Snow Patrol frontman donates £20k to Belfast soup kitchen

By Claudia Savage, Press Association

The lead singer of Snow Patrol, Gary Lightbody, has given £20,000 (€22,957) to a soup kitchen in Northern Ireland.

The Lightbody Foundation gave the donation to People’s Kitchen Belfast, which the organisation said “will allow us to continue to offer all our services particularly during the winter months and at a time when we are under extreme pressure”.

They added: “We are very thankful to Gary for his support, we are open again in the morning from 8.30am to provide support and advice.”

On St Stephen's Day, the organisation said it had seen the “highest amount of rough sleepers” it had ever experienced since opening in 2017.

A total of 72 people were estimated to be sleeping rough in Northern Ireland, representing a 60 per cent increase from the 2023 figure of 45, according to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive.

The Lightbody Foundation is comprised of Lightbody’s sister, Sarah, friends Davy Matchett and Candice Cathers, as well as John D’Arcy, one of the founder members of the Oh Yeah Centre, a local music hub in Belfast.

In a statement on the foundation’s website, Lightbody has said the charity “has no remit”.

He said: “We’ll give to causes across the board.

“Mental health, education, music, dementia, sport, cancer and disease research and many other things… I don’t want to narrow our focus.

“The focus is Northern Ireland, countrywide.

“Across communities and divides.”