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Soup kitchen continuing to help feed and assist those most in need across Wolverhampton

The leader of a Heath Town soup kitchen has spoken of wanting to help all those who come through the doors to enjoy a hot meal and companionship without fear of prejudice or judgement

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Joyce Pearce has been running the Manna Soup Kitchen with her sister Denise Cummings since 2008 and have been at their current location at the New Testament Church of God New Trust Centre in Heath Town since 2019.

Operating every two weeks, the soup kitchen started out in Bilston in 2008 when Ms Pearce said she was a regular at a church in the town called Pentecostal Church and found that people were gravitating towards her who were in need of help.

She said: "We have people come in who weren't the best looking people when they came in, but they were drawn to me and they would always come over and sit and chat with me.

The Manna Soup Kitchen has been a place for those most in need to go for 16 years
The Manna Soup Kitchen has been a place for those most in need to go for 16 years

"They were in need of so much and so I thought that maybe I could help them by doing something, so I went to the pastor of the church Maurice Wright and spoke to him about how these people had nothing and how I thought it might be a good idea to start a soup kitchen.

"He thought it was a good idea and we started it up."

The soup kitchen has had a wondering experience, having started out in Bilston, then taking up a place in Wolverhampton before settling at its current home in Heath Town in 2019, with a rolling group of volunteers helping to prepare and serve food and also be there to chat with those attending.

Joyce Pearce (in the grey cardigan) and her sister Dee Cummings (in the floral top) have been helping people in Heath Town and the wider area for 16 years

Ms Pearce said the fact that the soup kitchen was still in operation was bittersweet as while she was proud of her group of volunteers, she felt sad that there was still a need for a soup kitchen and that more people still needed it.

She said: "I'm very sorry that we're still here having to do the same thing because you would think that things are getting better but, if anything, they're getting worse as we are getting families as well as homeless people coming in.

"When you sit down and talk to them, you start to realise how they have nothing, they can't feed their families and they're desperate, but what I always say is that we started this kitchen to ensure we would feed anyone and it didn't matter who they were."

Ms Pearce said the people who had come in to help people at the soup kitchen had been really heartening as well, including a nurse who would come in and help people to know where to go and who to talk to about their health.

Carol Brown, Richard Wisdom and Wayne Vernon are among the team working to help those in need
Carol Brown, Richard Wisdom and Wayne Vernon are among the team working to help those in need

She said that the soup kitchen had enough funding to be able to run for as long as possible and said that while there was a need, she and her team would be there.

She said: "It might not be the best thing, but it's what we can do to help those people who most need help.

"Everyone who comes here calls me their Auntie Joyce and while I want to be able to hand over the reigns at some point to someone else, I will be here to help and we have said that we will never judge and we will always be here to help."

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