Was in Dorking Waitrose today and there was a bunch of people asking for contributions to a Dorking food bank. Of course I contributed.

But hang on, Surrey is the wealthiest county in the worlds 4th biggest economy.

As Paxman said in his Cameron intrerview, 5 years of tory rule and and that’s the legacy – food banks and zero hours contracts! In Surrey!

What a disgrace.

It can only get worse.

Meanwhile, there’s the usual procession of premium brand motors carrying premium brand bikes up to Leith Hill.

Are they not just for lazy good for nothing dole scroungers?

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqOdVtFQ3AM[/video]

watch Cameron squirm, not much but he does.

How very dare the wealthy donate things which might be needed by others.

There was a nice bottle of rosé fizz in the collection box in Waitrose in Salisbury the other day. Raised a wry chuckle.

Is this another politics thread in disguise?

Wish it was all about scroungers and those who don’t want to work. Sadly though it’s people – and kids – in real need. Too easy to condem with the cliched daily mail nostrums…

Call it a politics thread in disguise if you want. I’m just trying to understand the fractured society we live in today.

Some people are less clever, they are usually poor ones.

I bet the people using food banks still have TV, phone and internet though.

Yeah that’s what 5 years of the tories has got you, still least they weren’t voted back in.

Some people are less clever, they are usually poor ones.

😯

I bet the people using food banks still have TV, phone and internet though.

**** me!

Ordinary Hard Working Families (sic), born and bred here, just can’t afford to live in Surrey anymore. Anything under £500k is snapped up by Buy to Let monkeys, and that will maybe get a 2-3 bed mid terrace or flat.

name me a time in history where everyone was equal, no one went hungry etc.

In my opinion, the simple fact is that food banks have grown not only in numbers but also popularity. Get your self referred because you are in the following categories:

•Wage freezes and low incomes in general, making it hard to cope with the rising cost of living
•Work hours being cut
•Unexpected costs – such as an unexpectedly high bill
•Losing their job
•Losing benefits, or benefits being paid late
•Being unable to work due to sickness, disability or mental illness
•Divorce
•Debt problems.

So what did everyone do before food banks?

**** me!

*Hovering over the report post button for swear filter avoidance* 😉

Otherwise….I agree. A disturbingly simple minded view of things.

Also, as Drac points out, if only there was some way for the people to exercise some sort of democratic right to vote to avoid the clearly inevitable armageddon. I’m pretty sure there was a plague of rats in Epsom recently. It’s a sign! A SIGN! etc.

*Hovering over the report post button for swear filter avoidance*

You may have noticed I didn’t avoid it. 😀

You may have noticed I didn’t avoid it.

Well **** me sideways with a wet haddock! You’re ***ing right. Etc. 😉

If you really do struggle as said above ditch the tv phone car and internet.I spent several years on income support and survived without any of these luxuries.

Shows that people can fall on hard times anywhere in the UK. I know people that have struggled ever since last years floods.

My paper shop is opposite the food bank/drugs advisory(volunteers)place. Some of their “clients” pick up their food parcels and promptly try and exchange stuff for cash(presumably for the next fix or beer)
However that food bank which started out supporting drug users/needle exchange etc is now under threat from a “franchise” business which has stated its intention to open a branch in town, seems there is money to be made!!!!!!

Both my kids have gone through tough times recently, luckily we can still afford to support them and the kids. They both work as does their partners but occasionally they get caught out……

How very dare the wealthy donate things which might be needed by others.

At their behest. Philanthropy they would call it. Dickensian in reality.

Surrey has no unemployment problem. I buy my rolls in the bakers every morning and they have a sign in the window for staff wanted. Ditto the fish and chip shop and quite often vans that i’m stuck behind in traffic. Some people are just hopeless cases and running around after them, trying to carry them through life does them no favours. I’m sure if they started to suffer a bit, then the self preservation instinct would kick in.
Katie Hopkins.

Mobiles and internet aren’t a luxury when you’re trying to find a job – they’re pretty much essential…

Thing is, we’re only 7 years into a lost generation, we’re nowhere near out of the woods yet and next five years likely to be worse rather than better.

Tories cut back on the cuts in the last parliament, failed to eliminate the deficit as promised, pumped £billions into the economy as QE, have kept interest rates at emergency low rates and pumped house prices to maintain the illusion of wealth… OBR forecast personal debt to soar over next few years.

Tories are supposed to be strong on the economy too…

China’s slowing up fast, Euro area still a mess (Greece on the way out?), US and UK economies still not showing strong growth.

It’ll do us good in the long run, getting off this addiction to debt and shiny things but I don’t think the next decade’s going to be a huge amount of fun whilst we adjust… I would expect more food banks not fewer…

Some people are less clever, they are usually poor ones.

