St Nicholas’ soup kitchen, a new soup kitchen for “people who are in difficult situations due to low income, loss of employment, social exclusion or sickness”, is in the Kirov district of Novosibirsk, South Siberia. This was explained by Piotr Sokolov, director of Caritas, on December 7th. Now, most importantly, the soup kitchen hosts a reception service: “There are people who become outcasts when they lose their job or when they retire. Lonely old people who have nowhere to go can find a place of socialisation and communication here, as well as a hot meal”, Sokolov added. The unveiling ceremony was attended by the bishop of Novosibirsk, mgr. Joseph Werth, who blessed the premises. The sisters of St Elisabeth, assisted by a group of volunteers, will run the soup kitchen, which can seat up to 40 people and will be open 5 days a week, providing a full meal from 1 pm to 2 pm. Afterwards guests can stay and play, watch a film or have a talk. A home delivery service will be available for people with reduced mobility. With a population of 1.5 million, Novosibirsk, according to Caritas, is the city with the highest number of immigrants, with 80 to 100 new immigrants coming in every day, and 18% of the population below poverty line. 32% of households are single mothers with one or more children. There are 6 Catholic parishes in the region.