to be utterly ashamed and disgusted with this. Food banks iced buns and Weetabix.

[carernotasaint]

i found this article really upsetting. I cannot believe that we have come to this.
As the athletes and dignetaries arrive for the Olympics i cannot muster any enthusiasm for it. I also couldnt help noticing the attitide of some of the people running these banks. Comments about people "not being able to get up early" and the fact that they are happy to hand out iced buns (which are of no nutritional value but lets fact it you"d eat them if you were bloody hungry) and then saying that Weetabix is a bad idea because it soaks up too much milk I have never felt so ashamed to be British.
www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jul/18/food-banks-on-hand-outs

The Government is at a crossroads. It's going to make more cuts to benefits and it's intending to hit the most vulnerable in society. People like single mothers....because they are not the group that will keep the tories in power.

Do you know the section they should be cutting back on? Pensioners are actually getting better off while the working age on benefits are struggling. Cut winter fuel payments and TV licences to those who don't need it. Why are we paying taxes to support bloody rich baby boomers?

Because its cheaper than means testing and it's what they were promised when they started paying NI.

I read the article and it made me want to help, so I've put out an appeal across my Fb page, saying I will happily collect food donations, and also opened a JustGiving page for donations to The Trussell Trust. Maybe others could do this if they want to help?

Food banks are unethical.

The government has artificially created a demand for them by cutting welfare too far and cutting peoples support in times of need.

The government are giving out the vouchers through government agencies - the jobcentre etc.

This is a government scheme.

Shameful.

Good for you, Flouncy. Whatever the politics, the fact remains that there are people without enough food and food banks deal with that.

this has been a problem since the mid 70's when benefits stopped being linked to inflation but that said i think the food banks do a great job.

many moons ago my house burnt down at the time my kids and i were the sole members of my family in the area i lost everything inc all my id and bank cards it was during the xmas period so nothing was open for a few days the food bank (that i hadnt even known existed) sorted out food for us for long enough to tide us over till i could get into a bank the fire brigade also helped us find somewhere to stay.

i will be forever gratefull for their help

My Grandma used to eat Weetabix with butter on it

I'm heavily involved in setting up a foodbank for my area. It is NOT a government scheme. Yes, job centres give out vouchers but so do GPs, HVs, schools, police officers, social workers, mental health workers and all sorts of other organisations. Food banks have to contact their distributing partners and supply them with the vouchers. The government has nothing to do with it.

The shameful thing is that there is a need for foodbanks and similar schemes in a country like this.

I think the UK Government have been copying the US Government. It's been happening over there for years. They are reducing benefits here also, are we to have families sleeping in storm drains next?

www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/mel-kelly/well-trousered-philanthropists-tory-party-chums-and-food-parcels-for-poor

StressedHE - this was linked earlier in the thread.

Am a bit shocked at the cracker comments, I often eat them dry, my kids take them to school as snacks dry.... And anyway jam is cheap and they might get that from the food bank too.

re: the weetbix, I only ever have with just a tiny bit of milk (hate them soggy) and esp for struggling families I expect would be greatly appreciated. Actually if I donating to a food bank I'd probably think cereal would be good - good shelf life, can be eaten as meal or snack etc.

As some one else said food is food if you are hungry.

Trussell trust food banks were started in this country by a bloke in Salisbury using his garden shed. The money to found the Trussell trust came from a legacy from his wife's mother. The food bank was an extension of their work feeding street kids in Bulgaria - not much government involvement there.

I've read the Mel Kelly article. Yes, Noel Atkins is the chairman of trustees and Chris Mould is a director. That doesn't mean it is all some sort of conspiracy. Even if it was, the fact is that food banks fill a need. They help people in extreme difficulties. There are safeguards in place to prevent people becoming dependent on food parcels and to help prevent food banks from supporting/encouraging chaotic lifestyles. Food banks do not take the place of welfare or social services.

As I said, the shameful thing is not that people are moved to help those who are in difficulties, it's that the government tolerates, and even brings about, these difficulties through its social policies.

stressed you are correct. and just incase you were intrested hes a very very nice man he works tirelessly to challenge negative attitudes towards lower income familys im pretty sure i have not met anybody else who made such an impact on my way of thinking.

Sock, I don't know about the founder, but anyone I have met/spoken to from the Trussell Trust has been absolutely lovely - kind, compassionate, non-judgemental and completely motivated by their faith to put their beliefs into action. The young man (very young), who is the development officer for this area is a shining example who has a real passion for what he does and who stresses very much that any one of us could find ourselves needing a food bank.

The TT have a fairly highly developed data collection system that shows why people need to use their food banks, and the reasons would often surprise you - many, many clients are from working households where things have just gone wrong or where there has been a sudden pressure on finances (school holidays, wage not being paid etc.) It's just often not as simple as people think.

I've met the founder, he was Ellington us how he'd been talking about their work over seas with people who were going to bed hungry (think it was on TV news) and a woman in the Salisbury area phoned up to say that she too was going to bed hungry and sometimes her kids too

He was so shocked and moved he started the food bank

I don't doubt the faith and sincerity of the founder of the trussell trust.

However, I am disgusted that the government has chosen to dump its responsibility to its people onto a small charity, with no safeguards in place -

What happens if they run out of food? What happens if everyone in the town is finding it hard to make ends meet - no donations, and again all vulnerable people left to fall into the (huge) gap. What happens if the volunteers find themselves having to work extra hours in their own employment to keep a roof over their own heads?

