SOUP kitchen groups which had to move out of a rundown church are setting up temporary food shelters in the city until they can move into their new home.

It could take sometime before planning issues at their new base, including change of use, are eventually granted for the groups, who were formerly based in St Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Barkerend.

They are hoping now to partner up with St Patrick's Church in Westgate, next to St Pio Friary, home to a community of Franciscan Friars.

Contractors have already been carrying out gas, electric and asbestos checks on St Patrick's, owned by the Leeds Roman Catholic Diocese which had previously let the groups use St Mary's until its dilapidated and dangerous state closed it before Christmas.

Bradford Curry Project, the Immanuel Project, The Welcome Project and Forward in Faith are all part of a united group now looking at turning St Patrick's into their new based to help and feed the city's homeless and vulnerable.

The InnChurches Winter Shelter, which provides beds for homeless people each winter at St Mary’s, has been using St Mary & Monica’s at Cottingley and St Winefride’s at Wibsey while the Bradford Metropolitan Food bank has had a stay of execution and is still running the scheme from St Mary's because no clients go to the site.

The Welcome Project hopes it might be able to go to St Clement's Church in Barkerend for a short while and the Immanuel Project has been taken in by the Sunbridge Road Mission.

The projects interested in developing a partnership with the Diocese at St Patrick's have now been tasked with coming up with a combined vision of how the space there would be used and what would be needed.

Priorities would include an eating area, kitchen, toilets and storage and later possibly showers and laundry facilities.

All the projects will be asked to make a donation towards the scheme and come up with a mission statement. They will also put forward grant and funding applications rather than the Diocese.

Eileen Armstrong, of The Welcome Project ,said: "It's all looking promising. St Patrick's isn't going to be an instant fix but it will be a long-term fix.

"Almost of of us have found temporary homes or are about to secure them although I'm not sure if The Curry Project has got anywhere yet.

"Bradford Council has tried to help giving us a list of its empty properties but nothing has been suitable so far. They are either too small, too big or have no kitchen."

The groups at St Patrick's will be setting up an account soon to receive donations from wellwishers towards the project and will also be accepting donations of goods and equipment that will have to pass health and safety checks. More details will be announced soon.