Dying man lives on 12p a day.

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That's a good question. There may or may not be charities that can help with food, if not financially. It very much depends on the area. Given how benefit claims are being rejected for the most ridiculous of reasons (the actual reason being political), I wouldn't be surprised if any help did endanger his claim.

In the main, charities in general are finding themselves having to meet much higher demands as government services are cut. The fantasy - the PM's 'Big Society' thing - is that, as the state is withdrawn charity, in both the smaller and larger sense, will step in. Even if you accepted the premise, trying to make it so in a time of serious economic difficulty is not the most sensible of things.

To think I used to be shocked when I read of food banks in the US, and they're increasingly becoming a commonality over here:



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19468697

And still people wave the flag and actually sing 'Rule Britannia' without irony.

I can relate to the guy in many ways. I'm stuck in France now on a negligible income (on a par with the guy this thread is about). I'm over 50 and my health is deteriorating. Nobody wants to employ anyone over 50 when there is a whole country full of younger unemployed people to fill those posts, especially in the IT field. Finding work is proving extremely difficult. I'm registered unemployed but because I haven't worked long enough in France I can't claim any benefits. Because I'm resident in France I don't qualify for any benefits from the UK. However, my applications for various menial jobs (that the French don't like doing) have been turned down on the basis that they are reserved for "poor people" i.e. those who are in receipt of benefits. Because I'm not on benefits (my income is practically zero) I don't qualify as "poor"!

It is easy to fall between the cracks when one moves to another country. We can't even afford to move back to England because that costs money we haven't got and we wouldn't even have money to put a deposit down on somewhere to rent in England. We are stuck in catch-22. We can't afford to buy any food for the next couple of months just so we have enough money to pay the local taxes to help keep the local bureaucrats employed pushing their pens about. Luckily I've grown some vegetables in our garden and have a few chickens to provide eggs so we shouldn't starve. I can only afford this internet connection because I make a slim profit from my website selling shareware software. However, sooner or later the s**t will hit the fan and we will face a bill we can't pay. The only way I can see out of this, sooner or later is likely to be a rope, if my health doesn't deteriorate further and kill me first.

This thread is depressing. The benefits systems is appalling. I don't have anything else to say.

If I lived near this man, I would give him food every day, but I'd rather he got it out of my taxes.

Last edited by puddingmouse on 26 Sep 2012, 11:52 am, edited 2 times in total.

I've never been to a food pantry but my family used to get the free Thanksgiving basket for poor people when I was a kid. We got the big block of welfare cheese a few times too.

Even in the US different food pantries in different areas are different. I have an Aunt in another state that at one time was going to the food pantry every week. I've been told be people that went there that the closest one to me only lets you get food 3 or 4 times a year (I can't remember which).

I feel so bad for him I'd want to send him money if I could. He needs food. I'm poor but I've been fortunate enough to never have to go through things like going hungry or getting evicted from my home.

Maybe, but I doubt that would affect me.

Truly evil people run Britain today. Appalling.