Am I the only person who thinks parents should feed their kids outside of school?

[HalloweenDoughnutAnyone]

Obviously it goes without saying I don't want any child to go hungry. But. Am I the only person who thinks parents should feed their kids outside of school?

Just that really.. it's free school dinners. Not free lunch all year round.

I don't understand why people think the tax payer should be paying even more? Maybe, if you can't afford to cover the basics (food and clothing) you should think twice before having a child?

Or should we extend free school dinners, to cover all the food a child needs inside and outside of school ?

I'm not tarring everyone with the same brush but I know people who rely on free school dinners. But have sky tv, expensive mobile contracts etc

@CherryCocktails

Doesn't help single parents though.

These vouchers, I assume they'd be for supermarkets/food shops which deliver?

The ones i got in the summer couldn't be used online. DS2s school sent a Tesco voucher for the whole 6 weeks worth in one go. But I couldn't use it online. Tesco is 2 buses in each direction (about £6 in bus fare and that's if i don't take the dc).

DS1s school sent one week at a time and I could choose where I spent it, but again the vouchers couldn't be used online.

The Asda voucher i received this week can be used online, but as I have a delivery pass with Morrisons it seems like a false economy to then pay to get a delivery from Asda. Hence me committing the heinous 'crime' of 'fraud' by selling the voucher to someone who can use it.

@CherryCocktails

So they can't use the voucher online, online delivery is £40 minimum for delivery anyway so too expensive, they can't get the bus anywhere to spend said voucher at a restaurant or cafe so presumably that means they can't get the bus to the supermarket either to spend the voucher if they don't live near enough.. so what exactly is the point of the voucher?

Well for many they'll use the voucher when they do their usual shopping - which they'll probably do weekly, which I'm sure you'll realise is much less than going to a cafe daily - but the more flexible vouchers from some areas that work through Paypoint are a much better option as they can be used in more places so people can choose a shop closest to them. People can also swap them with family or friends for cash (and run the risk of being accused by people on here of fraud).

What are your suggestions @CherryCocktails or are you only on the thread to pick apart everyone else's?

@Whatwouldscullydo

Shouldn't we be more concerned concerned about the circumstances which leave families where both parents work still unable to afford basics?

How theres money for politician pay rises , apps that don't work ajd hospitals that were never used but not seemingly to feed children at a time where many have list jobs and income

Or that it can cost you hundreds to kit out your kids fir school

Or that so many peoples don't get adequate education which would help to pull them out the poverty cycle

You do realise people are locked into contracts even when they suddenly become to sick to work or get made redundant

Absolutely this 100%. There's money for giving contracts worth billions and funding their own pay rise. But not for feeding children. I hate how this country is at the moment.

@Lockdownfatigue

They are doing that in Wales lyralala, paying direct into bank rather than issuing vouchers.

I think one of the big Lanarkshire councils in Scotland did the same.

It makes much more sense.

@lyralalala I'm still laughing at the fraud accusation. I'm also planning my future as a criminal mastermind. If I do it right I won't need to claim benefits or FSM any more

[quote TheFormerPorpentinaScamander]@lyralalala I'm still laughing at the fraud accusation. I'm also planning my future as a criminal mastermind. If I do it right I won't need to claim benefits or FSM any more [/quote]
It was a belter. As was the pious "there should be harsh consequences".

Yep, police are so stretched they can't come out to an attempted break-in, but lets set them on parents who swap an unusuable voucher for cash to feed their kids.

You see I agree in principle about a voucher, but as people are demonstrating, it's so open to fuck ups and confusion. Lets face it, the government aren't going to do a simple voucher that you can use in any shop to buy food in store or online. They would make it complicated and have it so it's different in every area.

I'd like to suggest a spanking from a good looking policeman as a punishment I may have been single for too long and covid put paid to my fwb situation

@CherryCocktails

You see I agree in principle about a voucher, but as people are demonstrating, it's so open to fuck ups and confusion. Lets face it, the government aren't going to do a simple voucher that you can use in any shop to buy food in store or online. They would make it complicated and have it so it's different in every area.

