Comments on: At The Jewish Soup Kitchen In Brune St

By: CAROL ANN CONLEY

CAROL ANN CONLEY — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 22:46:00 +0000

My Dad went to the Jewish Soup Kitchen in Brune Street even though he wasn’t Jewish. They would give him a loaf of bread to take home. He lived in Brune House with his parents, one sister and four brothers. They were one of the few non-Jewish families in Brune House.

By: Adele Lester

Adele Lester — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 20:59:49 +0000

The picture with the carton marked “Food for the Poor” particularly struck me, as I hoped the people waiting for their allotment didn’t see the notation, making them feel even worse than they must do – what a comment to our society in this day and age with people taking five holidays a year, yet our seniors have to rely on handouts.

By: DONNA BARNES

DONNA BARNES — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 11:19:48 +0000

Gentle story with evocative photos
Thanks

By: Malcolm

Malcolm — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 08:19:51 +0000

Great set of pictures. Having photographed the outside many times I always wanted to get inside the Soup Kitchen For The Jewish Poor but it was always closed whenever I was there. It’s a pity the place was closed because as Stuart says, the poverty is back and there are very few places like the Soup Kitchen around. It seems that governments are ignoring the issue and leaving the work of poverty relief to food banks and the left-overs from Pret-a Manger and the like. Every night hundreds of people gather in Lincoln’s Inn Fields to get hot drinks and left-over food, also along the Strand at the junction with William IV Street. There are many more locations like this where it seems for all the world as if one has entered a time warp back to Dickensian London, where men are reduced to no better than beggars against the opulent backdrop of the greatest City on earth. The 21st century has been a cruel one thus far for so many people.
I’m amazed the Soup Kitchen building has survived the rapacious developers of London but perhaps this building is endowed with too much significance to be razed to the ground and replaced with a carbuncle representing the victory of Mammon. The mouldings and decoration on the front are a beautiful example of Victorian architecture. A very fine example also of Victorian philanthropy, much of which was directed at the local area. The first Peabody Estate was in Commercial Street, of course, although now it’s privately owned. George Peabody was a great man, probably the greatest philanthropist and reformer who changed the lives of so many Londoners.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 07:30:20 +0000

Fabulous photos. Have long admired the outside of this building – really interesting to see inside. Thank you!

By: Shawdian

Shawdian — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 06:18:07 +0000

What a world. New Kitchens are opening to feed hungry people and on the other side, there are those trying to cut down on what they eat because they are too over weight.

By: Valerie-Jael

Valerie-Jael — Wed, 05 Apr 2017 05:09:02 +0000

It’s sad that in 21st century Europe poverty is really back. Once again many families are dependent on donated groceries. Here in Germany, too, many kids need the warm dinners that they get in soup kitchen, often their only good meal of the day. The rich get rich and the poor get poorer….Great photos from former times here. History is repeating itself. Valerie