to think that breakfast clubs shouldn't be free?

[Undercovamutha]

I have just found our that our local school's breakfast club is free of charge. Apparently this is due to an initiative that is designed to ensure that children (especially those from low income families) eat healthily at breakfast time, and learn that breakfast is an extremely important meal.

I totally agree with this BUT my DD is not from a low income family (although we are by no means wealthy), and the reason we will need the breakfast club is due to work/school start times being difficult to manage. When I was asking the school about how the breakfast club works, they admitted that ALL the parents who send their children to the club do so for the same reason as I will be. Therefore, it is not doing what the funding is there for.

Now I DO NOT want the breakfast club to close as it is essential to me and many others, but surely it should be acknowledged why it is actually in existance - which is not to ensure low income kids eat well, but to ensure that working parents can drop their kids off at 8!

Whilst I haven't exactly got pots of money to spare, I certainly wouldn't mind at the very least paying the cost of the breakfast.

What's with the word "fecklessness"? Is it just a polite word for thick/lazy?

Ah but HMof1, poverty is about so much more than money. Generally the poverty I see is about lack of hope, education and little parenting. I don't think the birth rate would drop if we took away benefits - the people I deal with are too cowed by their life experiences to think that clearly.

Well this is my worry tethersend I think there is a very real possibility these cuts are coming, housing benefit is already under review what's next ?
Imagine if you're used to chucking the kids out the front door at 8.30am and getting them back at 3.30pm, fed and watered.
Look at the likes of Sharon Matthews 7 children, little cash cows nothing more

Gotta love the way we have moved from paying for breakfast clubs to abolishing the welfare state .

Feckless: Careless/carefree generally, but usually meant in an irresponsible manner I think.

.... and what about those parents who lose jobs in the current climate?

JollyPirate they instantly become "feckless", didn't you know?

So MillyMolly what if, like us, you lose your income after you ahve 4 children?

DH is ahving to completely retrain post redundancy, no welfare state would mean no food.

Removing it for kids conceived whilst on benefits would negatively impact on the babies born and encourage unwanted abortions, both a far bigger horror imo (as a taxpapyer (albeit minimally for a shoort time) and as a human being. I'd much rather some tossers abused the system than innocent people suffered.

It isn't always a matter of having the money to buy the breakfast for those who query how possible it is to be that poor. It is a matter of prioritising food for your children over everything else. Which there are many parents who won't/don't.

I'm in exactly that position myself peachy but out of the JSA and tax credits i do consider breakfast lunch and tea for the three outside and one in still cooking to be number 1 priority.
Unfortunately revenue and customs consider last years NI contributions to be far more important so this week my milkman will have to wait, thank goodness we've plenty of cereal.

to add balance to some of the assumptions I've met a few seemingly middle class kids whose parents didn't think feeding them well was the top priority.

I imagine whats happened is that the school in question has thought it has a problem with parents not giving their kids an adequate breakfast in the rush to get out of the house to work in the morning and kids to school.

You'd be surprised how many people think a few biscuits will suffice.

op if you have a problem with your child benefiting do as Dittany suggested.

Sadly true MrsC

And now hiding thread, because as a welfare needing person who did work for as long as possible (ie until the boyus asd became too severe)and is married to someone who worked 2 jobs for years to the point of making himself ill, and still works / studies 80 hours a week just to get back on track, these threads actively ahrm my well-being.

It's always worth remembering as you step on the fingers of the person trying to crawl up the ladder behind you, that the person there may have have shit genes (ie our disabled duo) and a hefty dose of bad luck (the redundancy) and bve actually trying even harder to climb up against the odds, and that classing those people in with those who are genuinely living with an entitlement attitudde just greases the rungs for them.

Thread about to be hidden.

Fio, we aren't now but we were for a number of years, when DH first got ill we sold up to competely clear all debts and get back on track; it worked incredibnly well but didn't predict for ds1 / ds3 IYSWIM, had dh still been in his last job we''d be laughing now, we were a year ago. Wellw e stilla rein that it is nice to be debt fre, always the best position- IME better to drive a 15 year old car and have 2 pairs of trousers than a credit card.