Bellend

I can’t see how they make money, or are set up to do so. The one in the town I work is run solely by volunteers and relies on donations. In addition, someone getting access to a food parcel is via a voucher from either a social worker, gp etc. If a client needs food on three separate occasions the food bank contact the professional involved to discuss the underlying reasons why although they will never refuse food.

Mobiles and internet aren’t a luxury when you’re trying to find a job – they’re pretty much essential…

Agreed in full.

Dickensian in reality.

Really?

Sometimes, there’s a worrying lack of humanity on this forum. But for the grace of … go I.

How very dare the wealthy donate things which might be needed by others.

Didn’t that used to be called taxes?

I think I calculated that it requires £24k or £26k income while living/working in London renting without starvation …

Doesn’t help ease the property price there when foreign investors do buy to let in addition to own local by to let.

Why the **** would anyone want to live in Surrey?

Didn’t that used to be called taxes?

Well, it still is.
Tax on their salary, which gave them the money to pay tax on the car they bought (assuming they’re driving to Waitrose), tax on the fuel in said car, tax on the items purchased that they then chose to give to someone more in need than them.

It’s far from perfect that people are using food banks, but it’s heartening to see that people choose to donate to them.

I think I calculated that it requires £24k or £26k income while living/working in London renting without starvation

Don’t live in London then. I’ve got a perfectly good job but I could not afford to, so I don’t.

I’m not saying it’s a perfect solution for all but it is for some.

Why the **** would anyone want to live in Surrey?

Err for the MTB’ing!!

Have you never been to the Surrey Hills and North Downs? Used to live in SW London but was down in the Surrey Hills every weekend riding so decided to move here.

while the foodbanks are open to misuse by some people they are a lifeline to most people who use them.
Weeksy i dont know who you are but you really are a ****

Some people are less clever, they are usually poor ones.

It would seem reasonable to assume that if poorly educated you would in some cases earn less as some jobs pay less .Factory floor and shop jobs etc which require less skill or qualifications .

I’ve been there seen it a million times, brought up in tough parts of Liverpool until I was 26.

Time and time again watching the people who ‘need’ assistance it still smoke 10-20 a day, go out on a Friday, but cry poverty and are hard done by. Yeah right.

Of course, there are exceptions, but few and far between.

I could lose my job, sure, why not, but would I sit and cry about it, or work 2 jobs, delivering pizza and stacking shelves to keep my family supported.

I struggle with the whole problem having seen far too many spongers. The actual people who deserve help are in the minority.

Some people are less clever, they are usually poor ones.

I bet the people using food banks still have TV, phone and internet though.
are you poor?
If not, what’s your excuse?
🙄

Just because you disagree, don’t be getting all stroppy and insulting. By getting the insults out who do you think is showing their intelligence..

Prove me wrong if you disagree, explain to me about a couple of people you know who fell on hard times and the consequences etc

Err for the MTB’ing!!

Have you never been to the Surrey Hills and North Downs? Used to live in SW London but was down in the Surrey Hills every weekend riding so decided to move here. I can think of far better places to go MTBing, such as large parts of Scotland. Great access rights too. 😀

I think people who turn up at food banks should be forced to hand over their TVs.

No need to brag about how much better Scotland is wanmankylung. You are in danger of sounding jingoistic. I find Surrey a bit overcrowded so not my cup of tea, but does have access to some decent biking for the area, easy access to London, which (shock horror) some people actually like. Also Surrey has some decent vineyards. Why not prove your point by posting a montage of the Highlands with Runrig playing in the background? 🙂

I think people who turn up at food banks should be forced to hand over their TVs.

Would their TV’s be crushed infront of them or given to someone more in need of a TV? A TV bank so to speak.

or work 2 jobs, delivering pizza and stacking shelves to keep my family supported.

Do you have A levels or a tertiary education? Last job in a profession or supervisory level? Good luck with that. Those employers want supine, un-thinking, unlikely to sod off to a better paid job workers.

Disclosure unemployed for 18 months in 2009/10 and I applied for all those. (Contributions JSA for 6 months of that then NI stamp paid only).

Also mobile needed for the employer to tell you if he wants you today for that zero hours contract. Internet required to search and apply for jobs and you need to provide evidence to Job Centre plus of all this.

You come across as smug, insulated middle class without a clue as to the pressures at the bottom of society in 2015. (It’s probably much worse than when I was unemployed due to the sanctions regime now in place).

Would their TV’s be crushed infront of them or given to someone more in need of a TV?

I’m not bothered just as long as they don’t have a TV.