To think that food banks are a national shame

[ReallyTired]

Thankfully I have never been on benefits or needed to use a food bank. However I think it must be a pretty degrading experience to have to go to a food bank and be dependent on whatever the public have donated. A civilised country should help vunerable people through taxation rather than charity.

Getting the general public to donate food they have bought at Tescos is not a cost efficent way to stock a food bank. It is hard for the public to know what the food bank needs. They might end up with loads of tins of soup when the reciepents want cornflakes. The reciepents might not like the food on offer. If the food banks bought the food direct then it would be possible to have some fresh food. (ie. fruit and veg)

I feel that people who are desperate enough to need a food bank should be helped through loans/ grants so that they can buy what they need. I can see a place for food parcels for those with severe learning difficulties, housebound or drug addiction. However if you are going to give a food parcel then it needs to contain everything they need. If the food bank had grant they could buy what they need in bulk.

They did away with loans like crisis loans for such situation hence why food banks are now around.

Food banks have lists of things of need for shoppers to buy

There are more efficient ways to do this but if it's centralised then it costs.
I think that the need for food banks is a disgrace.
The fact that volunteers man, organise and donate to food banks to help out other people in their community is fantastic.

Make food banks illegal - problem solved!

What momb said: the need for them is a disgrace.

Their existence is proof of the caring and generosity of the community.

Yep, but benefits/sanctions cuts are a vote winner, so the majority (of those who vote) disagree with you.

People will be along to tell you foodbanks exist because people are feckless. Happens all the time.

Food banks exist because a minority of the community are prepared to do something to stop people starving. It is a national disgrace that people need to resort to food banks. I am sure the organisers would be happy if no body needed a food bank.

Yanbu, it is a national disgrace. Also loads of people in work rely on them too. Notice how the Tories won't discuss it? Have you ever seen David Cameron being interviewed? As soon as he's finished his rambling bollocks he puts his head down and literally runs to evade any awkward questions. Teflon Dave you are a coward!

someone on my local fb group was asking for advice on how to contact the foodbank, on behalf of her brother. she was not sure, as a single man, he would be helped, she wondered was it only for families.

along came an utter idiot saying "tell him to get off his backside and get a job" but thankfully everyone else was 100% supportive, offering advice, not being judgemental, and even offering to make up food parcels from their own larders. (turns out he had a job, he was just struggling while awaiting his first pay packet)

our local food bank is well supported by local churches and other community groups, and send regular updates of what they are running short of. I always send a treat or 2 like chocolate biscuits or hot chocolate, a few touches to make someone feel they are cared for. sanpro, toothpaste etc always needed too. THings that can be microwaved , eaten cold, or just need hot water, for those who have no means of "cooking" are also in demand.

if you can give, please do.

But yes, of course it is a crying shame that these are so much needed thesedays.

OK.

1. We do buy lots of food direct form a wide range of supermarkets. Tesco have been with us for years, Ocado have joined in. They match donations, we ring up and order what we want.

1. No, we still do not order fresh food. The people who take it may not have the wherewithal to store it or cook it. Lack of cash for food can be matched by a lack of cash for fuel... fresh produce takes longer to cook than tinned stuff. And as we only support for 3 days no one will die of scurvy whilst they se the service (OK, we do often stretch that... but only if the referral is a special case).

1. We don't support people for very long, we fill a temporary gap, between 'giros' or pay cheques. We are what feeds people when the paperwork for that loan you think they should have gets processed

You might want to look at soup kitchens, they REALLY should not have to exist these days (I also volunteer as holiday cover for one of those).

1. We do take donations, they are good local awareness raisers. We also let people know what foodstuffs we regularly fall short of or have in surplus. But nothing donated goes to waste.

1. I wouldn't presume to patronise those with learning difficulties, the housebound or with addictions by assuming they would need a food parcel! One of my staunchest supporters in the cooking club we run is a middle aged man with Downs Syndrome. He cooks beautifully and is a damn good teacher too!

1. Our parcels are designed by dieticians. They do contain everything that is needed. We also have a 'Help Yourself' shelf with the non essential donations we have in.

Obviously I would rather not have the opportunity to volunteer for a food bank... but please, don't dislike the idea of us so much you stop supporting us. Understand fully what it is we actually do and help us make a difference - if that difference is to do away with us because we are no longer needed, then fine. We would all support that!

The saddest thing is, some people having to visit these are actually employed :( Its a sad days work when even those in full time employment cant afford food

the disgrace is that we have a government who have made this situation happen
in this day and age people should not be so poor that they have to rely on food banks,
but thanks to the cuts they do.
thank god for food banks.

There have always been people who need more help than the state can rustle up in short order. I'm only in my late 40s so hardly part of the 'wartime batten down the hatches brigade' but I remember as a child the community rallying routinely to help out people going through any kind of upheaval. It was implicit that these people would need a hand with practical as well as emotional issues. So it was just done, without people needing to ask in some cases.

I am no fan of the current government, but they didn't make food banks happen. A change of mind set in our culture which made it acceptable to disengage from helping each other, let's call it the Daily Mail ''I'm alright Jack' culture, is what makes food banks necessary.

I have just used a food bank (im very grateful ) its not because i'm feckless, i have worked for the last 33 years, had to give up job for health reasons, universal credits is not enough to live on after you pay bills, walk in my shoes before you criticise.

Food banks are increasing, not decreasing. Nobody can predict the future, it could be any of us that needs help. I donated at Xmas & if I see a collection point in a supermarket I will donate there too. I prefer to donate goods, rather than money.

I opposed food banks in the UK when they were first mooted as I thought they'd become normalised and I'm very sad this has happened. It's also become a way of hiding the catastrophe of austerity policies and Universal credit.

I only support food banks that are held for civic emergencies (floods; neighbourhood evacuations and similar).

Food banks exist in other countries as well - I was surprised by how long the ones in Belgium had been going...30 years!

@happyhillock maybe don't search out 3 year old threads with the sole purpose of complaining about them?

OP never said anyone was feckless. No one was bashing the users. What thread we're you a) hoping to find and b) reading?

Foodbanks are essential but what is unacceptable is that they rely on volunteers and donations rather than being funded by government.
A redesigned benefits system with substantially smaller cash payments (about £5 a week) but long term entitlement to receive a balanced healthy supply of food and other essentials in product form and direct payments to utility companies will provide a much better of life for many children whose parents are long term benefits claimants who fail to prioritise feeding the children over alcohol and tobacco. Such a system would also ensure that people can be fed a basic diet when their benefits are sanctioned and increase the incentives for people to look for work and gain control of their money.