Food banks

In every town there are plenty of people out and about - at McDonald's with iPhones and polished nails. I wouldn't know an iPhone from another phone - however, I see people all around with mobiles, I assume at some cost. I see people wandering in and out of cafes, I assume eating - at some cost.

How people spend their available funds is a mystery. That people spend unnecessarily, is odd to me, but only me.

We don't get to dictate spending by our own children over 18 - why would a foodbank choose how people spend their money?

I suspect OP doesn't have insight into foodbanks.

May I just state 'the bleeding obvious'? Family A are out having lunch with their children, Family B are at home wondering what on earth they are going to give their children for dinner. Likewise, I am fortunate enough to be able to put the heating on because I am cold; this does not prevent me from knowing that others of my age are not able to do so.

You dont just choose to go and get your shopping for free every week from a food bank. To use them a voucher has to be obtained, many foodbanks are only open on certain days, difficult when having to work. The food is usually quite basic with a lot of tinned food as it can be heated quicker saving energy.

If you see a lot of people eating out with hair extensions, nice nails or phones why do you assume they use a foodbank any way?

You come across as rather judgemental and uncharitable.

Who or what is OP?

Nice thoughts for christmas Armynanny... not

Aspen

Who or what is OP?

It means the Original Poster - the person who started the thread.

Why are people so judgmental and uncharitable?

No, why are SOME people so ignorant. To make a post like the above without checking your facts, finding out how Food Banks work, most of all assuming that if you see someone in McDonalds with a smart phone or hair extensions, they are also getting food from a Food Bank. On what basis(if any) are these conclusions reached?

Actually this post is so ignorant, I actually think it is a send up, a sophisticated version of the mothers and plimsoll stories that used to flood the site when the school holidays started.

Armynanny

Just wondering if food banks encourage those who are less well off to spend their money on things like McDonalds, the latest iPhone, having nail/hair extensions, with the view of well it doesn’t matter if I spend money on these I can go to the food bank to get our food? Wondering this because in two of our local towns there seems to be plenty of people eating out with several children, all with the latest phones, others getting deliveries from Deliveroo etc.,

Wonder no more Armynanny. You have your answer from the posts above.

i donate to a foodbank that is non referral, the couple who started it hated to see people have to sit with the tickets waiting to get food, they take anything from food to clothes, the people who go don't go because they can, they go because they don't have a choice, they whisper to the helpers " do you have something i can give my children for a birthday gift" can you imagine having to do that. while visiting my dad a friend of his who has 2 children he sees at the weekends, i gave home £10 pound to take his kids to mcdonalds and he burst into tears. he helps out all through the winter in the local homeless unit and any extra food he is given at the end of the day he hands out to people living on the streets. he needs a phone as he has to log so many hours looking for a job or his benefits get cut. my mum gets her hair cut at the local training college free but she always gives in £20 and that can go towards things that other people might need but can't afford.
so armynanny next time you are out and if you can afford it stick a few tins/packets in the foodbank and think yourself lucky that you don't need to go to a foodbank and don't judge someone who has maybe skipped meals so she can TREAT her kids to a cheap happy meal.

why would you begrudge a child a meal - read the above posts and find something better to do than troll - volunteer at a foodbank maybe

It is Christmas so I guess it’s Scrooge having another pop at the undeserving poor, before he reaches enlightenment and is able to rest in peace again.
Happy Christmas everyone 🎅

I remember watching the series Kathy Burke did about money - one was about a foodbank, and the man who helped run that particular one addressed that issue very well. He said if he could help someone out with food and that meant, for example, that a woman could treat herself to a manicure or similar and give herself a boost which would help her, mentally, to carry on for the rest of that week, then he had done a good job.

Perhaps if the OP volunteered at one they would understand.

Is the OP serious - it's almost a bingo-card of judgemental perceptions about food banks and the people who use them?

Eating fast food, nail / hair extensions, the latest iPhone (hands up all those that would even recognise the latest iPhone!)... all that was missing was the huge flat-screen TV and the flashy car parked outside.

When people talk about those visiting food banks as if they were just popping into Sainsbury's - to get free food... you know you are dealing with individuals who don't have a clue.

And why the assumption that families with young children eating in McDonalds are visiting foodbanks anyway? As for the Deliveroo deliveries, my sitting room looks out on to the main street and I haven't a clue who gets deliveries of what, or when.

It's all so ridiculous that I've got to assume it's a wind-up... surely no-one can be that ignorant?

Strange the OP has never been back …

Lady of the Manor looking down her nose at the peasants.

If taken seriously, Mcdonalds has a 99p menu, so I suppose a family of four could have a cheeseburger each as a treat? It's hardly throwing the boat out

It's as Granny23 says about older well to do Men collecting from the food bank to deliver to people in need, we should never judge a book by it's cover. Even if a person looks well to do it does not mean that they are in today's economic climate. I agree it is a very ill timed and insensitive post by armynanny at this time.

Unbelievable. Except it isn't. In the 1930s and 40s a government with huge economic problems picked a group and "othered" them.

The Germans far-right falsely accused Jews of causing Germany’s social, economic, political, and cultural problems. Some German's supported this. Apparently, nothing has changed except it is now the UK othering the poor.

Ziplok

Strange the OP has never been back …

I would have been surprised if she had been back given the insults that have been flung in her direction.

Why couldn't people have enlightened the OP to how food banks work, without all the nasty comments?

The OP might have been remembering when people could and did exploit 'the system'.

We have a community lunch each week. It's run by volunteers and there is no charge . Anyone can go. I go. I put a donation in the pot towards buying next week's supplies. It's 3 courses and we get around 40 people each week. Some Ukrainian families come as do people from the homeless hostel and those like me who live alone.
My hope is that people will chat and enjoy the themselves. Unfortunately my middle class friends don't join because they say they can afford to eat so don't need charity. The don't understand it's for everyone.

Why couldn't people have enlightened the OP to how food banks work, without all the nasty comments?

Some people have!

My grand daughter has a pony which she keeps in a DIY livery yard. It costs a fortune.
One of the other owners brought a 4/pack of baked beans into the brew-room which she'd got in her box from the food bank. Her kids were sick of beans she's said, and she wondered if she could swap them for spaghetti instead.
I agree with OP - these banks are being misused.
And before you reply asking me do I want the child's beloved pony taken away from her - well no, but most people can't afford a pony in the first place, so don't use food banks either.
Think about it.
Its stopped me putting items in the box at the supermarket exit.

How blinkered of you to stop contributing to food banks based on one horse owner.

Not many horses in inner London, so I'm happy in the knowledge that 95% of my donations are likely to go to someone in need.

Geez, I wonder what planet I'm on sometimes!

You can contribute pet food to the food bank too. I don't want to deprive poor people of pets. There is loads of evidence to suggest how having pets has a positive impact on people's mental health and well being.