Hungry Britain

Well said, Eloethan.
What's the difference between using credit cards and HP?
I remember a man coming every Friday to my parents house. We probably wouldn't have had any furniture if it wasn't for him, but I bet his interest rates were as high as credit cards. He'd give my mother a cheque and she could only spend it in certain shops. A bit like the food vouchers that people advocate.
For those who accuse me of being well off, and talking from the equivalent of my ivory tower, my parents applied for clothing grants for my uniform. They were given enough for a few pairs of knickers. I had free school meals.
My parents also applied for housing benefit when they were pensioners and a man came to go through both their bank accounts. They were given a pound a week. The next year when he came back, my mother told him to get stuffed.

All those who criticise me, please read this.
www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/nick-pearce/unnecessary-suffering

Joelsnan, he was 44. Not a boy. He had £40 a week to live on. Doctor's letter said "Please do not stop or reduce his benefits as this will have ongoing significant impact on his mental health. He simply is not well enough to cope with this extra stress."
Atos did not seek medical evidence from the GP before they stopped his benefits. They made the assessment that he was capable of work after a half-hour interview at his home.
You can make as many excuses as you like for the system. It's wrong. His sister wants the govt. to acknowledge that, and so do think tanks etc.

On Thursday there is a debate on whether to have an enquiry on impact assessment of the effects of the cuts on the sick and disabled. This man was both.
I hope you have all asked your MPs to attend this debate, just to see if you have the right to carry on criticising what I think.

Easy credit has been used to mask a relative decline in wages for the majority of the populations which has occured since around the 1970's. Before the 60's there were no credit cards and debt was seen as undesirable and shameful. By the 80's, credit cards were being heavily marketed on television and people were being bombarded with offers of credit, regardless of their financial situation.

Wages continue to stagnate and it is hardly surprising that people get into debt. I'm more inclined to blame a very unequal society that finds many people today using credit cards to pay for essentials rather than luxuries.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22417334

For those of you who think that drugtaking is a problem, apparently 13% of those in the 45-59 year old age group admitted to having taken illicit drugs in 2012. No figures for 60+!

Never said he died just because of benefit cuts. The letter from his doctor stated that his anxiety disorder and obsessional traits had been made significantly worse because of the pressure put on him by benefit changes. He died because of being markedly underweight and malnourished, the coroner said.
And I have said above about his family, so I am not going to repeat it.
When you've watched someone die because of undernourishment over four months, it's acceptable to feel angry about this, I would hope.

Read again. I am not blaming right wing think tanks. They agree with me that the government is wrong.

Durhamjen
You cannot assert that this boys cause of death was because his benefits were cut. You have said that he had anorexia, OCD, and other issues. The cut in benefits may or may not have contributed to his death.

That is not to say that the benefits should not have been cut, however, he may well have died anyway through general neglect.

No one died just because of benefit cuts. The poor man has family, but where were they when he needed them. Where were his social workers?

To try and blame this on benefit cuts alone and blaming 'right wing think tanks' is illogical and extremism taken to the nth degree.

Apology accepted whenim64. All getting a bit heated on here I think.
We have a good re-cycle system going here, and our charity shops are very good but small. Even so, it is still difficult to get rid of stuff.

The story about the man with Asperger's may be more complex than we know, there is usually more to it than is written in the media.

rose sincere apologies. I should have written cactus when referring to the charity shop.

When someone dies because he's had his benefits cut, I claim the right to be angry. Yes I am a socialist, but even the rightwing thinktanks are claiming that the government is going too far.

As a 6th Form teacher, I worked very hard at supporting girls who became pregnant and ensure, by teaching them at home, and even in hospital, in my own time, of course- without judgement. Some of them are still in touch 10 or even 20 years later- wonderful.

Rosequartz, if you have furniture to recycle, go on your council website. Our council has a list of six companies that will collect your furniture.
Anyway, the title of this thread was foodbanks in 2014! What has gone wrong?
You should expect people with strong views to be on this thread.

Thank you absent- how kind and generous.

There are some people here who do try to see things without the obsession between right and left and terribly entrenched views- and they make it all worthwhile. But thank you.

Or misread your post or attribute someone else's remarks to you, as has just happened to me I realise looking back ...

What's true about the big dogs, jingle?

Thanks Durhamjen
My grandson also has Apergers and is going on sixteen. I am sure that both I and his parents will always keep a watchful eye on him understanding the condition and it limitations.
I think that even if he was observed everyday a weight loss to five stones would be evident in a grown man. Having watched my mother die of stomach cancer and unable to eat in its latter stages, her weight loss was very evident.
The food vouchers should be given as a standard benefit as part of JSA or whatever, and not just if you are starving and should continue even if a penalty is incurred and food banks should be closed.

It's true about the big dogs.

So where do you put the fact that the right of centre thinktank has said that nearly 70,000 jobseekers have had their benefits withdrawn unfairly, making them reliant on foodbanks, Rosequartz?
That's a lot of families. That's yesterday's headline. Not much of a net if 70,000 can slip through it.

There is no point, people put words into your mouth (or post) on here, or twist what you say.

I would like to hear the views of anyone who has used a food bank or is on benefits, after all this is anonymous. Lets hear your perspective.

I would like to hear the views of anyone who has used a food bank or is on benefits, after all this is anonymous. Lets hear your perspective.

Our local charity shop should NOT close down. It is doing a sterling job. They do not have room for furniture though.

I think the problem is that some people are so entrenched in their views they believe that anyone who says anything remotely different from them is diametrically opposed to them, whereas many people may be able to look at the problems from a wider perspective. Many of us may have experienced poverty and the fear of not being able to provide for our families and can empathise with anyone in that position, but at the same time noting that there are also people who do bring it upon themselves forwhatever reason.

As I have only just joined GN, I haven't joined in any discussions on here about free-cycling, giving furniture to charity, swapping household items as I haven't seen any forums. I just do it.

The man who suffered from Asperger's obviously slipped through the net, which ended in tragedy which is why sad cases such as that do hit the headlines.

Actually, when, I was pregnant at school when I was 17. There's lack of moral fibre. But we got married, and both had jobs. I even earned more than he did before I had to give up two weeks before my eldest was born.
I remember the English teacher saying to me that she always thought I wouldn't amount to much; I could only aspire to going to teacher training college!
However, in those days, as said before, there were jobs around, with real hours and real pay. I actually worked for the DHSS, left school and walked into a job the following Monday.