to us so we are asking the UK Government to step in and help us.”
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