Foodbank for the Summer Holidays

[GloGirl]

The summer holidays might be a financial stretch for a lot of families who are losing out on their child's breakfast clubs and free school meals for lunch.

Just a thought for people to donate to their local food back and add in a few items that would be appreciated by children in the summer.

Posting in AIBU for traffic - so feel free to debate the topic whilst I am here!

Babyroobs

If people do have their benefits entitlements, then they have enough to eat (in this country). I wasn't suggesting a lifestyle, but things I would do if it meant my kids would eat. I have done most of the jobs I described at one time or another myself!

With kids in tow, you can
iron in your own house
go around with leaflets
dog walk
housesit (a friend is currently house sitting with 3 young children)
work nights

Supermarket vouchers - non exchangeable, non refundable, name only - are not a bad idea

shark
All those jobs are great if you live in or near an affluent area where people are prepared to pay for those jobs being done.
If you don't, of you don't have much of a network around you to help you find those jobs, you're stuffed aren't you?
Or if you are from the wrong side of the tracks, or your face doesn't fit plus you have zero references, it is going to be pretty hard to persuade someone to give you the keys to their house/their pet/their clothes

I use a dog walker, a house sitter, a cleaner and an ironing service. I didn't find any of those by someone I'd never met before coming knocking or leafleting my road and then not having any other clients to be able to point me towards for a reference.

Ok, there are lots of reasons kids aren't getting fed this summer holidays. And there are some solutions to consider for the future. But that doesn't help the kids already on holiday or about to break up.

My food bank shop this month will include -

Tins of fruit
Cereal
Flapjacks
Tins of sweetcorn, peas and carrots
Uht milk
Sugar
Crisps
Biscuits
Sanpro
Loo roll

As well as some pasta, beans, spaghetti hoops and tinned soup.

Some schools open for dinner in the summer - it might be worth checking if one near you does www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-33593816

sharknad0

Do you think any parent is going to risk being sanctioned for not declaring their job?

And if they do declare then usually you can keep £5 and the rest is taken of your benefit £ for £ - do tell me how you can feed 3 children for 5 days on £5.

Then of course there are the people who receive benefits because either they or their child has a disability - not so easy to walk a dog if you struggle to walk.

As for vouchers - they used to do that with asylum seekers, meant people had to walk a couple of miles to get tot he supermarket, harder for them and disastrous for the corner shops where they lived.

We just got a July list for our local one if anyone needs ideas:

• Biscuits (sweet or savoury)
• Pretzels
• Pringles
• Nuts
• Long life sponge pudding
• Spaghetti in tomato sauce
• Ratatouille (tinned)
• Vegetable curry (tinned)

As usual they're overrun with dried pasta, baked beans, and tinned tomatoes.

Keep enabling and they'll keep taking. No benefits in the country I'm in. If parents or family can't look after the kids properly, they are removed to an orphanage until the family get back on their feet or the kids are old enough to go out and earn. That's the harsh reality that creates hard work and social mobility. That's how my grand parents worked their way out of the work house in the UK. The time when you could get high all day on someone else's money and let the government take responsibility for feeding your kids needs to become a distant memory.

Where to start..

..orphanages cost a lot more than food vouchers so that idea of putting children in care if their parents are straggling financially is economically not viable let alone all the other reasons.

• your grandparents were in a uk workhouse? Seems highly unlikely unless you are 100 and so were your parents and grandparents 🙄

Pringles?? Seriously? They are expensive. And of nutritional value whatsoever.

Was about to say the same re Pringles - I only buy them at Christmas because they're so expensive!!!

My grandmother was born in the Lexden workhouse in Colchester Essex in 1909. It only closed in 1929, her mother died there and she supported her father when she could earn enough after being apprenticed to trade at 14 as a tailor. She was a life long Tory voting, Daily Express reading, hard working woman. Educate yourself.

Pringles are just pure fat. Ok as an ocassional treat but not what I'd class as nutritional or something that would keep a child full. They are not expensive though , currently £1 at our local Tesco Express.

I know OP said feel free to debate it but perhaps this isn't the thread to post on if you thinking giving food to vulnerable children is a bad thing? This is a thread to remind those of us who want to give.

Oh, and I couldn't have done any of the ironing/dog walking suggestions when I lost my job as I became disabled, and it took ten months for my disability benefit to be awarded. I had worked since I was 16 and didn't want to stop working. My children still needed feeding. Luckily I had a DH who cleaned toilets and did anything for money but if I was a single parent I would have been even more fucked than I was.

