On the first day of 1895, the Editor of The Western Times called for the soup kitchen to be opened:
"During the prevalence of the bitter weather which has just set in, it is hoped that the promoters of the Soup Kitchen will take speedy measures to commence the delivery of the savoury fluid. The new year is destined to open to-day in a very severe position, with frost and snow and all the most trying aspects of winter. This means that many men will be thrown out of employment and there will be much privation among their families, as well as in households with limited means. The supply of rich, nourishing soup at such a time is doubly welcome, therefore, and I trust that it may soon be obtainable.
"The kitchen became the means at about this time last year when we had such a fit of frosty weather, of doing a vast amount of good by giving the right sustenance at the right moment. The corners of the streets at the present moment are the places of assembly of men who look as if a good basin of soup would be welcome, whilst there are children to be met with to whom such a meal would be a positive blessing."
Only ten days later the newspaper was able to report that the kitchen had been established and soup had been served. The ingredients had been meat, peas, onions and parsnips and 6,135 quarts had already been provided to the needy at 'tuppence' a bowl. The charitable citizens had provided the means, mainly in tickets, bought by the dozen and then distributed by the buyer, for the families of the poor and the unemployed to eat rich, nourishing soup.
Source The Western Times, 1st and 10th January, 1895.
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