Food Banks?

[davebro]

OK - fine for folks in need. But on the news a woman rolls up to the food bank in a nearly new Renault Kadjar crossover. Is she really in need?

[fiction-factory]

Probably not. They are vital for some but there will always be those who don't need them who will take advantage of anything going for nothing , and there will also be some who plan there spending around getting some free food so that they can afford their phones, pets etc. But you do have to be referred to a food bank.

[fiction-factory]

Did I really type 'there' for 'their'?

[davebro]

Well she is a single mother, recently unemployed. But if she can afford to run a new(ish) car even on lease with tax & insurance should that take priority over providing food for the family. I'm not sure.

[Mamyalynne]

I don't know if she's really in need of the food bank.

I don't know if she owns the vehicle, whether it'smon finance or is due to be repossessed tomorrow.

Nor I imagine do you.

[david small]

Your going to get a percentage of the something for nothing brigade cashing in. Also the too proud for charity type who would rather go without. I’ve been on my uppers and went without, more fool me? Or horses for courses? Necessity is a cruel master.

[ummmm]

Was she handed the food? Could it be for someone else with mobility problems? Was it even her car? Questions questions...that we don't know the answers to.

[Mamyalynne]

Now you start to add her life situation, would have been useful in the OP.

I still don't know.

[ummmm]

OK...so she's recently unemployed so this is hopefully just a small stop gap until she gets another job. She might need the car for what ever jobs she's applying for and/or to take the kids to school.

[Tilly2]

Is this the lady?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-50289983

[davebro]

I'm not saying the lady in question is a bad person. It just seems to me that many consider what used to be luxuries are now essentials and will spend on those before providing for the basics (if those can be had for free elsewhere).

[nailit]

//But on the news a woman rolls up to the food bank in a nearly new Renault Kadjar crossover//
On the news? Got a link then?

There are always going to be people that take advantage of 'freebies' but food banks are a necessity for some nowadays, unfortunately !

[ummmm]

Do you expect someone who loses their job to put all their worldly goods up for sale and have them sold within a few days for a fraction of their value? Unrealistic expectations.

[pixie374]

What used to be luxuries, sometimes are essentials now.
Cars are often necessary for work and children... once it is assumed everyone has one, it is harder to do without.
Washing machines, tumble driers... may have been different with one parent at home full-time... which is rarely possible now. Etc etc.
Life changes. There are probably a few who will try to take advantage... but not most, I would think.

[nailit]

What ummm said ^^

[fiction-factory]

No I don't ummmm, but I would expect someone who has had a job good enough to afford such a car (whether on finance or bought) to have had the sense to put some money aside for a rainy day. We don't know the circumstances here though so it doesn't change my view one way or the other that some people are really struggling owing to misfortune and UC problems while others have the wrong priorities and take what they can from the system

[pastafreak]

But use of the food bank is reliant on referrals from support agencies, as you said yourself, ff. You need to be really hungry to go through that for a weeks worth of pasta, bread, and beans.

[ummmm]

We don't know the background so it's hard to condemn.

Hell of a lot of working people out there who are living pay packet to pay packet. As for a car...sometimes it's better getting one on finance. Second Hand cars can be like a bottomless pit. I very much doubt though that anyone gets a car on credit expecting to lose their job.

[nailit]

Today I delivered food to a centre where an elderly couple turned up with a foodbank voucher and said '' We've been buying food from supermarkets and just found out that we can have it for free''
Made my blood boil but had to keep my mouth shut.
On the other hand Ive seen people turning up crying and in genuine distress because they have had benefits stopped and have been left literally without a scrap of food or anything left to sell to buy food.

[Tilly2]

From where did the elderly couple get the voucher, Nails?

[nailit]

No idea Tills, couldn't understand why a pensioner couple could get a voucher. Still made my blood boil though...pensioners (with no real money worries) would take food that they didn't need.