Op has, IMO, done a good thing with this thread to draw it to peoples' attention and I for one have been promoted to do something about it. I'm also going to add some of the tubes of cheap bubbles too perhaps? Sainsburys had skipping ropes for one pound the other day too - are non food items ok to donate generally?

Prompted not promoted

Kids need treats as well.

This has spured me on to take my kids with there pocket money ( which they have lost this week for being so naughty) then donate it to the food bank cages in store.

There is another problem for FSM families over the summer. Often it's the school who refers them to the food bank. If the school is closed, they can't access a referral as easily. Not everyone lives near a CAB or feels comfortable walking into a church they've never attended.

Ime (I volunteer at a food bank) we never need beans, tinned tomatoes or pasta, tea bags or tinned tuna. Everyone buys them. We always need tinned veg (carrots, peas and tinned potatoes are so welcomed by our clients). They love tinned meatballs, mince and frankfurters. UHT milk and fruit juice are great, house cleaning products are always in very short supply, (washing up liquid, antic spray etc) as are toiletries (toothpaste is expensive when you're broke.) Also, treats go down well - biscuits, crisps, mini juice cartons, nice cereal.

Educate yourself.

You sound lovely, hirosleaftunnel

Our local food bank is currently low on:
UHT milk
Tea
Coffee
Tinned meat
Tinned custard
Sugar

It varies from week to week but they often ask for things like jam, marmalade, spreads etc to make the large amount of cheap bread they get tasty. They rarely need more dried pasta, baked beans or tinned tomatoes. The lady at ours says that they appreciate 'whole finished meals' so things like ratatouille or curry would be good, people often think they're doing the right thing by bringing in bags of dried pulses etc but they require too much preparation, cooking and extras.

For inspiration
Cereal bars
Biscuits
Crackers
Tins of fruit
Tins of soup
Just add boiled water- pasta n sauce packets
Cereal
Crisps
Dried fruits
Cake bars

Hirosleaf - oh God help us when people think that removing children into orphanages is a better idea than benefits.

I agree with Nicky - not dried pulses. Lots of people have very limited money for gas and electric meters and can't afford to boil things for hours on end. Some only have a microwave.

I dunno if food banks are the best way to help kids from chaotic backgrounds anyway. It was my understanding that you can only get referred to one if you're in a financial crisis- and this won't include families who have a steady income from active benefit claims. Plus, parents would need the wherewithal to cook the food provided, and all too frequently this is what is missing.

Not sure what the answer is tho.

I always try to put something in the food bank box.
Usually biscuits or tinned fruit.

My ds gets free dinners
His school have sent me an email listing places to get a food bank package over the summer.

As posted above...
My toddler has needed 3 pairs of shoes in 6 weeks.
Major growth spurt.
I did manage to take one pair back as she hadn't worn them outside.

My exdp left the week I was in hospital having dd.

I have her, now 3, with lots of health issues.
And a teen ds. Who is just a giant vacuum for food.

We live in the world's smallest bungalow.
Dd can't walk far.

Many days we have eggs and toast for tea.
Ds will have beans (awful things! ) too.

I don't smoke.
I rarely drink. I will drink, if I am given drink as a gift. But I don't buy booze.

I don't have pay TV.
My car is 16 years old.

My washing is line dried when possible. Never ironed.

We struggle.
A lot.

A couple more ideas
Peanut butter - source of protein
Instant Porridge - pots or sachets. I try to give some that just need boiling water.
Indivually wrapped chocolate biscuits
Fruit based sweets like - winders / yoyo's
Rice pudding - filling and can be eaten hot or cold

We always pop a tin in the food bank box, we've used them before and we probably will again.

I am on benefits, due to a full mental health break down ending with me being declared too large a suicide risk to be left alone.

I don't smoke, we don't even pay for a tv licence, I don't drink, my children and I wear second hand clothing and shoes, I don't own a tumble drier and washing can only be done on clear days.

We've never had a holiday, we don't own a car nor do we do day trips to anywhere that we can't walk to.

But please take my children away from their loving parents and put them in an orphanage where it will cost the government more to give them a lower quality of life. We struggle a lot like WhyCantI but we have a quality of life and I'd work if I could, I'd love to work and have friends and why the fuck am I even justifying myself to morons like Hirosleaf we exist and we aren't scum.

I assume the Pringles are there as something popular and tasty for kids. Food banks are for three days, not for a long-term diet. I know if I was desperate enough to use a food bank, I'd be grateful for a little treat on top of the dried pasta and tomato sauce!