To think there is not really any chikdren in poverty in the uk

[Domjolly]

I think last nights comic relief has really brought home to me and my family that there is not really any children in the uk who live in REAL poverty

There is not one child that has to walk 3 hours to school
There is not one child that cant get some form of education
There is not one child who can get medical intervention
I think you would be hard pressed to find familys which children who are homeless or who dont have clean water and sanitation

And i actaully now thing people who say this is insulting to children who do live in real poverty

Anyone who thinks there isn't poverty should meet some of the people who come to our local foodbank. We regularly have people who lost their jobs, have families to feed & are waiting for their benefits to start. Those people can't afford to heat their homes or feed their children. 9 times out of 10 they don't want to come to the foodbank & feel embarrassed & ashamed that they have to resort to charity. I don't understand how people can think that if someone isn't working then they must automatically have benefits & therefore money in the bank. It can take a while for all the paperwork to be sorted so people are left with no income through no fault of their own. Those children do live in poverty. It may not be as extreme as in Africa but it's still an issue & certainly not down to neglect on the parents' part.

Yeah, if you work for a firm that goes bankrupt you can be out of a job instantly with no wages. Do people who think 'there is no poverty' think the benefits fairy magically puts money in your pocket immediately, without any forms to fill in or be processed?

OP, please go and volunteer at your local food bank,

we can't get enough food in our local ones, despite very generous donations, to supply everyone, it's very hard turning families away empty handed.

Yes, getting involved with a local foodbank has been an eye-opener for me.

Why does the OP only take in concepts such as having to walk 3 hours to school or not being able to have medication, but not such concepts as being cold or damp or developing asthma from mouldy housing?

Is it perhaps because our ideas of absolute poverty are fixed by images we have seen from certain countries and not from others? If it doesn't look like Africa or India it isn't "real" poverty?

Does she imagine there are no children living on the street in this country?

quoteunquote and other volunteers.

Sorry to derail but my dd is H.ed (aged 9) and has asked me several times if she can donate her time once a month to volunteering help at a food bank. It would have to be during the week though due to weekend commitments.
She is legally deregistered from school, do you know if this would be allowed especially if I was to accompany her? Do you think it acceptable?
She regularly buys extra food in our groceries each week but feels this isn't enough.

for the OP.

No, please - have the whole packet.

I havent read the whole thread yet, but this jumped out at me.

It puzzles me that some people seem to manage fairly well on benefit and others are down to lilving on one weetabix with water. Something isn't right somewhere or we are not being told the whole story.

This statement is based on the assumption that everyone on benefits has started on the same spot. That no claimant had high outgoings before they lost their job. No contracts or leases that they are bound to. A decent, cheap house thats already furnished etc etc.

People are plunged into poverty everyday. When the cash stops coming it really stops.

There are holes in the benefits system that people fall through. We experienced it last year.

For example, a person I know was homeless, but unable to be assessed for housing because he had no address. They wanted to visit him where he was living, but stated that they wouldnt visit his van, because of health and safety.

Morethanpotatoprints - I think you need to speak to your local foodbank organisers. Ours is busy during the week and would always welcome more volunteers, but a lot of the mid-week work is unloading vans and heavy lifting, so it might be a bit much for a 9 year old. I'm not sure what you mean by "allowed": from foodbank's point of view I'm pretty sure they would want you to accompany her (if only for child protection/insurance reasons) but from the HomeEd POV I would say that this was education in the fullest sense.

morethanpotprints,

ask, she could always help out with the sorting when they are shut,

We have in the past done shoeboxes, or smaller, full of goodies, like art stuff, stickers,puzzles, games comics,balloons,sweets ,note books and joke books anything that will create a little fun, to go to homes with children, the sort of things children who have privileged lives buy with pocket money.

if they don't want her on the premises (they may worry she will spot someones mum from school) she could organise making up some boxes with her friends, we make them up in age groups, some which would suit any gender(for when they don't know the age of the children or gender) some boys and girls, mark with a removable label who the package is aimed at, some of the older volunteers find it hard to judge.

