Soup kitchen network is providing 2,445 free meals each week

A network of soup kitchens is serving 2,445 free meals each week. The founder of Twist Soup Kitchens, Oliver Williams, said yesterday there had been "a marked increase in demand" for food at his soup kitchens as parents try to cover back-to-school costs.

“Single mothers are finding it particularly hard,” he said. “We have people from across society. There is a new poor that cannot afford to pay mortgages with children going to school hungry – that is a fact.”

Mr Williams is to open a seventh Twist soup kitchen, which will be in Ennis, on September 2nd.

The opening of the Ennis soup kitchen comes 14 months after the opening of the first soup kitchen in Galway. Since then others have opened in Loughrea, Athlone, Sligo, Roscommon and Tuam.

Mr Williams said he planned to open soup kitchens in Drogheda, Kildare and Mullingar before the end of the year. Food for the soup kitchens is provided free of charge by a number of suppliers.