2.6 million people relied on the crisis loans that the government has cut. All those have been dumped on this charity.

Food parcels are the most expensive and inefficient way of providing aid - the cost of transport, waste, the food having to be bought individually at supermarket prices, and the impact of the misery caused to the people who can no longer even choose how to feed themselves.

And this is what the government have chosen instead of reliable, compassionate support, while tipping people further into poverty.

I agree that the way the government are cutting the welfare system is disgusting and that the most vulnerable are the ones to suffer most. The social policies of this current government make me sick. But Food banks were about before this government came into power, the need has been there for a long time. Before there were food banks, many churches had something similar going on, and not just with food, but clothing, kids shoes, emergency money and the like. My own church has a Kirk Session benevolent fund that people can contribute to. The minister can then give small amounts of money to desperate people who turn up at the manse looking for help.

I have had crisis loans in the past and I am horrified that they have been cut, but I don't think it's fair to say that everyone who would have received one is being dumped on the TT, either. It's my believe that the government are exploiting the existence of food banks and the like ( I am also involved in a drop in centre project for homeless and vulnerable people and a Scottish Churches Housing Action Group/Woman's Aid project.) These kind of things make it easier for the government to abdicate their responsibilities to their citizens, but this government would do that anyway and without initiatives like these, there would be nowhere for people to go. That would be much worse.

Yes, food parcels are quite inefficient, but individual food banks are free to negotiate with individual supermarkets/suppliers about bulk supplies etc and many supermarkets are happy to match any food collected through them, thereby doubling donations. There isn't a great deal of waste because most foodbanks don't offer fresh food only tinned/dried stuff that lasts a long time.

I alsp think that the humiliation aspect is sometimes overplayed, tbh. Many, many people are just grateful that the food bank exists and that they can eat for a few days. People who come to food banks are often completely desperate and I have hard people say that, without their help, they would have resorted to shoplifting/theft to feed themselves and their families. I have even spoken to people involved with food banks who have been told by clients that if they hadn't come to the food bank, they would have ended up dead.

Again, this government is disgusting and the fact that they are happy to leave the care of the poor or vulnerable to charities is sickening, but that doesn't mean that food banks are some kind of government conspiracy, nor does it negate the good that food banks and other schemes actually do.

The headline story on our local paper this week was that the numbers of people needing the local Foodbank and soup kitchen in the last year have doubled.
My God, I can't believe Cameron is pleased with the system as it represents the Big Society of his dreams :(

I think people's dignity and self respect are not given enough consideration. The humiliating aspects of encouraging this scheme are not given enough consideration. How will you feel, HEmum, after working and contributing and paying taxes all your life, if you lose your job and can't feed your kids, and instead of going to the shops like all your friends and everyone else in the neighbourhood, you have to go to a charity because you are now a charity case, and get a hand out of tins and dried food - nothing fresh or tasty for your children.

You know that the severe nature of welfare cuts have driven people to suicide?

LadySybildeChocolate "I think the UK Government have been copying the US Government. It's been happening over there for years. They are reducing benefits here also, are we to have families sleeping in storm drains next?"
That seems to be where we are heading, :(

If people want to help, it is just as important that they write to their MP www.writetothem.com/. Taxes we pay should be supporting people enough to keep their head above water. It always makes me feel good that my taxes are helping people and keeping Britain a nice place to live.

• made not makes. (past tense)

Weetabix are fine with water. Milk is mostly water anyway.

Good for the guy who wanted to be named in looking for work, I hope he gets something.
I don't ever see food bank requests at the supermarkets I go to - why is this?

Hopin, I've been in that position, unfortunately, there weren't food banks then and I had to borrow food from my neighbour until a family member found out what had happened and bought me some shopping, that's why I'm involved in all these things. I've also been in the position where I've had grants from the social fund and the family fund. I've been helped by WA, too. I still live below the poverty line and very often don't have fresh things or treats for my kids. I only buy fresh fruit, for instance, once a month. When it's gone we either eat tinned or don't eat it at all.

As for writing to MPs etc., I'm just about on first name terms with mine, all the letters etc. that I've written to him over the years.

As I've said. it's disgusting that Cameron is pleased with the rise in numbers of schemes like food banks. Anyone who thinks that it a good thing is deranged. It is a governments job to look after all it's people, but when that doesn't happen some one has to step in and help. If food banks and the like didn't exist, it wouldn't stop the benefit cuts, low wages etc. that lead to food poverty.

Stealth, there may not be a food bank in your area. Where I live, it's only very recently that some have started up in response to the growing need.

Oh and I do know about the severe nature of the benefit cuts. I have lost almost £400 a month recently and will lose more as time goes on. My DS2 has AS and couldn't possibly live alone or look after himself, but his DLA will b reviewed soon and we expect to lose that, as well. That will put us down to the bottom 2 percent of income in this country, despite my husband working 6 days a week. I can't work because I have ME.

I also have friends who have lost all their tax credits because there is no work here and they can't get their hours up to the new 24 hour a week level. So they now have to live on wages from an 18hr a week job.. I have another friend who overdosed because of money problems a few months ago. She had a very lucky escape and is now seeing a mental health nurse regularly.