THE landlords of two of Chipping Sodbury’s best loved pubs have started a soup kitchen in the continued closures of their premises.

James Britton-Gale and his brother Greg, landlords at The Bell and the The Squire and also the Swan at Nibley initially rallied local volunteers to help Cranleigh Courts Community Hub by collecting and delivering surplus food from supermarkets to their food bank.

The team then decided to utilise their unused kitchens and Chef-owner Billy stepped in to make batches of soup for people in need.

The team are now making daily batches of soup for existing support groups whilst they build a network of people in need that they can supply to directly.

In partnership with the community hub, the soup will be delivered to the doorstops of people in need- and the volunteers will stay for a chat too.

The kind-hearted landlord, who has seen all three pubs closed for the best part of a year now- wanted to better use his free time and decided he could volunteer with local community groups to provide food and company for those most in need.

James said: “We want people to get in touch if they, or someone they know, would benefit from some nutritious, delicious homemade soup and a socially distanced doorstep catch up each week. It all helps.”

Yate supplies have kindly donated soup pots and allergen labels which has made the project simpler to run.

James added “We’ll be opening the front porch of The Bell for drop off donations, we will need things like vegetables, stock, herbs and bread rolls- if people are able to donate.”

The landlords also donated soft drinks and bar snacks to the community hub from unused stock.

For more information contact Katiehanning@southernbrooks.org.uk