Government food parcels

Silversurf
I have 2 neighbours who never applied for these boxes. They have both cancelled them ( online) and still they keep coming.
Neither of them wants or needs these boxes. One of them only shops at M&S.
So now, one of the neighbours takes both boxes to a food bank.

“tins” not “tines"

DB & D SIL get the food boxes. They regularly contain catering sized tins (mostly mushy peas) and several tines of tomato soup. They usually arrive before DB or SIL are awake. Did catch the driver one time and told “I can’t take it away. Against rules.”

SIL went online to cancel boxes and lost delivery slot.

Reinstated delivery slot. Boxes started.

Tried phoning, told boxes would stop - didn’t.

Some things are useful so taken off home delivery list. My nephew now takes unneeded items to food bank including catering tins and 3 or 4 tins of tomato soup.

I thought the contents were pretty good but I suppose it depends where you are. I even got a mango in one!! And 1 toilet roll!!

We too got one of these food parcels and have no idea why. We haven’t got a supermarket slot although I would love to get one. Couldn’t believe it when the food parcel turned up again the following week but send it back with the delivery man and said we didn’t want anymore. Quite honestly the contents were a bit random and you would have a job making a healthy meal out of one. However obviously some people rely on them. Most of ours will go to the food bank

Being shielded I have been getting these parcels as I registered for priority shopping slots. I had one delivered last week. The fresh carrots were rotten, the fresh onion had a large green sprout and almost all the tins were dented. The bread has previously been frozen so has to be used. I have just had another delivered which was fine, but I have accessed on line shopping and I have now stopped them. I was very grateful to these at the beginning of the lockdown although not all to my taste, they did help.

My husband is in the shielded group and we signed up for priority slots and also ended up getting the parcels. It took a while to stop them, went back into the website as they said to do, another one came the next week so my husband rang the council, they couldn't help, said to refuse the next one, but yet again we didn't see anyone, it was just left on the doorstep. The following week he hung around waiting for the delivery man, and what he said was if we refuse it we wouldn't be able to get any more parcels ever again, not that we couldn't get delivery slots. We refused the parcel and still get the priority slots. It's such a waste though, sending out to people who don't need them with out having a proper method of stopping them!

Spot on Marydoll.
My Aunt and Uncle get one a week and if there is something in the box they don`t want i take it to the shops and put it in the food bank collection box.
Everyone wins.

I got two of these parcels until I went on the government website and filled out the form stating I did not need help getting food. I am on the priority list for all the supermarkets and easily get deliveries from Sainsbury, Waitrose, Ocado and Iceland. Refusing the box does not take you off their lists.

I gave my boxes to a local food bank.

I have registered as vulnerable as I have been disabled and housebound for 25 years and then had a heart attack last year. I am 75. I get no help from anywhere. No food parcels. I have done my shopping online since it first started and I have a delivery passport but, like so many loyal customers, I did not get a delivery slot for several weeks. I get one every week now. I did get a note put through my door by someone from the local church but that note went through everyones door regardless of diversity of health or anything else.

In my case I think I have been missed because my long term disability is ME. Any help I have got has been paid for, in full, by me and now I cant have that as I have had to put my cleaner/carer on full pay furlough. I dont mind that as she has been loyal to me for 14 years now I can be loyal to her. I am used to isolation and my house being my prison so I am coping as I have for so long.

What annoys me is that the cost of those food parcels must be coming from either local or central government taxes and I pay both on a very small pension so I do feel short changed.

If you register using the Government form to say you are shielding, and say you have no-one to get food for you, the boxes are delivered. A friend (not local to me) gets them. She lives alone, so there is too much food and toiletries for her, but she spoke to a contact at her local food bank, and they collect what she can’t use.

In the same boat as Greenfinch. Had a call, said we are fine, so no further action, nor is any needed. No idea how one goes about getting a priority slot on a delivery, but we manage by using good old British Grit and Determination.

Hence one of the reasons I am SO insenced about DomthePratt Cummings and his special exception

*Wa**er*

As already said, in Scotland I would have had to opt in, I realised I wouldn't use most of the contents so didn't bother. It would have meant taking stuff to a food bank which I would not want to do at present. It seems a huge waste of money to send them to every-one. I must praise Sainsbury's, I have always managed to get a delivery or click and collect slot and am pleased with what has been available.

My husband and i, who are both shielding and on the government list got the food box, we had the same conversation about them and was also told we would loose priority slots the first one i gave to the local church and then went on line and managed to stop it and still have my shopping slots
I also when i registered on line ticked the box that said we didn't need them but it arrived anyway ridiculously early one Tuesday morning

I'm on the extremely vulnerable list and I registered on the government website to get access to supermarket deliveries. A box was left on my doorstep the first week with an instruction if I didn't need it to go on the website and tick yes to the question that basically says do you have a means of getting food. The next week we told the driver who this time knocked at the door that we didn't need the boxes, and he took it away to be given to someone who did. I got access to home delivery slots and this has not changed. Just refuse the delivery. I got a text afterwards saying thank you for letting us know you don't need the boxes, if circumstances change please contact us for a restart.

My husband is on the list, when I filled out the government form I said that he didn't need help so have never seen one. Maybe go online to stop them? We have priority at the supermarket.

We are shielding but have not been offered a food parcel or a priority slot in our neck of the woods.Someone from SS occasionally rings to see if we are OK which we are because son in law shops for us so perhaps that is why we were not offered anything.

I registered my parents as vulnerable at the beginning of lock down. This wasn't for the food box, but to get access to priority shopping online. My dad especially is incredibly fussy so I would doubt that he would eat what was sent, so a waste.
A few weeks later I had someone phone me about the Government food box [ I had given my phone number instead of my parents ] and told the person that the food box wasn't required as I was managing to get them everything they need online.
This hasn't stopped the priority shopping at all. I have now done this a few times for them with no issues.

If you are shielding, you get them automatically. You have to opt out by contacting a designated phone number.

It certainly doesn't doesn't affect your priority slots if you opt out here in Scotland. I have opted out and have had Tesco deliveries every week.

So---nobody knows how/why these food parcels land on the doorstep !?

DD3 is getting these too and some of the items are no good to her as she is a vegetarian she doesn’t eat tinned fish for example. she too is scared of loosing the priority status for online shopping which is like gold dust! I have got a friend to pick these items and place in the collection baskets for the food bank at the supermarket so they don’t go to waste. Food banks ARE still operating in most areas as food parcel deliveries rather than collection points. It might be worth checking this and also see if anyone could collect from you to make up the food parcels?

Wy not freeze or store anything which isn't perishable and when we are back to some kind of normal, see about donating it all to a Food Bank. You will have to eat the perishable things yourself. I assume you are removing from your supermarket order items which have appeared in your government food parcel?

How do these food parcels come about in the first place ?