To be sad that there will be no £500 vouchers

[benadrylcucumberpatch]

Being able to make a frivolous purchase definitely would have got me back to the shops!

I can’t imagine eating out just now anyway, but I have an NUS card which probably gives better discounts.

@TW2013

We would have ended up paying it back somehow anyway.

This!

Ok I’ll bite - evening meals out never really used to happen for me anyway because of kids but pastries on the school run, lunch out with toddler and other parents after music classes, ice creams and a coffee in the cafe by the playground etc used to be a regular occurrence for me (several times a week).
Making that sort of thing normal again will probably mean I go back to spending again and I’m very aware that I should keep spending in local shops so yes, I guess I will be there Mon - Wed...

I might use it once for my amazing local restaurant that has spent lockdown doing free food for people in need and the food is yummy. We want to support them but can't afford. A meal is about £10 a head so with a 50% discount could do it once. But they don't open Monday to Wednesday and I don't see them applying.

@KitKat1985

I would have liked to have seen something 'real' for keyworkers to be honest (and by 'real' I mean something other than fucking clapping). There's been a lot of support for people furloughed (and rightly so) but there's been fuck in in the way of real thanks for those of us who have been working on the front line putting ourselves at risk for months (and I say that as a very fed up NHS nurse). Many people I know have been better off or no worse off financially being furloughed anyway given they have no childcare / travel costs. And what do we in the NHS frontline get? Oh that's right, reinstatement of car parking fees.

Couldn't agree more. Lockdown has massively cost us in childcare because nursery closed and had to move to alternate childcare however had no access to 30hrs funding (which went to original nursery).

Our trust charity gave the department £150 to spend on something of our choice to say thanks for our hard work but will not allow us to spend it on a fan for the office despite it being unbearable to work in over summer due to lack of air circulation, especially when being forced to wear a mask. The reason for this is that the trust should be paying for that - I've worked there 5 years, complained every summer (to the point I passed out in summer of 2018 heatwave when pregnant) and no progress. The irony that we have to spend it on something none of us particularly want instead of something that would make our work life so much better

completely dependent on the owners of the establishments signing up and knowing how the government like to complicate these things smaller businesses may well be put off

Yes, but it'll earn them a nice headline in the media - and that seems to be the main thing

Where did people get the idea they were going to get £500 vouchers to spend, and why did you think you would get them - what would be the point of the government giving them?

The media gave hints that £500 vouchers might be coming our way

Yes here is £500 and by the way your tax is going up £1500!

I’d have been happy with a £50/£100 voucher to be honest - I will not be partaking in the meerkat meals deal.

Where did people get the idea they were going to get £500 vouchers to spend

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3958854--500-voucher-to-spend-in-restaurants

I find it depressing they can find money for this but made a huge fuss about providing the (much cheaper) free meals for children in need. And still not really considering the many, many families still struggling to put food on the table let alone go out for meals!

The £500 was media guff. I think mentally spending it, or in fact having any expectation of it, was silly

This is about channeling money where it’s needed most. If our basic hospitality industry like cafes and chain restaurants can’t get back on its feet, our tourism industry will go under.

I don’t want to go out for dinner on Mon to Weds but I do want a concerted effort between the people and govt to get the economy going and this is what the Eat Out scheme is aiming to be.

I'm not sad about it. Mostly because I know we'd be paying it back in taxes in years to come.

Tax payers money.

There was never going to be a £500 voucher, a think tank came up with the idea and the media grabbed onto it. Think tanks come up with lots of lovely, but implausible ideas.

I think the idea is for people on family holidays, in the UK, during August who may now choose to eat out once or twice in the evenings whilst on holiday. It’s a gimmick, but if it helps the hospitality industry a bit, it gets a tick from me.

The idea was put forward from a think tank I believe. I imagine that the gov didn't want to commit to that amount and knew a high proportion would be used to buy necessities. We won't be eating out or visiting the high street anytime soon. I was one of the newly self employed who missed out on any help.

i get the theory think its just a bit shit thats all

God what a load of miserable moaners!

I appreciate that it isn't free money but the point is to get people spending and to boost the hospitality industry not to give everyone a nice treat.

The fact that they are only paying half gets the government more bang for its buck compared to vouchers for a set amount.

Yes eating out is more appealing at the weekend but that is why the scheme is targeted on the less popular days, so it increases trade rather than subsidising existing custom.

And really eating out mid week isn't so impossible. It doesn't have to be used on a 3 course meal at 9pm. You could buy bacon butties on the way to work, or have a team lunch with colleagues, or a burger with the kids on the way home from the park, or a takeaway. Plus it is August, a time when many people will have pre-booked annual leave but are now unable to go abroad, they can have an extra meal out because of this scheme.

I have heard that it may also be possible to use it in conjunction with other discounts too so all those moaning that meerkat meals is better might want to reserve judgment.

I can't believe that I am defending this government but seriously this scheme is a (tiny) step in the right direction. Let's be a bit more positive and maybe push for similar schemes to be used to help other sectors like creatives and travel rather than pissing all over it before we have any detail.

Yes a £500 voucher to spend wherever I like definitely would have got me out. It was never going to happen really though was it?!

The £10 off food Mon- lWed is just a bit shit to be honest.

Not that I really expect anything. I'd rather they sorted other things out to be honest.

How exactly would the government give each person a £500 voucher 🤣? The working would just end up paying for such generous schemes through raised taxes. I’d hope if there was all this money somehow magically sitting around that it would be spent where it is actually needed, namely the nhs, policing and education to name a few.

Also devastated . I need a new jacket and being on universal credit I can’t afford one . Was delighted that I might be able to buy one that fits .

We can’t afford to eat out whatever, regardless of the voucher

@Judystilldreamsofhorses I have nothing to add to the thread, but I very much approve of your name!

"Eat out to help out" is "herd immunity" with a catchier slogan.

Bloody devastated here!

I had already spent it in my head. I would be far more likely to spend the money in small independent local shops than go out to dinner because I get a tenner off. This really isn't going to have much impact is it?