Housing Justice UNLEASH Soup Run Forum

The London Soup Run Forum
The London Soup Run Forum came together in 2005 because of a widely perceived need for collaboration between the many different groups involved in this voluntary activity. The Forum meets quarterly, and all who provide food, befriending or other voluntary help to vulnerable and homeless people are welcome to attend.

The forum aims to provide
1. Coordination
To identify all soup runs in London; To be a point of contact for all soup runs; To assist in the coordination of soup runs, preventing duplication; Compiling this information into a weekly timetable, eventually online; To encourage all soup runs, especially smaller, less regular groups, to join the forum.

2. Information
To provide (and update) information to soup runs e.g. signposting where homeless people can get help with accommodation, substance misuse, health services, winter shelter etc; Sourcing and distributing information in different languages (e.g. Polish) for volunteers to give out to homeless people

3. Good practice
To promote a model of best practice e.g. food hygiene standards, handing out useful information to people using soup runs, knowing how to deal with conflict, how to help vulnerable users, a “people at risk” policy etc; To provide training for Soup Run Volunteers in best practice, awareness of homelessness issues etc.

4. Campaigning
Being a point of contact for media enquiries, improving the independent media voice of soup runs; fighting back against misinformation like “soup runs are not helping homeless people” etc.

Further information on the Soup Run Forum is available from Alastair Murray - tel 020 7723 7273 or email unleash@housingjustice.org.uk.

National On-line Soup Run Forum
Housing Justice Unleash hosts this new online discussion and information sharing forum for groups providing soup run or other voluntary outreach help to vulnerable and homeless people.

To use the Forum you will need to register
Soup Run Discussion Forum

Other resources for Soup Runs
Learn from the experience of others. Select ‘Resources’ from the following link to download best practice guidelines at www.aslan.org.uk/Index-3.htm.
• A perspective from UNLEASH Supporter Rev. Chigor Chike
• Westminster City Council’s Concerns
• Shelter's summary of the soup run debate