[WATCH] First soup kitchen in Valletta opens its doors for vulnerable people

The Valletta Soup Kitchen, run by the Franciscan Friars, has opened its doors five years after refurbishments began. 

Works to restore the old refectory, which was built in 1584, began in July 2016 and now the Franciscan friars, together with volunteers, will be serving the most vulnerable in society. 

During a private tour for the press, Fr Marcellino Micallef, who also lived in the United States for a period, explained that the soup kitchen was open to all regardless of religion.  

Fr Marcellino Micallef (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

Fr Micallef explained that in recent years Malta had seen an explosion in homeless people. "These people deserve to be treated with dignity. That is why when you enter the kitchen, instead of seeing a sign that reads, 'wait to be seated' like at a restaurant, it reads 'wait to be served'. They will be treated as guests."   

Fr Micallef said that apart from providing food, the institution also has a shower, toilets, laundry services and eventually, the hope is to be able to offer night shelter in the future.

The kitchen will be open five days a week from Monday to Friday (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

"Our plan is a holistic one. We wish to equip those using the service with the skills to gain and sustain employment. We have already found professional people as volunteers, such as cooks, counsellors, hairdressers, etc. to instruct these people," Fr Micallef said. 

The institution will also be offering courses to those who have finished their prison sentence and are living in a shelter for the homeless in Valletta. There will also be evening catering classes for women and mothers.

There are currently five volunteers working at the kitchen. However, the hope is that in the long run, the institution will have 80 volunteers. In a year's time, the kitchen is hoping to serve more than 200,000 meals, which will be possible if they manage to raise €208,000 per year. 

The kitchen currently has five volunteers, however there is hope to expand that number (photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

Fr Micallef said he expects mothers, elderly people, those who have low income, as well as persons with mental illness to visit the kitchen. He added that from his experiences with soup kitchens aboard, proportionality more men would use the kitchen than women. 

The Valletta soup kitchen is the second of its type in Malta after Dar Papa Frangisku opened its doors in Fleur-de-Lys as a collaboration between the government, Caritas and the Alf Mizzi Foundation.

The OFM Valletta Soup Kitchen in St Ursula Street is open from Monday to Friday from 11:30am to around 3pm. At the moment it is closed on the weekends.