The thread this morning about the person asking if some one could deliver them shopping that got deleted

You are so gullible OP. That scammer would have been wearing your slippers and perusing your bank statements in no time!

I’ve worked with vulnerable families in need for decades. One factor present in 99% of cases is their reluctance to accept material help from anyone.

Supporting someone to help themselves has a positive long-term effect that giving them food for free would never have. Giving them a pint of milk or a load of bread is a sticking plaster with no long-term benefit to their situation.

The poster had started a thread with the exact same post in the days before. They were given loads of good advice on that first thread before it was deleted.

To come on MN a second time, in the early hours of the morning & start another thread with the exact same post as the first suggested scam to many of us.

Wouldn’t a genuine poster have started the second post with something akin to please don’t delete MN as I am still short of food and need more ideas? or I have x,y,z how can I feed myself/child til Friday or how do I access/I’m having problems accessing food banks in x city - any suggestions?

But they didn’t. They asked for someone to pay for an online shop. Not a loaf, a pint of milk & some ham/beans/cheese/soup. An online shop - why not specify the small amount of food you need if genuine?

So I don’t regret reporting, I have helped out those in genuine need and frankly scammers reduce people’s ability and desire to help out anyone.

MN is a great source of help and support, freely given. There is nearly always a way to help without physically giving someone something - money/food/lifts/belongings

If you really, really think that there is no other way then message MN and they’ll probably be able to tell you several ways and offer your money or goods.

If an OP is making all efforts to follow advice on how to access real life help, that will 99% of the time help them access rl help and if there is a time in the future they need help they will be equipped to access it again - or help others too - so spreading the knowledge.

All of which is, imo, better than several members pming OP and each buying an online shop/sending money/risking meeting random person in rl (who may not be who they say they are)

As an adult I can choose who I want to help and make decisions on what I can afford.

Yes and MN can choose what they want their site to be used for. They aren’t saying you can’t give money to whoever you like, they’re saying MN can’t be used as the platform for people to ask you.

Anothe thing to note, the majority of foodbank users are now ppl who have lost jobs and have the long wait until UC arrives, ppl who were already on benefits before C19 haven’t had a change to their circumstances.

OP I work at a foodbank and since March nearly all are self referral, with ours you go onto council website fill in a short form and you’ll get a call from one of us that day asking if you’re home for a delivery. There is so much help available now, we are a community response team and can do
your shopping, collect prescriptions etc, these are in a vast majority of areas.
As someone mentioned; if you can come in MN you can look for help too.

The person posted the same request twice, two mornings in a row. They ignored the advice on day 1 and were begging again on day 2.

One of the problems is that if you allow one thread like that to stand then the site gains a reputation for being a soft touch.

I am a member of a Facebook group where one member came on with a story about being a single dad needing to feed his kid. It turned out several different people had sent him money and then he turned up saying he needed more.

I agree redirecting the person needing help to a local resource is what is needed.

Off come off it OP you know that’s not what MNHQ meant at all. This site does incredible things for people who struggle, not least trying to protect them from being exploited.

Was it you OP? Because you seem awfully keen to defend this individual.

If you’re so desperate to give to someone in your area then why not post a post on your local facebook page offering money to whoever wants it as long as they tell you they’re genuine?

In fact if they’re that desperate then they probably have posted on your local facebook page. Oh but wait, to do that they’d have to reveal their name....

Oh dear op, it’s like you got on that high horse and now can’t find a way to climb down,

The scam defenders are as bad as the scammers. IMO.

Anyone who says that they would rather be scammed is giving out the message that being cautious is selfish because what about that one in a million person who could be genuine.

It is naive to think that a stranger posting a begging thread on an anonymous website is legit. The chances that they aren’t are far, far higher than the chances that they are.

Let’s face it. If people make up stories about lost babies and pregnancies and affairs and domestic violence, then asking for a quid or two is small fry really.

I'm sure if you did a poll on this the vast majority of the site's members would rather that begging/scamming threads ARE deleted.

@Craddle64 your point number 4 - they are working. I'm sure you know this already but sadly, certainly in the food bank that my mother volunteers in, it's our working citizens who are relying more and more on foodbanks. A working status doesn't really mean anything.

I also found your end comment calling the OP naive and detached and speaking down to her a little rude. Basically implying that she was gormless. There was no need for that, surely?

"Most are council run"

??

Most in UK are Trussel, aren't they?

Ours is referred to by the borough name, but it's not council-run, it's Trussel.

Was it a single mum and child who could pay you back on Friday? I saw a very similar post on another forum that I use ...

What if it isn’t just food? What if you turned up and they asked for money for gas and electric? Casually mention they can’t pay the rent and are being evicted?

No be it could be taken out of the mouths of another family

The trouble is some people give money or resources that they can’t afford themselves. And you are perpetuating that idea about a poor child going hungry that these scammers rely on. Not everybody who gives can afford to but they feel compelled to...that’s not desirable either is it?