Can I go to one?

[Whatinthedoopla]

I'm on maternity leave, and have 2 kids (nearly 1 and 2).
I'm on the last month of my maternity leave, and I have no money to spend on food, I barely have enough for the bills.
My partner pays for the majority of bills and the house, but I pay for food and some bills, he doesn't have a lot left.

I want to go to a food bank, but not sure I am eligible? Although I am an earner, I am currently not earning anything.

I have looked online for some, and apparently they need a referral from the GP, but feel embarrassed if they ask me for my salary, even though I am on the last month of maternity leave.

Not sure what to do

Be brave and contact your gp. S/he’ll be used to this sort of request. Don’t feel embarrassed - do what you need to do.

Does he have any left?

is he financially abusive?

Do what you can to feed your kids.

Will you be ok when you go back to work and, presumably, paying for childcare?

In our area there are community fridges, which you basically turn up to when open and you choose a bag of food. Open to anyone and you do just turn up. Perhaps there is a similar scheme in your area?

Why don’t you and your partner share expense? He has some money left but you don’t and are thinking of going to a food bank to feed yourself and your very young children? Madness

You say he has hardly any left, does that mean he does have some? He needs to use the rest for food this month. As for food banks, does your area have a community share scheme? They often don’t require referral and you can just turn up.

If you’re in social housing you may find your landlord can refer to too, or your health visitor.

You can’t afford food but you’re on your third child? What is your partner doing to ease the situation? Is it a joint owned house or are you renting?

Hi OP, your health visitor can also organise a food bank voucher for you and might be easier to get hold of than the GP.

Most food banks expect you to have completely run out of money to buy food. Your salary is irrelevant its your immediate ability to buy food you need now that counts. So they wouldn't expect you to be using them if you had savings or so you could use the money you did have for non essential expenditure. They are really for no food in the house, not a penny to your name scenarios rather than to help your money go further when things are tight. While they won't necessarily check, they usually require a referral from an agency that will typically ask you questions about your finances. Have you taken any advice on whether you're entitled to any benefits?

Two surely? the nearly one year old is the baby the maternity leave is for.

Nice comment by the way, very judgy.

Does you partner have anything left? Surely feeding the family is priority one.

Your salary is probably 0 at the moment if you are at the end of mat leave so don't feel embarrassed.

Can you return to work earlier? We had to plan a shorter mat leave so as not to be at the nearly zero earnings end months.

If you don’t want to go to GP try Social Sevices or Citizens Advice, all of whom have access to vouchers. Trussell Trust allow some people to self refer and possibly some other food banks too.Find out where your local food Bank is. Try to find a spot when they are quiet usually half way through the session.

When you get there ask if it is possible to speak to someone in private and explain just as you have here. You will find them to be the kindest people in the World. At mine if someone came to us in your situation they would go away with a box and two carrier bags of food and domestic stuff. They will also show you how to apply for vouchers.

We have people right across the Social Spectrum. Those like yourself that are suffering temporary hardship to those totally dependent on us.

Please up date me on how you get on and I will help you any way I can.

Why is your partner not feeding his family?

I don’t think that is anybody’s business. It is that attitude that stops people asking for help from food banks. Maybe reporters your post and get it withdraw to stop heaping more misery on the op.

We have a couple of foodbanks nearby that are privately run by churches etc and don't need a referral. They also seem to give out more than the standard 3 days of food ~ maybe google and see if this is available in your local area?

Im not heaping on more misery I just think it's appalling that the partner isn't putting his money into the pot. Im certainly not reporting my post

Of course you can! Ask the HV for a voucher.

Definitely ask for a referral. There are a few ways you can do it, GP, HV, social landlord, and some others. I'm concerned if your partner isn't sharing the costs equally though. But the worst they can do is say no, and they're unlikely to if you genuinely have no money for food.

Can we not judge, hate for op to go without food because some random person on the internet wants to know the ins & outs of her life while she's struggling to buy food!

Food banks don’t ‘expect’ anything…..they just put together a food parcel based on whether the person has a voucher or not…..most vouchers are E vouchers these days…..our local health visitors will forward a voucher to the food bank on behalf of the parent ( the HV won’t ask any questions, it’s enough that a parent says they have no food) ..,,,then the parent or anyone else can collect. The limit is 3 parcels in 6 months

If your partner has money he needs to pay.

What on earth is he holding onto money for when you and the children need food?

This, have a look for community run food banks in your area. if you're near a city some also do a hot meal, or soup kitchen pop up, no questions asked.

also worth looking for any social or community cafes that do free meals in exchange for washing up, or encourage people to pay for an extra meal and stick a ticket up on a board you can grab to eat for free.

if you dont have the Olio app also worth checking out for people giving away surplus food near you.