Opposition leader Bernard Grech served hot meals at the Soup Kitchen in Valletta on Monday and said there was a need for a better understanding of the hardships in society and how those in need could be better assisted.

He visited the Soup Kitchen run by the Franciscan Fathers, as part of the run-up to the PN's Independence Day celebration on the theme "A better life for the country." 

Grech said he was concerned by an announcement last December that 91% of those who used the services of the kitchen were Maltese.

The kitchen feeds some 140 people every day.

Grech said he was also concerned about many people being homeless and many more living in garages, sometimes without an electricity supply. 

The Franciscan Fathers were recently awarded the European Citizens Prize by the European Parliament having been nominated for their work in the Soup Kitchen by MEP David Casa.

Grech thanked Fr Marcellino Micallef and the volunteers who assist him at the Soup Kitchen and met some of the users who described what they went through.