The Brixton Soup Kitchen has fading wallpaper and worn carpets. From the outside it looks like a crumbling old youth centre that hasn’t seen any action for a good few years. But take the time to venture inside and it’s a whole other story.

29-year-old Solomon Smith has dedicated the past three years of his young life to setting up the Brixton Soup Kitchen, a stand-alone, non-funded organisation that provides food for those in need. “We have a lot of people coming in. Whether it’s because of homelessness, loneliness or just to come and have a chat.”

The organisation has seen a steady flow of visitors since its doors opened in January 2013. It is apparent that Brixton, and London as a city has a shockingly big problem with homelessness and those living below the poverty line. “We’re still seeing new people every week. We get people from Camden Town, East London, North London-we get people form everywhere!”

Smith studied Social Science and Youth and Community at Goldsmiths University. He says his time at Goldsmiths was the driving force behind his project. ‘They said {the university} you have to do a work placement, but it can’t be anything you’ve done before, but it has to be within the community. That’s when I went past the 999 centre in Deptford and I decided to work there for a bit, and I just felt that something like this was needed in Brixton, so it was only when I finished uni, I said yeah this is what I want to do.”

Smith has lived in Brixton for his entire life. “I feel a strong tie to the area.” His teenage years saw some struggles. “I became involved with a gang, although I don’t like using that word. I was surrounded by drugs, guns and crime from a young age.”

His approaches to gang culture, youth in Brixton and people in need that get little or no support have led to his somewhat celebrity status. But does he think this has helped the project along the way? “I’m not going to lie it probably has. I think people have taken an interest because of the way I’ve turned my life around. After I was shot, I had to have a rethink. I feel people have supported the Soup Kitchen because they understand that it is possible to make a change.”

Smith doesn’t see himself working with the kitchen forever. “I hope one day there wont be any need for it {the soup kitchen}. When people say what’s your 5-year goal, I want to be working a 9 to 5 somewhere, utilising my degree. I don’t want to do this all my life because I don’t want to feel like I’m profiting form homeless people, but if I need to be then I definitely will still be here.”

His involvement with the Soup Kitchen seems endless. Working 100-hour weeks, Smith rarely gets time to himself, but he’s ok with that. “We get up to 35-45 people coming in a day, but I know most of them by name. I spend so much time here that I’ve become part of the furniture. There are so many interesting characters around, you can learn so much about life from them.”

Smith is without a doubt a character. His total ease with which he responds to questions about his often difficult life only confirm that he is proud of his achievements, and keen to influence as many young people who have lost their way as he can. “I’ve never been homeless, I’ve never experienced it, and I feel for me that is what encourages me to do more. I feel that a lot of people complain about their living circumstances, and its not until you work with homeless people you realise your own living circumstances are gold dust. This is my way of giving back.”