Free Meals

Liz46

Our council have a phone number to ring if you are short of food and they will provide some. Surely other councils must be doing this as well?

That’s better than nothing but why not just give out the vouchers to eligible parents rather than make them make a begging phone call?

I can't even get my council to deal with all the things they should do ordinarily, let alone phone them for some food.
I should imagine, like most of these schemes, there are so many hoops to fit through that you give up.

People get so angsty about the children of parents who smoke and drink being 'given' anything, and to me it is an illogical way to think.

I doubt that parents who spend on booze before feeding their children are doing so because they want to try a new and interesting vintage, but do it because they have a drink problem. Surely a child who is being brought up in a family where this is the case is likely to be more in need of a nourishing meal than a child in a poor but functional family? By what logic do people want to deny them this meal? It is not the fault of the child if her/his parents spend on alcohol, and if there is a drink problem it won't be a case of encouraging them to prioritise food - drink will always come first.

This is not in any way to imply that there is necessarily a link between parents in need and alcoholism - it is a response to those who resort to the 'they have enough money for booze' cliche every time this debate comes round.

PECS

There is an initiative that I am signed up to called FreeMyMeal..
check it out on FB. It connects cooks with people in need of a meal.

Thank you so much PECS for mentioning this group!!

freemymeal.co.uk/#:~:text=Free%20My%20Meal%20creates%20connections%20between%20people%20who,need%20of%20a%20meal%20have%20access%20to%20one.

I am going into hospital on Monday for major surgery - am not really nutritionally fit for it as have been living on very little recently, and have been worrying that when I get discharged that I will have nothing in to eat which will not help my recovery at all and the no doubt 15 minutes of help I will get on discharge will suffice to be able to feed me! Someone not knowing my financial situation, suggested that I get in some Wiltshire Farm Foods meals, but they are expensive and used to smell awful when I used to work with the elderly about a decade ago! (to be fair they are probably better now?)

Within an hour I have found someone local who will cook for me - how wonderful some people are ....

All the best for your surgery on Monday, MadeInYorkshire. I hope it goes well .

Thank you Doodledog x

MadeInYorkshire

Thank you Doodledog x

And from me. I shall look for your posts when you are recovering. Let us know if you are eating properly!!

SuzieWoozie I am afraid I don’t have the perfect solution to the problem. Maybe you could come up with a better one rather than use highlight boxes to criticise. I know of parents who choose to spend money on alcohol, tattoos and cigarettes but it would be stupid to think all parents are like that. I would rather know a child is given a good dinner directly whilst at school. School holidays? They could then be given CB.

I do get fed up with the constant carping about the government on here. Rather than signing petitions to waste government time, why not see what can be done to help feed these children? I can't go out because I'm isolating so I can help my son and partner with their new baby but it didn't take long this morning for me to find a local cafe on facebook crowdfunding in order to give out free meals at half term and to donate.

Lyndylou

I do get fed up with the constant carping about the government on here. Rather than signing petitions to waste government time, why not see what can be done to help feed these children? I can't go out because I'm isolating so I can help my son and partner with their new baby but it didn't take long this morning for me to find a local cafe on facebook crowdfunding in order to give out free meals at half term and to donate.

I can do both - wow - clever old me?I

I know I am having my tea , calling the government arseholes and donating to the local campaign. I should be prime minister really

Galaxy

I know I am having my tea , calling the government arseholes and donating to the local campaign. I should be prime minister really

You've got my vote Galaxy.

Made in Yorkshire, hope your surgery and recovery go well.

Lyndylou, what makes you think those of us “carping” about the government aren’t also taking positive action? It wouldn’t take you long on Facebook to find most local businesses are offering free lunches to children who need them. One conservative mp is quoted as saying they must be recovering well from lockdown if they can afford this ?. No you awful woman, it’s because they care.

Children eligible for FSM needed feeding during school holidays when I started work in 1980 and for long before then. Family centres , social workers would give cash or food boxes to prop things up. It’s much worse now, benefits are lower and food, heat, rent more expensive.

Doodledog, you get that same strange argument about parents who smoke, gamble etc. - as if their children are somehow undeserving. Of course, none of these addictions are a financial problem for the wealthy.

I really hate to think that children are going hungry in the UK when, of course, we can easily afford to feed them.

Petition signatures nearing 750 000.

Good initiative in my town with individuals offering to do cooked meals for any families who are in need. They are posting online neighbourhood pages and it is gaining momentum. Plus local cafes and restaurants are offering free meals to children .
If government won't help then individuals must to stop children going hungry.

I'm no expert but I'm fairly sure that £15 would not buy you very much crack cocaine and that the last time that amount would be accepted in a brothel was probably in the 50's when News of the World reporters always, "Made an excuse and left".

Where do these political dinosaurs come from?

www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-tory-case-for-extending-free-school-meals

article in that well known socialist rag by that well known radical Conservative Chair of the Education Select Committee.

???

Anyone getting a sense tbat the Government has royally stuffed up?
www.theguardian.com/education/2020/oct/24/top-childrens-doctors-attack-tories-free-school-meals-marcus-rashford

suziewoozie-I read the letter from Paediatricians. I wonder if this government will respond by calling them 'virtue signalling celebrities' as they have to Marcus Rashford

Yes, I agree, the government has made a royal b***sup here. Its as though they miss being called 'the nasty party'

You'd think all that expensive education would have taught them that throughout history a government or party of any left or right bias soon found out that it was a bad move at a time of national crisis to award themselves a pay rise of £3,000 a year while rejecting a move to extend giving children free meals over the half-term holiday. Romans seeking popular acclaim supplied free "bread and circuses" for the plebs. Marie Antoinette suffered for retorting "Let

Why does the state have to feed children at all? I really don't get it. Must be the only country in the world where this happens. Certainly doesn't here in Australia. It is the responsibility of the parents and the parents alone.

nanna8

Why does the state have to feed children at all? I really don't get it. Must be the only country in the world where this happens. Certainly doesn't here in Australia. It is the responsibility of the parents and the parents alone.

Where to start?

Don't even bother sooziewoozie.