Portsmouth Naval Base’s Royal Navy Waterfront Logistics Support Group have cooked a delicious curry for the homeless and vulnerable people of Portsmouth.
The scheme was the brainchild of Commander Pete Vinney who tasked those in his command to find a suitable way for the team to offer support to the local community.
The LifeHouse a resource, support centre and soup kitchen in Albert Road, Southsea was the obvious solution. They provide one breakfast and one evening meal every week, and feed between 20-40 people on average per meal.
The meals are provided solely from charitable donations and the kitchen is manned by volunteers to deliver the much needed support they provide.
Their aim is to target the immediate needs and issues surrounding homelessness and addiction for those in need in the Southsea and Portsmouth area.
Chief Petty Officer Duncan Knibbs who organised the event said: “After contacting Michael Morell, who heads up the charity, we arranged an initial meeting to see what we could provide and how best to offer support.
“We decided to provide a second weekday evening meal, comprising of a two-meal course dinner with soft drinks, tea, coffee and biscuits, which was kindly sponsored by the MOD food services contractor Vestey, who sourced all the ingredients.”
The mouth-watering menu chosen was Lamb Rogan Josh with Braised Basmati Rice, Bombay Aloo, Onion Bhaji’s and Naan Breads.
The evening proved to be very popular; more than 50 people were fed and almost as many meals taken away. At the end the team received a small speech and a round of applause from the residents for their efforts.
CPO Knibbs explaining how the real gratification came from the help the team provided said: “It was an uplifting experience, and a great feeling to be able to support the local community and those who are less fortunate than ourselves.
"Throughout the evening there was a lot of good humour and a healthy amount of banter; inevitable as amongst the crowd were a few ex-servicemen, which only added to the meaningfulness of the evening.
“With Portsmouth as the home of the RN, it’s always especially rewarding for the Service to provide that extra bit of help and care to our neighbours in need; and we hope our small effort can go a long way.”
