Food Banks are they needed?

Food Banks is it a Myth?

Recently an article appeared that there are a Million people using food banks, this could be true BUT are they really in need I DOUBT IT.

It is always been the case that if you give something for Free more and more will take advantage of it we have all heard of the stories of people using the food banks turning up in cars, still drinking alcohol, smoking, having tattoo, flat screen TV etc. Left wing press like the Guardian, Church of England and BBC will try and say this is completely unfounded, right wing press will say it is a true account. Now I do not know what the complete truth is because I do not use a food bank and have to be honest I would not lower myself to do so, although I do sympathise with homeless, these a genuine people down on their luck and it is one of the few charities I donate to

Yet I have come across two examples on how food banks do not have any checks and balances, two my Tenants one in his forties and one in his sixties were both on employment benefit. They were informed by the Benefit Office their benefit would be stopped because of changed circumstances both immediately went to the food bank for help. No one asked to check their flats to see if they had food (which they both had) no one checked to see what their life style was and no one asked why they needed food after only a couple of days being without benefits. Both were given £50 worth of food and one had £40 towards his electric yet with in 10 days they were reinstated and the unemployment benefit backdated, were they asked to pay back what the had from the food bank NO!

Do I blame them NO if some one offers you something for nothing why not take it but I do blame the people who run these food banks for not making checks so the real needy only receive this charity. Most of those on food bank charity are there because they cannot cope with the daily rigors of life, so maybe instead of just giving away food these food bank charities should be educating them on how to cope. Teach them how to manage money, cook healthy cheap food, make them realise that having flat screen TV, computers, games, cars, smoking drinking are not essentials in life they are a luxury not a right.

Before you say that’s all right for to talk you have money, that is true and I worked for it but I was not always in the position I am in now. Let me take you back to 1975 when I was 25, I was married with tree children 5 and under, this was a time when we were all taught to live within our means. Getting things on tick  (HP) being on the dole, claiming benefit was frowned upon as for Housing Benefit we had never heard of it. My weekly wage was about £45 week in the summer it was topped up by my wife working in the fields and orchards in Kent. Because of Health and safety issues you no longer see lorries picking up women and kids and the social stigma on women doing menial tasks orchestrated by left-wing women libbers made the earning of pin money to help the family a thing of the past.

In 1975 I earned £45 per week according to the Internet that equates to £263.92 today my mortgage was £50 p.c.m equates today as £293 petrol was  .72p a gallon equates to £4.22p in today money. Interest rates were 11.78% compared with .5% 2014 Retail Price index 1975 24.9% compared with 1% today. So in general we are better of then in 1975

A 3 Bedroom house rent is about £750 in Kent, if you are on benefit this is paid in housing benefit plus most of your Council Tax is paid, if you are on low income you get help with the rent. I have been on the governments web site and found a Family of 4 get approx. £450 per week on various benefits. I would suggest most families manage on this, so why the need for Food Banks? I expect 90% of those on benefit would rather work yet what about the 10%

So why is that most families and myself in the 1970’s did not need any help from government institutions and charities? Simple we only spent what we could afford we kept with in our budget and if that meant a bit of hardship for a short while so be it. The problem with today as we are told by the left-wing political elite and the Church of England that we (society) no longer have to accept responsibility for what we do, we are to blame everyone else and expect others to pay for our mistakes.

I expect all the lefties will condom me and they will my figures are wrong but my argument that we must all live within our means stands