With the first trial of the soup kitchen held on Thursday night in the carpark of the Pink Lake IGA, the volunteers – led by spokesperson Sue Meyers – are hoping to provide a stable base for people in need to turn their lives around.

Mrs Meyer, who has previously worked as manager of Bay of Isles Community Outreach for six years, said the plan was to use the soup kitchen as a base to increase the help available to both homeless people and people not able to fend for themselves.

“I know they are running programs like this in Broome, also further up north and in the eastern states,” Mrs Meyer said.

“There is a concern that we have seen a rise in young men from the ages of 35 to 50 with alcohol induced dementia, who aren’t able to properly care for themselves.

“I think there is definitely a demand for this service in Esperance … Chris (Meyers, Esperance Care Services manager) deals on a daily basis with not only homeless people but also people who, for whatever reason, don’t have money for food, and even two nights a week is going to really help these people.”

Mrs Myer it was her dream to see the soup kitchen expand to encompass other services to help local people.

“We will see how it goes and see what feedback we get, but I would eventually like it to be more than a soup kitchen.

“If we can turn it into a base where homeless people can have a shower, get some fresh clothes and also leave their things during the day, I think that would be great … just as a place where they can feel safe.”

Mrs Meyers also highlighted a lack of support for the mentally ill as another critical reason for the kitchen.

“Far too often we see people who have been in a stable environment like Graylands Hospital shipped back to Esperance on the bus without adequate support.

“For these people accommodation and food is a major issue, so further to that we are in the planning stages of setting up some transitional and support accommodation in Esperance for people with mental illness.