'Food banks, now bedding banks'

Jane 43 .
I ,also am disgusted by the MP's pay rise .
Perhaps they'd like to sleep on floorboards .
I don't think that they give a damn about any of us .
We have been betrayed by our government .
They are shameless
and corrupt .

Yes, Pammies eloquent post says it all.

Good post Pammie1

Oh yes.
The feckless buggers.

MissAdventure you forgot "drink and smoke" oh and "Sky"

I suppose it's only a matter of time until someone pipes up with "they all have the latest phones, big TVs, and false nails".

jefm

I work with a charity that gives grants to many causes including food banks however at my last panel meeting experts who were working with various food banks across the county gave a word of warning. They take away the individuals ability to budget for food. A dependency is created which isn’t always helpful for their futures. We are a wealthy country and we provide more than many countries governments do. We also have an amazing charity base for almost every issue. It isn’t an easy situation and the idea that we are becoming too dependent won’t be popular. I am sure that we have all visited many countries where real poverty is apparent in the streets as people live in atrocious conditions. Let’s keep perspective on poverty and self help. Let’s also be thankful that at this moment in time at least we aren’t Ukrainians fleeing our country. It all becomes so political but even left wing politicians haven’t rectified and probably can’t rectify the situation to meet every individuals needs.

What a patronising post !! I thought we’d moved on from Victorian times when charity was in the hands of the wealthy who sat in judgement of the‘undeserving poor’. We may be a wealthy country and we may provide more than many other countries, but that doesn’t mean we’re spending the money wisely, or even where it’s needed. Zero hours contracts combined with Universal Credit shortcomings don’t make for stability. The pandemic has decimated many small businesses and many have lost their jobs in the wider economy because of Covid. There are massive energy price rises in the pipeline as well as the translation of that, and what’s going on in Ukraine into record busting inflation. It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better so no, I wouldn’t think that at this particular time your assertion that food banks take away the ability to budget for food, would be very popular.

A country’s values are reflected in how it takes care of it sick, disabled and vulnerable. We have a broken benefits system as a result of years of cuts and tinkering with eligibility, and it’s designed not to support, but to punish those who claim. We have a broken care system in which the elderly and disabled have to relinquish their life savings to afford basic and sometimes inadequate care when they need it. And we now have a proliferation of food and other banks trying to support those in need where the other agencies have failed. And yet there is still the notion that ‘real’ poverty doesn’t exist. I suppose that view depends on whether you’re at the sharp end or not.

As a rich country we could well afford to support our vulnerable in much better ways than we do now. The problem is that there is no political will to do so. So benefit claimants are branded cheats and work shy in order to make it more palatable to the public when the welfare safety rug is pulled out from under them - and from us all eventually, make no mistake. Universal Credit claimants have their £20 uprating clawed back while MPs get an automatic pay rise which this year amounts to three times that. So how do we ‘keep perspective on poverty’ while we abandon people to their fate and whatever ‘self help’ they can muster up. And what’s happening in Ukraine is appalling, but we can’t allow it to be thrown in our faces in order to make us grateful to accept the crumbs this uncaring government throws our way.

I can imagine contacting the police and asking for an officer to come and help you take your duvet from the marital home.

Of course, in an ideal world, that is exactly what should happen, bit it doesn't, does it?

Grandtante, you are right, of course, in theory, but the reality is often different. We have read posts on here from women planning on leaving their spouse or partner, and we always advise financial planning and 'getting your ducks in a row', but; making a break for it when your partner is at work or asleep, with just the clothes you and your children stand up in is more often the case, and if the woman is in a refuge, she is unlikely to pop back to the family home to pick out the best duvet. We have a local charity which posts requests on FB, very often a family who have left a DV situation, have been given a new home, but have literally nothing. People are generous, giving beds, cookers, washing machines.

grandtante I don't know whether you've had any experience of people (especially women) in an emergency situation. Getting emergency accommodation isn't that straightforward in the first place.

Often they've been living in rented accommodation, so they don't have "half" of any property. If you've been beaten up for the umpteenth time and managed to make a break, you're in no state to find a divorce lawyer - and pay the upfront fee which is usually demanded. It's possible you don't have your own bank account, so don't have any access to funds (if there are any). Some people in this situation are young people leaving abusive families.

Some people are so traumatised that they cannot return to the family home, even if accompanied. Fetching "your own things" isn't as easy as it might seem. How would you sort out which duvet belongs to whom? What happens if the couple only had one duvet? Not only that, but I would be concerned that I might be followed.

I have every sympathy for those who leave a home filled with violence, but the woman concerned needs a divorce lawyer. Half of the property owned by her and her abusive spouse is hers, after all.

My understanding is that she is entitled to have someone fetch bedding, clothes etc from her home that her husband is now living in alone.

Applying to charity is all well and good, but she should be able to have a policeman or woman accompany her to fetch her own and the children's things.

I took some blankets to 3 different charity shops and they all said there was no call for them as everyone had duvets. So I brought them home.

I agree with nandad up thread.
The UK has unacceptable levels of poverty for such an affluent country, and I believe this is largely due to the ideology of the government who are the policy makers.
There was a widening gap between rich and poor before the pandemic, and this has increased.

