Charitable Work

Charitable Work at Rokpa

The Simon Community
The Glasgow Soup Kitchen has been in operation since 1985, co-ordinated by the Simon Community for homeless people. Its main activity is distributing both hot and cold food in Glasgow city centre around 10pm each night to those in need. Rokpa Glasgow is now responsible for the provision of this food for at least one, and up to three nights per week, depending on the availability of other providers. All the food used is either donated, or bought using donated funds. For instance, local branches of a national department store chain donate items that reach their sell-by date and remain unsold.
The Kitchen at Rokpa House
Akong Rinpoche (founder of the Rokpa organisation) suggested that for anyone who is willing to work for the benefit of others, one of the simplest ways is to provide food for those in need. When Rokpa House was established, we were successful in securing a grant from the Community Fund to build a semi-professional kitchen in the basement. This enabled us not only to be more efficient in providing for those in need, but also to offer other charitable groups the use of the facility to prepare food in a more professional manner.
The Volunteers
The work involved in meeting these needs is done entirely by volunteers … from making the soup and sandwiches to distributing them in Glasgow city centre, to going out on the streets with collecting cans as part of our annual fund raising drive. YOU can help by donating YOUR time … or you can make a financial donation directly by cash or cheque. Click any pic for details!
Remember that Rokpa is a registered charity, so we can reclaim tax on donations made by UK taxpayers as part of the Gift Aid scheme.
Fundraising
To finance the weekly food provision, we organise a number of fundraising events throughout the year .. such as a ceilidh, festival of music, jumble sale or art exhibition. New ideas and help is always required to support our fundraising! Click here for details of how YOU could help, or click any pic for more ....