Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Soup kitchen opens in Athlone

The Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, Colm O’Reilly, has welcomed the opening of a soup kitchen in Athlone.  

He told RTE’s Morning Ireland that in the present economic conditions, the needs are great and pressure has grown on the Society of St Vincent DePaul and others already providing services such as meals and wheels. 

The kitchen is the brainchild of Oliver Williams who already runs the Twist soup kitchen in Galway, which feeds more than 80 people a day. 

Oliver Williams is a successful businessman who was concerned for the many hungry people in Ireland. He said he felt there was a major need for the new soup kitchen in Athlone that will open for 6 hours every day except Sunday. 

The charity he set up to run the kitchens is not receiving any government or agency funding and is depending on donations. He has already pinpointed Roscommon as another location that is in need of a soup kitchen and fears he may have to open several more.

He has been, "absolutely shocked," at the type of people coming into the soup kitchen in Galway.  

Lawyers, architects, accountants, students, single mothers, simply ordinary people who have fallen on hard times, use the service. 

He feels that the next budget cuts are going to be really hard and charities such as his will not be able to cope with ever-increasing demands.

He had experience of hunger himself when he was homeless in London at the age of 15 and often went to soup kitchens. 

One was Centrepoint, which Lady Diana visited with the young princes many years ago. Her son, Prince William, has since become the patron of Centrepoint and he has often joined the homeless people at the various shelters and spent a night on the streets of London sleeping rough to highlight the issue a few days before Christmas Day in 2009.