Food bank rollercoaster. Huge empathy to Fury!! Is it just me?

FannyCornforth

I haven’t read the whole thread, but I agree with you BlueBelle I give a lot of clothes (sometimes never worn) to charity shops, and it offsets my guilt knowing that someone with not much money will benefit from a lovely bargain.
I don’t give stuff to charity shops thinking that someone is going to sell it on EBay and make a profit courtesy of my stupidity

You could always sell it on EBay yourself and donate the profit to a charity of your choice.

I cannot get excited about what people do with things I have donated to charity.
If they make a business from it - so what!
It doesn't end up in landfill and maybe someone somewhere likes it and it has a new lease of life.
If not any rags/old shoes etc are taken to be recycled to make fabric for carseat covers or something like that.
I commend anyone who tries to make a business out of reselling charity shop finds
It's hard enough selling anything on eBay in my experience. Taking photos, answering people but the worst is packing and posting!

FannyCornforth

I haven’t read the whole thread, but I agree with you BlueBelle I give a lot of clothes (sometimes never worn) to charity shops, and it offsets my guilt knowing that someone with not much money will benefit from a lovely bargain.
I don’t give stuff to charity shops thinking that someone is going to sell it on EBay and make a profit courtesy of my stupidity

Unfortunately Fanny I knew someone who ran a business by buying in charity shops or car boot sales took them home and resold them on E.Bay for a big profit.
They also ran a racket of buying for people on their cards who gave back a proportion spent in vouchers. The people payed them weekly and they got all the dividends from Shops like Laura Ashley and John Lewis.

Lumiere

I volunteer at a food bank. I don't recognise any scenarios like this. I see families who are desperate, pensioners who have been too proud to ask for help, but due to excessive fuel bills, have no alternative but to ask for help
How do you know they go to nail bars and buy alcohol, do you follow them?

I do agree with most of what you have said and children should have a full tummy.
They don't have to be followed home. I question though the mentality of some people who let themselves be shown on TV at food banks, with tattoos, acrylic nails fancy styled and coloured hair, muscled men some even vaping as they leave.
The children always seem to look very undernourished.
They should all have to have some kind of official form to fill in.

It is the thought of getting a bargain that brings people into charity shops. I think that applies whether they 'need' to buy bargains or not.

I am happy for my donations to go to whoever finds them - the only thing that gives me pause is the staff getting 'first dibs', as my donations are to the charity, not to them. I know that that is a contentious viewpoint, and I know that not every shop would allow it, but I know for certain that in the one where my mother used to volunteer it happened a lot, and the staff saw nothing wrong with it at all.

Re donating to a charity shop, if you think something is more valuable than the shop is going to charge for it sell it yourself and donate the money.

Is it ok to have bought an item for £5 that is worth £50 if you do not sell it on?

When I donate it is because I no longer want the items, what happens to them doesn’t bother me at all, if the shop, a trader or a person using ebay can make a bit of money from my donation then great.

I haven’t read the whole thread, but I agree with you BlueBelle I give a lot of clothes (sometimes never worn) to charity shops, and it offsets my guilt knowing that someone with not much money will benefit from a lovely bargain.
I don’t give stuff to charity shops thinking that someone is going to sell it on EBay and make a profit courtesy of my stupidity

I always try to put in a pack of 'good' biscuits (I was going to say nice biscuits, but thought people might confuse that with Nice biscuits!) as everyone deserves a wee treat.

I could never in a million years imagine collecting food for my kids from a food bank but spending £40 getting my nails done or anything else like Tattoos, Red Bull, cigarettes etc.

Even dressing it up as “a wee boost” to myself wouldn’t cut it! My biggest boost would be seeing my kids happy and well fed, they would always come before my own wants.

How could any Mother watch their kids go off to school with no breakfast because she has spent £40 getting her nails done?

It must be soul-destroying dining on pasta or baked beans weekly without a treat or two. I try to put myself in their place and what would I like?

Yes.

I put in tinned fruit in juice, perhaps not everyone wants it but if people can't afford fresh fruit for their children it's better than no fruit at all.

I live on the border of one of the richest areas in London but even so, we're reminded that some people have no money for energy to cook food so could we donate accordingly?

My way around it is to look for bargains so it may be a pack of chocolate biscuits rather than plain digestive or jars of honey or marmalade.

It must be soul-destroying dining on pasta or baked beans weekly without a treat or two. I try to put myself in their place and what would I like?

Riverwalk
I have (in the past) struggled to pass on ground coffee in the food bank I worked in. We also had a pack of nori seaweed, a pot of lumpfish roe and some other odd products!
If someone had ever asked for lumpfish roe (or even the coffee) I would have been pretty pleased.

Exactly, paddyann54. I have a friend who is on benefits through disability and although she often struggles financially, she tries to put aside a little bit so she can go out for what she calls a 'proper' coffee once a week. It's her wee treat to herself and makes all the difference to her mental health.

Enough food is produced worldwide to feed the world population.
It's distribution and waste which is the problem.

