to ask all the skint and struggling people: what would help you the most?

[dreamingbohemian]

I think it's clear that a lot of people are struggling right now. I'm on the thread about parents going without food and it's terrible what some people are going through.

It's also clear that there are a lot of judgmental attitudes, and that the government is not all that interested in tackling the problem.

But you can also see a lot of people are sympathetic and want to help, and are horrified that we are returning to a situation where people have to go without food.

There have been a number of good ideas on that thread, but I thought it might be good to start a new thread to not just talk about the problem, but about how we can all try to do something about it -- whether it's signing petitions, putting pressure on the government, or volunteering or donating in our local communities.

So AIBU to start by asking people who are struggling right now to talk about the top one or two things that would help them out the most? So that we are not focusing our attention on things that might not be the most helpful?

Or, on the flip side, is anyone engaged in anything right now that seems to be helping a lot of people?

I don't want to just be horrified, I want to do something...

Start close to home. See if any neighbours, friends or local organisations need your help but be prepared to have some of your idealism chipped away in the process.

How so, Cogito?

I don't think I'm overly idealistic. Just frustrated that there are so many people struggling when there are also so many people who want to help. Can we bridge this gap somehow?

Starting local is a good first principle!

There was a story on the news the other night about a community centre that gave out bags of food about 3 times a week. I thought that was a good idea. And anyone could go, as far as I know, you didn't have to prove you were on benefits or anything.

I've been really poor in the past and not had money for food for a couple of days, without getting further over an overdraft limit. Something like that would have been a real help.

Signing petitions will do little but helping others is a good start.
I am not the type of person who goes for grand gestures and am cynical in many ways. We live in a selfish world and believe that not all 'poor' people are actually 'poor' just as not all 'old' people have worked hard all their lives.

So how can you figure it all out? I have no idea.

Campaign to prevent further increases in bus fares and stop bus companies pulling services.
This may seem unrelated to the issue, but it's not:

Bus fares where I live are extortionate, and go up every year. They take a large percentage of a poor person's income.(My weekly travel card is 25 % of the money we have to live on).

Also, as services are cut,and become increasingly unreliable, it makes it increasingly difficult to get around.
If you have two part time jobs, in different parts of town, for example, the crap buses can make it really hard to maintain this.

I recently interviewed for a great job (shortlisted but didn't get it) which I really wanted, but which I would have had to get a taxi to, as the only bus there ran once an hour, and would not have got me there for 9 a.m

setting up a food bank is apparently easier than you think as a lot of the supermarkets buy into this and it is a way of busy people giving something when they cannot give their time. do you have one in your area. could you set one up.

With regard to buses, I live in a town where there are 2 main bus companies. Each has its own bus passes, day tickets, etc, and you can't use the wrong pass on the other bus. So often people have a pass for the company they use the most, but if the other company's bus gets to the bus stop first, they have to let that one drive on by and wait for the 'right' bus.

If you've already paid £12 or whatever for a weekly ticket then trust me, you really begrudge paying another £1.50 or whatever for another bus! And for lots of people they just don't have the money to do so.

So I think the 2 companies should join forces and bring out tickets that can be used on all the town's buses.

I think it has to start by helping people in our local community if we all do the same we can cover the whole of the UK; I?m going to contact my local councillor to see if there is a way to get food and necessities to those who need it the most. Contact local businesses to see if they can help in any way. Create a website? Donate to existing charities or food banks. To use Cameron?s phrase ?We are all in it together? get our children to help make the UK a community again, get schools involved by organising drop off points for old uniform, school shoes and clothes. If everybody does something no matter how small it will make a difference.

nowthenwreck Transport is a great area to highlight. I don't think a lot of people realise what an obstacle it can be.

Are there ways to encourage ride-sharing? I'm not originally from the UK, but it sounds like people don't do this as much as in the US. There, some local authorities have actually set up websites to help drivers and passengers find each other.

It's something you can do at the individual level anyway -- help someone get around more easily.

Involving schools in distributing food to the needy families.

Marymary -- that's insane! Whose bright idea was that? Public transport should not be privatised, how unfair for people.

shooting that's the spirit! I think it really helps to give people specific ideas. People are so busy, they don't have time to think about things, but if they got an email from school asking them to donate old uniforms, then it's just a few seconds to chuck it in a bag and bring it in.

On food banks -- a friend of mine used to help run Food Not Bombs in London, they would go each Saturday to a local park or square and lay out a big meal for anyone who wanted some food, no questions asked. They got the food from local markets and shops, or personal donations.

How about questioning why anyone in the one of the world's richest countries needs this kind of support?

I am not questioning the level of need, just the fact that it should be so.

1. Food collectives are a good thing to do. If you club together with other people from your street or school or whatever, you can legitimately buy food wholesale in bulk and then redistribute it amongst yourselves. Collective purchasing can really make a difference to food bills.

1. Guerrilla gardening is another thing to try, other words adopting a neglected piece of land and cultivating it. You might have to do this surreptitiously, but you might even get support from the local council or school to turn unused land into vegetable lots for people to take free fruit and vegetables from, including yourself.

www.guerrillagardening.org/

1. Try a Friday night curry club. One night every week cook a different curry together with a few other people or families in large quantities, so it works out cheap per head, plus you get a bit of social interaction as well.

www.moneymagpie.com/article/quick-easy-and-cheap-curry-recipes-to-make-at-home

1. Approved Food is great for staples. You can buy food that is past the best before date with big discounts from this website. It's still perfectly safe to eat.

www.approvedfood.com

I think help with planning and budgeting would be a good idea.

Often people have not been taught how to economise or how to stretch food out.

Cheap convenience food might be cheap and convenient but it does that one particular meal and that is it.

If you bought a chicken and bag of potatoes it would go a lot further and be more nutritional.

Ah, the Duracell chicken argument.

I think educating the masses that tax evasion is a bigger problem than benefit fraud, convincing our media not to promote such propaganda and shutting down the daily mail!

I think more flexible work is the main thing! Many women would love a job...but can't afford it.

If you can't carry heavy things home, big 7.5 kg bags of potatoes are available from the milkman for £5.99 (although £3.99 in Tesco, £3.79 Ocado, 40p a kilo in Asda).

Here

And helping people to prioritise.

What are people's priorities? Booze, cigarettes, nappies, broadband, iphone..... the list is endless and yet I bet the differences between us all are huge.

Boffin great ideas! what do you think are the biggest obstacles to more collective activities like these?

I feel like so many people are struggling independently. What would help to bring people together? Is it just putting more specific ideas out there?

Iceland do home delivery if cutomers spend 25 pounds or more...you can go in, do your shopping and then leave it in store to be dleivered later...they have fruit and veg but they are expenive and bad quality....I think Tescos should have a similar thing....it's not hard...many people cannot do a shop online with Tescos as they do not accept Electron...which is the card which many people of low incomes have!