Children are best placed to know what other children will enjoy.

Anyone donating, spare animal food goes down well, people don't want to give up their companion.

A child participating at food bank may require the adults to have enhanced crb,this costs
I'd approach food bank manager,get some carification

CRB checks are for people who work unsupervised with children. As Morethanpotatoprints will be there with her daughter, that ought to be a non-issue, but it is one of the reasons for asking the local foodbank for advice. I think our local volunteers are CRB-ed anyway.

I know the purpose of crb,introducing a child to workplace changes dynamic
Yes I Expect she will be with mum always but nonetheless it is factor
If a role can be created it will be v enriching

There's no reason why an accompanied child couldn't do the warehouse work of sorting the donations. I doubt they'd let her meet any of the foodbank users though - that'd be a confidentiality issue. I used to have my DS with me when I helped out but he was just a baby & is now a toddler who likes to examine everything! I stopped when it became apparent that we were more of a hindrance than a help! I'm planning on home educating & have every intention of volunteering again with him when we can actually be useful!

Ah, thank you for the posts. I didn't mean to sabotage the thread. We have one in the next town to us so I will give them a call.
She is adamant she wants to do it and will be disappointed if she couldn't. But I do understand that from an insurance pov and her age it might not be possible.
Many thanks again.

Yeah, if you work for a firm that goes bankrupt you can be out of a job instantly with no wages. Do people who think 'there is no poverty' think the benefits fairy magically puts money in your pocket immediately, without any forms to fill in or be processed?

That is self inflicted, due to profligate spending and inability to forward plan. Anyone who does not put money aside in case they lose their job is a fool.

I'm sure I'll get flamed lots and told I'm out of touch with all the 'hand to mouth' crew, but before you do that please give me an example of a 'hand to mouth' budget. Say you have an income of £870.43 a month. Wouldn't it just be a fucking ENORMOUS coincidence that somebody on that income has to spend exactly £870.43 a month as well? Everybody can save something. No excuses.

Zwischenzug, what about those who really struggle with what they already earn, so that putting more than a tenner a month is just not viable? How do expect them to cover the shortfall between losing a job and getting benefits? They can't exactly magic money out of thin air and not many energy/water/food companies are going to say 'oh it's okay, you pay next month'.

Great that you live in a position to be able to save for that rainy day, but don't assume that everyone has that luxury.

So how much money or how many months worth would you have to have saved before you are a twat whose own fault it is if your skint?

No excuses? Sorry but thats a load of shit.

People are living without savings. They have to to keep a roof over their heads and pay the bills.

Actually, I'm working. My dp is working. But I've had to use up part of my savings to cover the increases in food and fuel costs. Our pay hasn't risen in years but everything else has sky-rocketed in price.

Cat, again, I'd love to see a budget from somebody in that sort of situation because I suspect anybody with a full-time job could re-evaluate their spending and save more than a tenner. Maybe they'd need to reduce expenses by moving to a cheaper place or evaluate other aspects of their living arrangements, but I really don't believe it can't be done. £50 for most people I don't think is out of the question. And after a few months you'll have a buffer to last you until your benefit claims are processed.

I'm in a position to save now and do, but I've done all sorts of low wage jobs and always managed to save something whilst I've been in work. Even when that meant living off a diet of 7p tesco noodles...

Zwischenzug
Lovely idea, but in reality it doesn't work for everyone

hahahaha yeh because people on min wage can save loads of money I hope you never find out what a simplistic crock of crap that statement is

Yes, let's just all race to the bottom, until we get there, then it's all well and good reason to completely dismantle society until we're there, too.

Load of crap. I'm in a council property, paying full rent (which has just gone up). There is no where cheaper to live. And where would they get all this money to cover moving costs anyway? £50 for a lot of people is their entire week's food budget for their family.

£50 is a hell of a lot to so many people. To think that it isn't just goes to show that you have no idea of the deprivation that some people are suffering in this country.