Street kitchen for homeless which regularly has '100 people' queuing for food told it can't park van on Piccadilly Gardens
24.02.2023 - 22:31
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
An organisation which provides food for homeless people in Manchester city centre has been told it can no longer park on Piccadilly Gardens.
Volunteers at Street Treats, which runs a street kitchen in the city centre spot claim they have been told they can't park their van in the public space or it will be "booked". The group, founded eight years ago, prepares and distributes homemade food every Thursday evening from the spot, and volunteers park up a food van and several other vehicles with supplies.
The street kitchen runs between 7-9pm, and the issue came to a head last week when volunteers say they were told they were not allowed to park on the area in front of the gardens, and that if they returned the following week they would be booked. The council have also said that they have been clear that they do not think Piccadilly Gardens is a "suitable place" to run the operation from.
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Darryl Pollitt, one of the co-founders of Street Treats told the Manchester Evening News: "We've been running eight years and we park up every Thursday evening and distribute food, drink and clothing. The issue is with the cars, which are filled with all of the above.
"The police have said they don't have an issue with us doing the soup kitchen but with the vehicles, however we've said we can't do the work without them. And they've said they're going to book us."
Despite concern that they may be booked for not having a permit, Darryl says Street Treats will continue because of the great demand for the service. She added: "We're still going to continue to do it because there's a massive queue of people, like 100 people
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