So what do you suggest then?

Just let the kids go hungry?

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander

I'd like to suggest a spanking from a good looking policeman as a punishment I may have been single for too long and covid put paid to my fwb situation

If you actually became a good fraudster you could probably get a job in government...

They could use it on their weekly shop, my mum used to get the bus home with a weeks worth of shopping, I wonder how many people realistically do a long bus journey home with a weeks worth now though? If they spend £40 on their weeks shop they'd be better of paying the delivery charge over paying busfair.. least that's what I would do.

The only downside to that is I'm not sure i would be a good fraudster
Do they do apprenticeships in government work? I could do one of those!

Yabu

@Tootletum thanks. I can put forward points and questions without the need to throw insults and digs at posters and when people do that to me, well they're just randoms off the internet 🤷‍♀️

Actually @lyralalala I've got an idea... The MN political party. Putting children first. Always. (Do political parties have a tag line?) I could be the next PM!

In an ideal world perhaps supermarkets could be bullied persuaded into having a special set up for people with vouchers where they allow a £15 minimum spend and a £2 max delivery charge.

They've made massive profits through the pandemic with more people buying more shopping because they are at home more and not eating out.

Maybe people would have to nominate a supermarket so the supermarket would know they were guaranteed that spend during all weeks of the holidays as a trade off for the lower spend.

Probably wouldn't work during Christmas as the deliveries are already very busy, but that would have been a good solution during the long summer holidays.

It's about as likely as Boris & co giving out cash.

Sorry that I didn't respond to replies to my earlier comments sooner, not ignoring but got busy. My comments are probably no longer relevant and I don't have time to read through all the comments but I did want to say one thing.
Just because I think there could be improvements to the current system doesn't mean I haven't 'lived it'! I left home at 16 and moved half way across the country to get paid £2.50 an hour as an apprentice. I lived with my aunt at first but we had a fight and then I was homeless at 16 in a strange city. I lived in a basement room with no access to my own kitchen. I had to share a kitchen with at least 20 other people and it wasn't well equipped. Now I have kids and I can't imagine what I would do if I was still in that situation, but it doesn't mean my opinions and ideas aren't valid.
Please don't call me judging when you are judging me without knowing anything about me.

[quote CherryCocktails]@Tootletum thanks. I can put forward points and questions without the need to throw insults and digs at posters and when people do that to me, well they're just randoms off the internet 🤷‍♀️[/quote]
Who has thrown insults at you?

Rishi, is that you?

OP YABVVU

And since when has having a debate with someone become bullying?

@TheFormerPorpentinaScamander

Actually *@lyralalala* I've got an idea... The MN political party. Putting children first. Always. (Do political parties have a tag line?) I could be the next PM!

On here a political party wouldn't get anywhere beyond the debate on what to call the party

I'd like to see people having the same moral outrage over very wealthy politicians getting heavily subsidised meals at work and expenses for food, drink, travel and accommodation paid.

It's an absolute joke how this country is run. It says a lot about a country based on how they treat their most vulnerable. Voting against the extension of FSM for some children who are starving while reaping the benefits of cheap or free food on the tax payer makes me sick.

Yes, SOME people play the system and can survive without FSM but some children are not eating and I'd rather some people who don't need it get it than the most vulnerable fall through the cracks.

Feellikefrighteningyeah

YANBU secondary school pupils waste a lot of FSM . I've seen them in the bin unopened and not collected during Ramadam. ££££ of waste food and money

Those damn Muslim students! They should be force fed during Ramadan.

For me the bottom line is, whatever the patents choices and actions it's never the kids fault...so yes I'd want to make sure families have food packages in the holidays.

I think it really shows the success of the right wing media that people see poor families as the enemy stealing their taxes, when huge global companies like Amazon and Google are actually stealing millions from our services by paying barely any tax.