Food and Baby Banks

[El Cid]

2 hours ago, Baron99 said:

Then more & more started to spring up & it's become a free for all by the looks of things.  The last time I saw one a few months ago, it was either on Calendar or Look North, people paid £5 & could take £30 of food, no questions asked apparently.  My first thought, my wife & I aught to get ourselves down there.  Maybe we could drive in after work?  I'm all for a bargain, especially as 'No questions are asked'. 

 

As for baby banks.  Children aren't fashion accessories.  Work out of you can afford one before having one. 

 

Food banks are given food that is surplus stock for supermarkets. People do donate food, but where does their food come from?

Baby banks seem to have replaced, to an extent, charity shops and passing things on to relatives.

People have fewer relatives, so baby stuff goes to the baby bank.

People running baby banks seem to be saints on social media, but are they really.

[ECCOnoob]

5 hours ago, SheffieldForum said:

Article on NHS staff and nurses using food banks: https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/charities/charity-reports-more-than-500-nurses-using-food-banks-12-01-2023/

 

Interesting statistics. But fails to completely answer why exactly they are struggling so much. 

 

This to me is one of the biggest issues. Just like the homelessness statistics. Several countries on the graph have far far more street homeless and yet somehow we have this worst ranking  due to our 'outrageous' number in temporary accommodation. But  why is nobody asking the questions.  Firstly, how are our statistics and definitions being formed in comparison with other, who are all these people 'homeless', do they work, are they British citizens, where are they living, could they move  to cheaper areas of the country, is the accommodation paid for by the state,  what are the benefits they receive, what are the local authorities doing, is there massive backlogs, is it budgetary issues, is it lack of properties, why does it automatically mean that they can't afford food.......

 

As I say earlier my own family didn't have a lot of money, They had to battle through the strike ridden and unemployment filled 70s, the boom and bust years of the 1980s with the sky high mortgage rates, several recessions, downsizes, bereavement, but they adjusted and coped - so what has changed?  

 

Now we have people earning £25k, £30k  and above who allegedly are struggling to put food on the table.  A net pay over £1500-1700 a month for a the lowest level full-time workers and yet some seriously can't afford basic groceries. 

 

I simply don't believe it can be so oversimplified as a blaming the government  or the recession or cost of living. There has to be more going on here.  People out of work get benefits, Part-Time single parents get top-ups and tax credits and support.

 

There has to be more going on here.  Is it lack of financial education? Lack of parental upbringing? Lack of good housekeeping and basic cookery knowledge?  Unrealistic lifestyle expectations?  Peer pressure from mass consumerism? 

 

Where is all this money going that takes such priority over basic food provision. 

[Al Bundy]

39 minutes ago, ECCOnoob said:

Interesting statistics. But fails to completely answer why exactly they are struggling so much. 

 

This to me is one of the biggest issues. Just like the homelessness statistics. Several countries on the graph have far far more street homeless and yet somehow we have this worst ranking  due to our 'outrageous' number in temporary accommodation. But  why is nobody asking the questions.  Firstly, how are our statistics and definitions being formed in comparison with other, who are all these people 'homeless', do they work, are they British citizens, where are they living, could they move  to cheaper areas of the country, is the accommodation paid for by the state,  what are the benefits they receive, what are the local authorities doing, is there massive backlogs, is it budgetary issues, is it lack of properties, why does it automatically mean that they can't afford food.......

 

As I say earlier my own family didn't have a lot of money, They had to battle through the strike ridden and unemployment filled 70s, the boom and bust years of the 1980s with the sky high mortgage rates, several recessions, downsizes, bereavement, but they adjusted and coped - so what has changed?  

 

Now we have people earning £25k, £30k  and above who allegedly are struggling to put food on the table.  A net pay over £1500-1700 a month for a the lowest level full-time workers and yet some seriously can't afford basic groceries. 

 

I simply don't believe it can be so oversimplified as a blaming the government  or the recession or cost of living. There has to be more going on here.  People out of work get benefits, Part-Time single parents get top-ups and tax credits and support.

 

There has to be more going on here.  Is it lack of financial education? Lack of parental upbringing? Lack of good housekeeping and basic cookery knowledge?  Unrealistic lifestyle expectations?  Peer pressure from mass consumerism? 

 

Where is all this money going that takes such priority over basic food provision. 

Please run for PM.

 

 

[spilldig]

20 hours ago, SheffieldForum said:

You're trolling now.

 

How in the heck was that trolling?  My son is a nurse on a mental health ward. He has bought a nice house, runs a nice car, goes on expensive holidays and he's gone on a four day week because he has more money than he needs. Another female nurse on the ward does the same as him and she dropped to a three day week for the same reason.  He says he cannot understand it when they say they are struggling.