The UN Special Rapporteur for Extreme Poverty and Human Rights visited the UK back in 2018 and his conclusions were damning, and things have deteriorated since.
He reported that the experience of the U.K. since 2010 underscores the conclusion that poverty is a political choice.
Worth reading the full report.

I feel despair that there is acceptance of the fact that working people have to demean themselves by having to access charity for food and clothing, and that the political will to change things is not there.

I heard someone on tv defending MPs pay rise saying it’s only 2.5%. My pension is rising 3.5% or about £30 month but my bills are going up about £90 month. That’s the problem with % pay rises- they make the gap between rich and poor wider. An MPs (and there’s 650 of them) pay rise would cover an average family’s heating bill

I quite agree a month on universal credits is easy, well off people have a well stocked freezer/cupbord the insurance is paid, MOT sorted, its trying to pay these things out of UC long term which is more difficult. I think that Gordon Brown article is great, I wish he was still PM. I am disgusted at how this govt have treated poor & disabled folks, & even women over 60, we still got our pensions whisked away for 6 years and that isn't even a benefit. Then they tell young folk to save for their pension when they struggle to pay rent etc & have more than 1 job. I can't wait to get rid of this gov't, but even then the electoral system is harder and made harder still to get the tories out cos of our 1st past the post system and now you'll need identity, photos etc to vote which not everyone will do, especially those doing several jobs etc

Totally agree Jane43.
That timed by the amount of Mp`s who will get the increase is obscene, that money should go elsewhere where it is needed.

It m ight help if MPs of all nations were to spend a month on minimum wage, without access to freebies and their savings. Similar ideas have happened before. The problem is that it's quite possible to manage for a month when you start out fully clothed, with a home full of working appliances, and cupboards full of food. What is harder is months down the line when the children need new shoes and clothes because they've grown out of their present ones, not for a fashion choice. When the oven breaks and you can't afford a repair or replacement. It's long term on minimum wage and zero hours contracts that wreck havoc with people's lives.

I often watch Call the Midwife and ponder in a lot of ways , how little has changed since the 1950s/60s and now.
Still slum housing provided by usually private landlords, still families struggling to put food on the table or pay bills and still organisations set up to provide essentials to the needy.
Still the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the majority of politicians don't give a toss as long as they get their cheap meals, rent paid and expenses claimable.

We don't have a healthy democracy until we have fair voting - but we do have a democracy of sorts. So we should be writing to our MPs about all these issues - none of us wants to live in a country where such poverty and humiliating struggles face people in dire need. MPs do take notice of emails and letters from their constituents, if they receive enough. We can do more - but writing to our MPs is easily at hand and worth doing.

Foodbanks don't create dependency, they remove, short term, one of the many worries that so many people have. Foodbanks consider themselves a 'gateway' a means of signposting so that people don't have to keep using them. The vast majority of clients use the FB temporarily until their UC is sorted out. Our local branch has a baby bank providing equipment, formula milk, nappies, a uniform bank for school uniform, a coat bank. Luckily our MP doesn't use the FB for photo opportunities as some did at Xmas, one even going as far as charging the £1.50 parking fee he incurred during his visit against his expenses. Our MP's wife, a real charmer with a seat in the HoL for heaven only knows what, is on record as telling people how cheap and nutritious porridge is, and maybe they should try it if they are struggling. Angry? Moi?

Old news! A teacher in Leeds set up a charity when she realised children were coming to school not having slept in a bed for ages! She now still teaches full time and distributes beds in her spare time!!
My mum was raised in sheer poverty but she had a bed to share !
I don’t have an answer to any of these issues, food banks, energy poverty, no beds ! We are becoming a third world country in my view! We need to prioritise issues in our country to alleviate issues and prepare our children for their futures! Ukraine aside ( that is a whole new issue on its own) this government does not care about its weaker less wealthy citizens if any age, gender etc
I really have no recollection of things being so tough for people in all my 71 years! ?‍♀️?

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/01/food-banks-bedding-banks-worst-poverty-gordon-brown

It m ight help if MPs of all nations were to spend a month on minimum wage, without access to freebies and their savings.

not many people commenting how Parliament, not just this Government, all MP`s, and so called Lords have stopped many people receiving increases to benefits, not the least the Pension for the elderly, yet still give themselves a rise!

I often wonder where the idea comes from that this is a rich country.

midgey

I listened to a woman on this morning’s Woman’s Hour, she had escaped domestic violence and had been given a house. But that’s it, I cannot imagine having to struggle to feed and clothe children while sleeping on floorboards. Rich men who have absolutely no idea about real life are in charge!

My WI supports a Refuge which helps women ( or men) who have had to move away from their home through domestic violence. We collect new pillows and duvets for them as well as toiletries, children’s toys and small electrical items. Our craft group make blankets for the children to put on their beds in the Refuge and then they take them to their new home. As many end up in temporary housing, it is comforting to the children to have a blanket which they can take from place to place.

"They take away the individuals ability to budget for food. A dependency is created which isn’t always helpful for their futures."
What a nauseatingly patronising attitude.

You mean shut up about the disgusting poverty in our own rich country because at least we are not Ukrainian?