To wish I hadn’t told food bank about my benefits

[AreweCf]

preparing to be slated so putting my hard hat on. DH had been running a business but devastatingly has had to stop due to mental health issues which he is getting counselling for. He has had to claim benefits (we are definitely claiming all we’re entitled to) but it’s still a huge drop in income. I’m a SAHM to my very high needs neurodivergent DC who are expensive in every way, before my DH became unemployed he had been footing the huge bill for their restricted diet, days out, groups, classes, toys, lessons, high heating costs, high everything costs, could go on, there are some things we have had to cut, but without these things there is a noticeable effect in my DC’s. Benefits won’t cover all of our rent either. We get our next benefit payment in 2 weeks, and our money won’t last us that long. Now, we thought we could use a food bank to help spread our money a bit further. All the food banks in the area are the same, and after honestly explaining my situation, they literally expect us to completely deplete our bank account balance down to pennies before they will help us. we’re not rolling in it, nor do we have have absolutely nothing in our accounts, but in our situation it’s not ok to be completely financially vulnerable. Are we CF’s for asking?

I sympathise but foodbanks are for emergencies only.

You could be entitled to over £2000 a month for the children alone depending on their needs but in the meantime one of you needs to work.

Do you mean at school, social care provision or continuing care funding? Is it in F of an EHCP or ‘just’ high needs top up funding? If it is in F then 5 weeks/half a term is generally considered reasonable. If it is ‘just’ high needs top up funding then unfortunately it isn’t legally enforceable and you should apply for an EHCNA.

To be fair to the OP, I did not understand all the rules about using a food bank before I started volunteering at our local one. And we have had a few people recently who thought they could use us to help them with their budgets, while they saved for other things. For a lot of people, the way food banks operate is a mystery - it would be great if more people didnt need to know how they work.

I'd get help from CAB or similar with the appeal. I've helped with quite a few children's DLA claims and never known one turned down with good medical evidence. I would definitely try to seek help with it.

Many people seem to assume that use of a Food Bank is a statutory entitlement and a public service funded by the tax payer . It is absolutely not .. the vast majority of Food Banks are run by well meaning volunteers giving up their time and resources, collecting the donations from the supermarkets (how do you honestly think the donations get from the supermarket collection point to the Food Bank?), unpacking them, sorting, packing bags, disposing of the cardboard (recycling responsibly etc etc), delivering on occasions, liaising with all sorts of social workers, schools, agencies etc etc. I am involved in a FB and most of our volunteers (not that there are many) are well over 60/70 and it is not easy.

It's very easy to chuck a donation of £20 or whatever in the direction of the FB and state 'FBs should be doing this, that whatever'. It really isn't that straight forward.

It’s currently in Pre school. It’s been since Nov. They say they can’t recruit… luckily we have his reception provision and have met the 1:1 allocated to him.

DLA shouldn't be hard to claim if your children are ND. Maybe you need someone to help you fill out the form. Once you are claiming DLA for your children you can inform UC and then you will also receive the disabled child element plus carers element through UC. Then you will be in a significantly better position financially.

Fist bump @HecticHedgehog - the cost of the sodding things has skyrocketed over the past few months. Tesco is doing 3 bags of some frozen things for £6 at the moment though so you can buy 3x bags of 22 dippers for £6

Try your local Community shop like someone has mentioned upthread. Where I live anyone can get 5 portions of fruit and veg, 10 cupboard items, one item from the freezer, one from the fridge and one type of toiletry for £4.00. Families can go up to three times a week and this type of place will help you with budgeting.
it’s not waste food either and is mainly funded with donations from individuals and companies. Surely there is something like this near you Op? A food bank isn’t appropriate in your current situation. Obviously that would change if you had no money available.

That makes a lot of sense, thank you for taking the time to reply.

If the 1:1 is specified and quantified in F of the EHCP and isn’t being provided email the Director of Children’s Services as ultimately it is them that is responsible for ensuring it is provided, not the pre-school. If that doesn’t work email again reminding them of their duty under s.42 of the CAFA 2014 and threatening judicial review. If that fails contact SOSSEN for a pre-action letter (although you may not wish to go down this route if there is only a term left).

However, if the wording is vague and woolly with phrases such as “would benefit from”, “or equivalent”, “access to”… it is unenforceable and you should request an early review to try to tighten the wording up.

What a stupid comment look up AFRID if you child will only eat Birds Eye chicken dippers rather than Asda value it's more expensive.

Become an olio volunteer or whatever it is called - collect the food, keep what you can and list what you can't on olio?

Dusclaimer* I haven't read the thread

This is just about all we have left in our charities food bank currently. Staff are buying fresh stuff - milk, cheese, eggs out of their own pockets to save it looking so meagre ! we don't have a lot of requests but do try to provide a decent parcel for those who ask and it usually is because something has happened like a huge unexpected bill or direct debit going out leaving them with nothing. Our charity is struggling as are most, no donations coming in, staffing being cut and workload ever increasing .

Do you have a social supermarket nearby? Aka Community Pantry. They are open to anyone and in fact, the more people use them usually benefits those who need foodbanks, as the profits go towards this.

Doesn’t sound to me like it would be hard to claim for your DC. Get some advice from CAN to help with the form.

Claiming DLA isn't tremendously hard to claim in respect of 'high needs' children and if you are reasonably articulate, OP, which you clearly are, and if you have some evidence, which you ought to have by the sounds of it. Why was it refused? I've helped people claim it and can offer some pointers.

It's PIP that's extremely hard to claim for (which kicks in when DC are 16 years old).

I was involved with several local foodbanks before Covid and the rule was that they are also available for people on low income rather than penniless.
I think it's immoral to use it as a budgeting tool but say you had £20 left in your bank after everything and it's meant to last you the week, I think it's ok to use a foodbank in this instance but say you had £50+ left a week after essential bills and debts then I think you're a cheeky one.

Thank you thank you a million times over. That is amazing. The wording is “ X requires 1:1 supervision at all times to ensure his safety. X requires an appropriately trained adult to remain seated with him at all meal times and at any time he has access to drinking water.”
Then it specifically states his hours of other therapy to be provided.
Do you think that’s prescriptive enough. I have an annual review in May

Food banks are to be used when you can’t afford food.

If you’ve got money in the bank then you can afford food.

Have you used them before?
They’re not something that can used regularly as some places have more demand than food so some places will only allow you to use it a set number of times.

It would be easier if you got a job yourself snd your DP be the SAHP until he’s better.

Sorry but you need to get a job if DH not working. Sounds like an awfully precarious set up

Really do have a look at the Cerebra guide. It's so helpful.

@ApplesandPares - thank you but I should apologise for not contextualising my post.

It is by no means the woolliest wording but at the AR you should try to tighten it up. For example, it should state what an “appropriately trained adult” is and if the issue is any drinks then it should state that rather than “drinking water”.

Husband is now not working and is at home. He's going to need to take on the sahp role so op can go out to work.