Food Banks

Yes indeed NannyMcPhu and these stories get spread as if they are true, thus making going to a food bank even more of a trial for those who have to use one. I think we should be more concerned about who is using them, and more concerned by the fact that people need to use them at all. Bloody shameful.

Urban myths yet again.

Although if one reads the Daily Mail you will likely discover that this couple call the taxi on their 'latest i-phone' and then go home to eat the food bank contents in front of their flat screen tv. . Sorry norose this is just untrue, or theft.

I agree with MamaCaz

Here is a quote from the report I cited. I really recommend reading it.

They(Food Bank recipients) have been missing meals, often for days at a time, going without heating and electricity. One in five had slept rough in recent months.

They are at the lowest end of the low-income spectrum, with an average income below £320 per month, described as living in "extreme financial vulnerability".

^These are usually people of working age, middle-aged rather than young or old, mostly living in rented accommodation.
About five out of six are without a job and depending on benefits.^

Not many nurses or policemen, I guess.

Perhaps the elderly couple that supposedly abuses the food bank system, or the taxi drivers (or both) enjoy winding people up by joking about 'another trip to the foodbank' each time they do a trip to the supermarket.

And the CAB might very well give them food bank vouchers until debt can be brought under control.

MOnica Food bank recipients of your donations are lucky. Believe me, most of the donations don't come from Waitrose. Maybe I'm sounding too critical. The food in itself is fine, but it's very basic. That's not surprising and it does the job of filling empty tummies in a crisis, but it's not worth committing some kind of fraud to obtain.

They may still end up needing food banks though, Annie..

Anyone in full time employment such as nurses and police officers would be referred to CAB or similar for advice on their debt problems

Or a corrupt individual providing them with vouchers.

Who pays their taxi fares?

Sorry & Anna

Monica & Whitewave. no I don't have all that knowledge,perhaps it was a bad example to use & I maybe doing the couple a disservice. It's just that a realativly small area a lot of people's personal business is known & also open to inaccuracies. It is something that is spoken about fairly often which I have heard but wrongly perhaps not tried to find out more details . As this thread came up I was reminded of them .

norose have you taken this issue up with the Food Bank or Charity Commissioners? It is a clear breach of the terms and conditions of Food Banks and, as Ana says should not be possible. Use of food banks is limited in frequency and needs a voucher for each visit.

The other possibility is crime, with a Food Bank volunteer stealing from the Food Bank to give to favoured friends.

Someone is having you on norose

Do you mean they collect from the Food Bank every fortnight norose4. Sorry, that's just not possible.

Don't have that much info Monica, every fortnight hence the loading up a lot of tin stuff .taxi drivers are not sworn to secrecy so it's generally accepted locally as accurate)not first hand knowledge, ) rural areas less populated more people know about each other plus the couple in question are alleged more than happy to share their personal business .

I suppose if you are expecting caviar and blinis the food must appear rather poor, but as a contributor to my local food bank all my contributions come from Waitrose, where I do my weekly shop and include the items we are specifically asked for, tinned meat (in my case Fray Bentos steak pies, which my family LOVE so I give as I eat), tinned vegetables, tea and coffee and, usually, household goods like nappies and kitchen towel.

daphnedill your description of the clients where you volunteered exactly matches what this research describes as typical clients.

norose, I find your story interesting. As you clearly have first hand experience, can you describe what sort of food and in what quantities this couple are getting and how often they go to the Food Bank? The invariable rule, I understood, was three days food and only three or four times a year. Presumably you are aware, roughly, what sort of income they have and what medical conditions they have to know whether their receipt of the food and transport to collect it is justified or not.

The food itself isn't bad, but the variety is. I wouldn't eat most of it, because it's full of carbs, but I know some people would. My point is that it's OK if you're starving, but it really isn't worth defrauding any system to obtain.

If I were going to obtain food by deception, I think I'd find some way of getting Waitrose gift cards not value pasta, cereal and tinned carrots.

Surely the food isn't that bad daphnedill? I hope not, when I donate food I hope it would be good enough to make a decent meal or several in fact.

I know there is generally no fresh food as it has to have a shelf life but reasonable meals can be made out of the ingredients I have seen. In fact, probably much the same as I ate when I was younger and could not afford fresh meat etc.

I am not sure how they can abuse the system. Perhaps they have been referred to the food bank and had a taxi paid for medical reasons?

Society doesn't tar anyone. People with suspicious minds do.

Have you ever seen what you get in a food parcel norose? Quite honestly, you really would need to be desperate to eat it. I can't imagine that it's worth an expensive taxi fare to claim.

PS. We had some people who lived in rural areas with no transport. We used to take the parcels to them, using our own cars and were reimbursed for fuel (if we remembered to claim). Clients didn't use taxis.

ana