Charity tries to cut central London soup runs

There are currently 59 soup runs per night in the borough of Westminster – approximately one for every three rough sleepers.

Thames Reach Bondway will research the needs of service users with a view to reducing this to about four a night.

It has already spoken to charity the Simon Community, which provides two soup vans and two tea runs, and is setting up meetings with other groups.

Jeremy Swain, chief executive of Thames Reach Bondway, said soup runs encouraged homeless people to stay on the street and drew those who had been housed back into their former lifestyle.

But he said the Simon Community’s morning tea runs were useful as they were more likely to attract genuine rough sleepers and referred people to accommodation.

Mike Tristram, director of the Simon Community, said: “We would support the case for greater coordination between services. But our concern is for those who are not being reached by existing outreach services so we would be reluctant to stop any of our soup runs.”