[Beechwood_S6]

1 hour ago, spilldig said:

How in the heck was that trolling?  My son is a nurse on a mental health ward. He has bought a nice house, runs a nice car, goes on expensive holidays and he's gone on a four day week because he has more money than he needs. Another female nurse on the ward does the same as him and she dropped to a three day week for the same reason.  He says he cannot understand it when they say they are struggling.

An old friend of mine in London is a ward nurse he runs, 3 cars, a camper van, 3 motorbikes 2 off road dirt bikes all high end ..range rover, ducati, audi, latest newly converted leyland explorer, people often wonder how he gets by, but he does.

 

some people make it work, well done to your son.

[Anna B]

16 hours ago, ECCOnoob said:

Interesting statistics. But fails to completely answer why exactly they are struggling so much. 

 

This to me is one of the biggest issues. Just like the homelessness statistics. Several countries on the graph have far far more street homeless and yet somehow we have this worst ranking  due to our 'outrageous' number in temporary accommodation. But  why is nobody asking the questions.  Firstly, how are our statistics and definitions being formed in comparison with other, who are all these people 'homeless', do they work, are they British citizens, where are they living, could they move  to cheaper areas of the country, is the accommodation paid for by the state,  what are the benefits they receive, what are the local authorities doing, is there massive backlogs, is it budgetary issues, is it lack of properties, why does it automatically mean that they can't afford food.......

 

As I say earlier my own family didn't have a lot of money, They had to battle through the strike ridden and unemployment filled 70s, the boom and bust years of the 1980s with the sky high mortgage rates, several recessions, downsizes, bereavement, but they adjusted and coped - so what has changed?  

 

Now we have people earning £25k, £30k  and above who allegedly are struggling to put food on the table.  A net pay over £1500-1700 a month for a the lowest level full-time workers and yet some seriously can't afford basic groceries. 

 

I simply don't believe it can be so oversimplified as a blaming the government  or the recession or cost of living. There has to be more going on here.  People out of work get benefits, Part-Time single parents get top-ups and tax credits and support.

 

There has to be more going on here.  Is it lack of financial education? Lack of parental upbringing? Lack of good housekeeping and basic cookery knowledge?  Unrealistic lifestyle expectations?  Peer pressure from mass consumerism? 

 

Where is all this money going that takes such priority over basic food provision. 

That seems a pretty simplistic view. First of all I assume you grew up benefitting, whether you realised it or not, from the welfare state. There was much more to it than just paid benefits, such as free higher education, and council houses at a fair rent,  and most of it has now been lost.

 

There are so many variables. Pay is just one of them. 

 

Rents are astronomical in some cases with little in the way of alternatives. Where you live is a major issue. Fuel costs also differ considerably, some houses being better insulated than others for instance. 

Number of children / dependents is another. The more mouths to feed the higher the food bills. Parents also have to subsidise children in many ways.

Access to public transport counts. My neice lives in a village with no bus service whatsoever. Her parents have to ferry her 15miles to college and back every day for want of an alternative. Fortunately they are in a position of being able to do so. She is also having very expensive but essential driving lessons and will need a car of her own if she passes her test just to get to work, that will probably involve debt. She will also be paying back student loans. 

Debt is a serious problem for whatever reason. For example spend any time on benefits and you will immediately aquire 6 weeks, often more, of debt waiting for them to kick in. That money is deducted from already megre benefits from day one, so impossible to managr. Once in debt, it's very hard to get out of. Massive student loans lasting years are just the start 

 

Rents, mortgages and Bills are also rocketing, pay is not keeping up in many cases.   

 

Two people in the same job with the same pay may well be experiencing life in very different ways with very different disposable incomes. Your family might have managed, but even back then there would be other families struggling. Now, the difference is even more marked.

[SheffieldForum]

3 hours ago, spilldig said:

How in the heck was that trolling?  My son is a nurse on a mental health ward. He has bought a nice house, runs a nice car, goes on expensive holidays and he's gone on a four day week because he has more money than he needs. Another female nurse on the ward does the same as him and she dropped to a three day week for the same reason.  He says he cannot understand it when they say they are struggling.

As I’ve mentioned several times… not everyone’s circumstances are the same.

 

People struggle in different ways for different reasons. Because your son is OK right now it doesn’t mean that every nurse is.

 

And therein is the rub… lots of people seem to have a rose-tinted glasses “I’m alright Jack” attitude and can’t understand the variables that exist or have the empathy for that.

[El Cid]

10 hours ago, SheffieldForum said:

As I’ve mentioned several times… not everyone’s circumstances are the same.

 

People struggle in different ways for different reasons. Because your son is OK right now it doesn’t mean that every nurse is.

 

And therein is the rub… lots of people seem to have a rose-tinted glasses “I’m alright Jack” attitude and can’t understand the variables that exist or have the empathy for that.

 

One example of when they struggle is if they get divorced and need to rent or buy on their own. Around 50% of relationships fail at some point.

When I got divorced it was the poorest time in my life, but they need to rebuild their finances.