And this Government, after years of cluelessness, is perhaps at last beginning to think about food security.
www.nfuonline.com/updates-and-information/campaigning-for-a-secure-supply-of-british-food/

There's a long way to go.

when we were first married ,had a brand new business and lived on toasted cheese we aways made sure my OH got 2/- for a pint with his friends one evening a week.We could have used it for more sensible things but after knocking doors all week one evening out and one drink made a huge difference to him.
I see the "huge TV" or nail bar in the same light .People ...human beings regardless of how poor they are just need a wee lift in a miserable existence .
Dont judge unless you're in the same boat

Our local foodbank is a Trussell Trust one and you do need to be referred to it. However, we also have a local community fridge which can be used by anyone and our local 'hive' (a community run base for various groups and activities) often gets leftover food donated from various shops and when this happens, they advertise it on Facebook and anyone can pop in and help themselves.
Incidentally, I watched a really interesting programme a while back with Kathy Burke in which she visited a foodbank and the man who ran it spoke about people who criticised their users for getting food donations and then doing things like going to a nail bar. He said something along the lines that if that person had got food from them then gone to get her nails done, maybe that was the one thing which gave her a boost and helped give a a lift for the rest of the week - and he had no problem with that. Food for thought, in more ways than one.

Except that we try to do both save food from landfill and help out with want and need. Maddyone

I think volunteers do get confused.
Certainly when I invite my middle-class friends to the community lunch they often refuse by saying it feels wrong to eat a meal made for someone whose need is greater, despite my trying to explain that they can pay if they want to.

I think it's a hangover from the Victorian idea of a soup kitchen which we hoped was in the past.

We should definitely be blaming the rich for being rich rather than blaming the poor for being poor.

Shakespeare was right Dickens thanks for your excellent post

Thanks for explanation Lumiere.
There are many kinds of food banks as Primrose says. The ones trying to prevent waste are very different from those giving food to the poor.

Let’s just clear up a few things. there are various types of food banks, those run by the Thrussell Trust where you do need a referral and can only use it so many times.

There are also those run by charities like Salvation Army where you can just turn up as often as you like and are given several bags of groceries. Several churches do this too. British people, I believe, are very kind and will donate excess stuff from their cupboards to a good cause.

Then there are what they call community fridges or local points where shops give close to date stuff, allotment holders donate excess veg and salad to avoid it being sent to landfill.

JaneJudge

we have one food bank which is self referral and the people who run it are aware of a minority that abuse it but they only provide basic foodstuffs and certainly wouldn't provide luxury coffee unless it was Christmas

the basic point though is that they shouldn't exist in the first place, everyone should have enough money from their income to afford warmth, shelter and food

the basic point though is that they shouldn't exist in the first place, everyone should have enough money from their income to afford warmth, shelter and food

Exactly.

But how did it come about that food banks are now an established institution? And let's not forget - they are increasing in numbers in other nations too, it isn't just us.

I'm pretty sure that low-income families are the very first to feel the pinch after a global food price increase or a global financial crisis. And when governments scale-back the welfare services and benefits that the low-paid rely on, in the name of Austerity, then it's flippin' obvious why food banks proliferate.

And frankly, to focus on the minority who abuse them rather than deal with the reasons they exist is a pretty depressing state of affairs.

I saw on FB - I think it was a copy of a re-tweeted 'tweet' which said something along the lines of, "why do we always ask the poor to tighten their belts another notch... why don't we ask the rich to buy one less yacht instead?"

And yes, I know it's not that simple, you can't just take something from the wealthy and give it to the poor, it doesn't work like that. But it does make you question (well, it makes me question) why we accept such extraordinary wealth gaps. Why shouldn't the wealthy elite take a hit along with the poor?

Shakespeare was right;

"Poverty wants much, but avarice, everything"

This is the issue with just about all charities. It would be better all round if food banks were not needed and the social system met needs. Even better if people were helped out of poverty by education. I think perhaps this is not the role for you.

I also help at a food bank (voucher only)and yes clients do ask for certain brands,Heinz, Dove etc. I put this down to international advertising.Many brands are very well known through marketing and surely you would pick a well known brand rather than one you didnt know.

Riverwalk

I don't see anything wrong in having ground coffee on a wish list - if a pack of Lavazza has been donated why shouldn't it go to someone who would enjoy it. I don't drink instant coffee and if I fell on hard times and had to resort to a foodbank I'd be very pleased that some kind soul had donated proper coffee.

I think all foodbanks make an effort to give their clients a few treats e.g. chocolates and fancier biscuits to relieve the dreariness of pasta, bread, tinned beans, long life milk etc.

I absolutely agree with you.
I'm another who never drinks instant coffee. If I fell on hard times the luxury of ground coffee would lift my spirits. I too would feel grateful to the thoughtful person who had donated the coffee.

Never before heard of a self referral food bank. Trussell and others have very strict rules and voucher system and only GP, Social Worker, etc can make those referrals.

My sympathy goes out to anyone who is so addicted to drugs that they sell on any food for this habit. I really cannot go along with the idea of the deserving and non deserving poor!!!!

The veryf act that we need foodbanks in what is supposedly the 6th richest country inthe world is what is the really disgusting thing! After all, those who get paid (extremely well), to lead us (our government) have shown that lying and cheating and being downright illegal is the correct thing to do.

I have no issue with nicer things being donated and shared, but the impression I got from the OP is that people are submitting shopping lists with only high end items on them, and refusing cheaper ones. I don’t think that users should be restricted to ‘basic brand’ food, but as with lots of things, if some people cream off the best for themselves others will be left with only the cheaper things, which is unfair. I think it would be better not to have the shopping list system in the first place, and share out the goods so that everyone gets a treat. OTOH, it seems a bit pointless giving (say) a jar of olives to someone who hates them. Maybe a bag of essentials each plus a choice of x items on the ‘treat’ shelf might work- that way everyone gets a treat rather than all of them going to the grabby types?