But I do miss the house and most of all teh security that came with iut, God only knows what will ahppen to us when we are retired, still carers and on a state pensioon if Dh doesn't get a decent job after he finishes his course.

' i do consider breakfast lunch and tea for the three outside and one in still cooking to be number 1 priority'

(god am crap at walking away)

me too with the priority for food opbv. Not that we have breakfast clubs here anyway.

But years ago I worked for a charity where many of the kids didn't have aprents who cared, many worked btw or ahd a working aprtner but for various reasons they didn't bother at all about the kids- for example the woman who was drunk even when I visited at 7am.

She ahd plenty of cash but she wasn't going to use it for food if it bought vodka.

These are the kids that benefit from breakfast clubs.

Now, I would do it as a voluntary thing- we woudln't qualify for free school meals type ourselves as DH works, albeit self employed set up poorly paid etc etc so we get both types of tax credit. And am not complaining, can afford food well. And I would gladly pay whenever I could afford it, and even more gladly accept teh occasional freebie when I can't (eg ds1 gets through 3 or 4 coats a half term as a result of his SN, sometimes my last few quid go on that).

I can think of many times a drop in brekky club would really have helped- not ahving to take all 4 to APed appts becuase the appt starts at 9 for example, and assume that a lot of people could benefit equally for similar reasons.

I would glady pay £2 btw on occasion I could manage it, or be allwed a week or two to pay it.

So where are they gonna go FioFio there are just gazillions of people lining up to be foster carers.

True Fio but SSD clearly didn't agree as they referred me most of my clients (the deal with the devil thing wrt to funding sadly). And when SSD are pretty useless (really they were, I argued at times for removal to be told oh no wait and see when I was genuinely fearful of a child's life) the methods to help are those that some people don't see the need for- good free breakfast clubs, afterschool and for younger children preschool provision.

SSD are broke and have been for yars, both financially and practically. As long as they exist seemingly to firefight, other solutions need to be found. Sures5tart was alweays good at that ime, and indeed we're lucky that another agency (linked to dh's course) chose to fund us some respite for ds4 (reg. cm, cheaper than specialist care and good for him) so I can sleep, tidy etc, it's the same idea- use MS resources and target them firstly at children and famillies in severe need, whilst recognising that working famillies can still be struggling hugely to cover bills and childcare.

But then if some could afford £2 would the best solution be to charge all £!? if you can't maange £1 you probably are in severe straits and in receipt of either FSM's or a SSD referral anyway.

I agree with FioFio why does this woman still have her children and why are we collectively paying for her vodka ?
This is what winds people up Peachy not those who need a breakfast club because it's the difference between affording even a swim or a bit of a treat for the kids because they don't have to buy cereal and juice.
And is does come down to the more you do for people the more they expect and the less incentive there is to work.
My DH was earning in the region of £70,000 prior to redundancy and we're only about £600 a month worse off on benefits. Ok that will come to an end in another 12 months, the mortgage interest is a big chunk of that but it's still not right is it ?

That does seem to vary though MMM- we opnly get part benefits in that our income is amde of DH's PT earnings and student grant / loan but we are not as well off as we were when Dh earned £25k (a lot in Wales) last year. As we are in rented we also have the extreme risk of losing our home at any time and would probably end up in homelessness accom. as the first Q they ask here is are you in FT permamnent work- if the answer is no they hang up.

Do you think it is less wrose to cast people off without income than for people to not be hugely worse off on benefits? because you see I don't. It doesn't stop my desire to woprk- I;d love to be able and Dh is working his bollox off inorder toa chieve that FT again- work really is about so much mroe, for me anyway, than hoe much I amde: where it came from, independence and the basic life and respect asscoaited with earning was a huge aprt of who I was, and something I have struggled without.

"I agree with FioFio why does this woman still have her children and why are we collectively paying for her vodka ?"

Because her vodka costs the state less than a full time placement for her child