A £4,000 grant from the Merchants House is helping The Lodging House Mission provide warm meals, practical support and life-changing activities for people facing homelessness, poverty, poor mental health, addiction and social exclusion. The funding will ensure that some of Glasgow’s most vulnerable people can access not only food, but also connection, support and renewed hope.

The Lodging House Mission (LHM) offers a warm, inclusive and responsive environment for people experiencing significant disadvantage. While the charity is well known for providing daily meals, food is only one part of the support available. Through its Intervention Worker and wider team, LHM offers emotional support, benefits advice, budgeting guidance and help with housing or other urgent issues. Staff also accompany people on external excursions, providing practical and emotional support to those who may otherwise feel too anxious to engage.

Part of the grant is supporting food provision, enabling LHM to continue serving free hot breakfasts and three-course lunches five days a week. The kitchen provides more than 170 hot meals every day at no cost to those who need them. Many people who use the service are living in severe poverty and facing impossible choices between heating and eating. For some, a hot meal at LHM360 is the first proper food they have had in days. While food is often the reason someone first comes through the door, it can also be the beginning of something much more: a chance to talk, to be listened to and to access the support they need.

The remainder of the funding is supporting LHM’s activities programme, which is shaped by the people who use the service. Activities include cultural trips, walks, theatre visits, swimming and sauna sessions, museum visits, women’s groups and gentle outdoor experiences. These opportunities help reduce isolation, improve wellbeing and rebuild confidence. Experiences that might seem ordinary to some can be transformative for people who have not left their local area or felt part of their community for many years.

A representative said “While food is what often brings people through our doors, the heart of what we do begins once someone is seated, seen, and spoken to. From that point on, our focus is on building trust, responding to individual needs, and walking alongside people at their own pace.”

For more than 100 years, The Lodging House Mission has been a source of hope for people facing disadvantage. As an independent charity grounded in Christian values, it supports people of all religions, races, ethnicities and genders. At a time when increasing numbers of people are experiencing homelessness and hardship, the charity continues to provide compassionate care, practical support and opportunities for people to rebuild their lives.