Re: free school meal vouchers

[Hadenoughofitall441]

My mum works in a local supermarket, she told me today that at least 6 of the kids parents from dd 7 and DS 12 school came in to use them but spent them on alcohol. Now let me know if I’m being unreasonable but I find this totally out of order. She said it’s been happening last week aswell.
She said the cards have the kids names on so she knew what they were. She too is disgusted by this but obviously can’t say anything because it’s at work. One of the other customers said he thought it was wrong too.

Is that aimed towards me? I have no problem with anyone claiming FSM or receiving these vouchers and certainly wouldn’t see them as a beggar. I’ve been on the bones of my arse many times before today.

To abuse this voucher system like this in the OP is absolutely despicable however. If I’d claimed FSM I’d actually be incredibly offended by those doing this as it’s scumbags like this that perpetuate the negative stereotypes and judgement that being on FSM unfortunately brings.

Your outrage is quite amusing magic. More please!

It’s amusing that people like you spend FSM money meant for your children on shit? Yeah fucking hilarious that

The voucher is new, soconfused, the DfE released funding last week. It was to save people coming out to collect sandwiches every day as far as I know.

I haven’t spent the voucher, I can’t, I don’t need it right now and I’ll put it away for further down the line when I could get a delivery. And I would spend it on food. But I’m not going to judge other parents who have spent it on treats for their children or put it towards their living expenses.

Magic, it was to whoever said ‘beggars can’t be choosers’. I don’t think that was you.

Unless you have been thrown out of your home and you literally have no clothes to your name then why would you need them that badly anyway? What have you been wearing until now?

@InglouriousBasterd

It doesn’t mean that everybody who is entitled to FSM by governmental guidance is a ‘beggar’.

Perhaps I should have made my post more clear.

I didn't mean to call everybody who is entitled to FSM a beggar.

I was just trying to refer to the people defending parents buying wine from Tesco because they prefer to buy their food from the admittedly cheaper Aldi.

And it genuinely wasn't your post I was referencing, there was another one that said something along the lines of it could only be used in the Big 5 so they'd just buy wine from the Big 5 instead.

magicfarawaytrees ok make it shoes because I wore a hole in the sole of the only pair I have

So no I’m not going along with that that point at all. That money is for your children. Ideally for their food as that is what you are expected to have to find the shortfall for. If you can cook so have excess money left and don’t need them then put them in the drawer for when you do. Or treat them to something. It’s not your money. Stop trying to justify spending their money on you and your crap.

There will ALWAYS be people who abuse the system and buy booze and fags over feeding their kids, there has been since time immemorial - indeed, that’s where the original child allowance fulfilled a need. We should hope that these families are closely monitored by the relevant services.

Family allowance was originally introduced to ensure that women, regardless of family income, had access to their own money to provide for their children in the days when it was usual for men to be the main or only earner and for women to stay home with the children, sacrificing her financial Independence and security in the process.

Families who routinely drink the majority of their income, where children aren’t fed would usually be on the radar of social work services, FSM is part of a package of support and wider protection, it’s not the only or necessarily the best but it plays a part.

The ones out school arranged specifically cannot be used for alcohol/fags etc. If the parents want to use their own cash for those items that's their call.

If you have £15 extra coming into your household every week then you should be spending £15 extra on your children.

If you have £34 extra coming into your household every week then you should be spending £34 extra on your children.

I do. I literally said that in my post.

There's no point in us arguing over this anymore.

You think it's fine to spend the £15 extra on the parents and I think it should be spent on the children.

Let's just agree to disagree.

It’s amusing that people like you spend FSM money meant for your children on shit? Yeah fucking hilarious that

Nope. Read better.

Unless you have been thrown out of your home and you literally have no clothes to your name then why would you need them that badly anyway? What have you been wearing until now?

Not allowed to buy clothes if your child gets FSM.

I didn't mean to call everybody who is entitled to FSM a beggar.

But that’s what you did call them.

“Never has the phrase "beggars can't be choosers" been more relevant.”

I was just trying to refer to the people defending parents buying wine from Tesco because they prefer to buy their food from the admittedly cheaper Aldi.

No you weren’t- you were referring to people who get the FSM vouchers.

I do. I literally said that in my post.

So you never buy yourself anything? Ever?

Tadgh thank you for clarifying.

Tadgh

What treat is it ok for me to buy?

Buy whatever the fuck you want after you've fed and clothed your children.

I don't know what part of my viewpoint is so hard for you to understand.

You're literally thinking up ways and arguing over false scenarios to make me try to agree with you.

I will never agree with you.

I believe people should spend money on kids basic needs before treating themselves.

If your children's basic needs are met then you don't need an additional weekly grant in order to cover your children's basic needs.

If you receive the grant anyway and your children's basic needs are met then spent it on their other needs.

If you take the additional grant meant for your children and spend it on you, then I think you're out of order.

Posted too soon! It’s an emotive subject, I get it, but referring to people - often single parents - as ‘beggars’ is really hurtful to the vast majority of people doing their best in a difficult situation, and perpetuates the ‘benefit scrounging’ myth. But I get you didn’t mean to apply it universally to FSM applicants.

So tadgh, to clarify, am I to have no treats or am I allowed 1 single treat between now and the time of purchasing new school uniforms in August?

Sorry i haven't read the whole thread but we're on a low income (£6k pa) and getting tax credits but not universal credit or housing benefit..do we qualify for vouchers and how do we claim? Thank you.

‘Read better‘ Chandler- quite ironic when I’ve just seen all your skewed and deliberately misinterpreted responses to people’s points just now because they don’t fit your agenda.

Ok I’ll play along with the highly improbable scenario of someone not having a single pair of shoes. A) that’d be pretty unlikely. B) it’s a lockdown so not much walking required anyway. C) presumably they can get their OWN shoes out of their OWN money that they claim for/ earn D) the OP wasn’t about not being able to replace shoes with holes in. It was about parents spending money on alcohol and cigarettes with FSM vouchers. This has been confirmed by people on here revelling in the fact they’d happily spend it on a bottle of wine for themselves. Stop trying to make horrible people like this into poverty stricken caricatures with no basis in actual reality to suit your own agenda.

@BooseysMom when you say tax credits is that just child tax credit or working tax credit too. I may be wrong but working tax credits means you are not entitled to fsm

My “own agenda” is that you have no business policing what I or anyone else spends their own money on just because it came from the state. I have no interest in alcohol or fags or even new clothes for that matter. But as long as their children are being fed decent meals those people absolutely have a right to decide for themselves how to spend their own money.

Your agenda appears to be frothing and calling people shitty names.

@Wtfdoipick.. thanks for your reply. We just get child tax credit as only one of us working atm.

I’m still confused by the shoe posts!!!!

Ultimately people will and are entitled to comment on how you spend state funded money, it’s their taxes that paid for them. If you don’t like people commenting then be self sufficient and then you can spend you’re money how you choose

The state has given them that money to spend on their children. NOT THEM. And I very much doubt anyone using them to buy utter rubbish like alcohol and cigs has fed them properly. Call me cynical but there you go.

I’m giving up now, I cannot believe you are actually justifying something as disgusting as this.