On Air Now Nick Osborne 10:00am - 3:00pm Five - Keep On Movin Schedule

Isle Of Wight's Pop Up Soup Kitchen To Go Mobile Following Winter Refurbishment

Trevor Blaney (far left) founded the Isle of Wight Pop Up Soup Kitchen in 2014

Homeless people on the Island will receive a wider range of warm meals than ever before from the Isle of Wight Soup Kitchen after the charity's van was refurbished.

A donated Tesco van has been fitted with its own generator and a fully functioning removable mini kitchen to aid local people during the difficult winter months.

The IW Pop Up Soup Kitchen regularly collects fresh food that would normally go to waste from supermarkets and local suppliers such as the Garlic Farm and the Tomato Stall.

The food collected is used to cook soups and other nutritious meals which are distributed to homeless people on the Island.

The funding for modifications was made available by the Island's Labour Party leader Richard Quigley.


The former Tesco food van, which was donated to the Isle of Wight Pop Up Kitchen 

The van is capable of heating any type of food from soup and hot drinks to baking pizzas, it is stocked with the usual hats, scarves, gloves, blankets and thermos flasks.

The kitchen, which offers free food to everyone, also has charging ports and a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Trevor Blaney, founder of The Soup Kitchen, said:

"Over the past seven years we have forged some amazing relationships with the Island's supermarkets and businesses, and together we aim to step up yet again and help those in need as the cost of living crisis worsens.

"We also have a donation box at the side of the van, but (we) don’t care if those in need put buttons in the box as long as they have food in there tummies.

"We wish to thank Richard Quigley, Gemma Torrington and Janet Holiday of Newport Minster for there cooperation in providing a site for us to Pop Up."

Trevor was awarded a Local Food Hero award in 2017 for his work and has grand plans for the van, including installing a hatch and a roll-out canopy to service hot drinks, soups and rolls to the homeless.

He founded the Isle of Wight Pop Up Soup Kitchen in 2014 after seeing a number of homeless people excluded because of severe addiction or mental health issues, from the night shelter where he had been volunteering.

The charity is a beneficiary of Tesco’s Community Food Connection scheme, run through the charity FareShare, meaning it regularly collects surplus food from the supermarket’s store in Ryde to help with its work.

More from Isle of Wight News