A Compassionate Society?

[Theland]

Do you think we are a compassionate society, given the number and demand for food banks?
Kids go to bed hungry?
People on hard times have benefits stalled or stopped for superfluous reasons, sometimes resulting in eviction?
Army veterans, in spite of the British Legion and SAAFA, find themselves facing hardship and the governments promises to a military promise is just a sad memory?
We all had to bail out the bankers, and the CEO of Persimmons just got a £75,000,000 bonus.
The numerous questions should be obvious by now!

[nailit]

Theland, some people (like my sister) never believed that any of this is happening and food banks were only there to feed the scroungers. Now its happened to her and shes whining about it but she voted for it.
Today, I had a drop off at a local church that feeds the homeless twice a week and provides a shower and a change of clothes. I stayed for half an hour and had a cup of tea with the organisers. Some of the horror stories I heard about how various 'clients' had come to be in the position that they were in made me realise that the truth is even worse than I thought. Not all these people are drug addicts or alcoholics (and even if they were so what...they are still human beings. People with problems that need addressing but still people)
The lack of compassion shown by some on here frankly astonishes me espescially since I have received so much support myself on here when Ive gone through similar things that these other people are going through.

[Theland]

BBC i player - Universal Credit Benefits Crisis.
Not very interesting to those with horse stabling costs I imagine.

[ummmm]

I don't think the Government is completely at fault. What looks like a good idea on paper doesn't always work in reality. There are generations of people who have never worked. The stricter rules are aimed at them, they are able bodied and mentally sound but they've been taught any work ethics.

The problem is....genuine people are being caught up in it and being punished like they are lazy gits. That's where the unfairness is coming in.

I couldn't live on benefits.

[Mamyalynne]

To be fair I don't think it's always a lack of compassion as such but some don't perhaps see and come into contact with the same people and families that others do.

The stories that often hit the media most are the cheats and that can send out a wrong or distorted signal.

[ummmm]

*never been taught work ethics (this laptop deletes words)

[Theland]

Nailit - I don't know what to say.
It is a hidden catastrophe, and wilfully ignored by the ones who proclaim their obnoxious views as sacrosanct.
Disgusting. The poor have no voice, and the contempt for them is oh so apparent and prevalent.
Hungry kids? Any town or city with those with eyes to see.

[Theland]

Yes but if a family is hungry and threatened with eviction, what should be done NOW? TONIGHT?

[nailit]

Well, I agree with you Theland ...on this subject anyway. Im not going to start making a habit of it though ;-)

[Mamyalynne]

I understand your shouting Theland, but we can't change the system that way - as a community we hopefully look out for those in crisis close to us , and guide them to help if we can.
In the meantime, feed them and if you can help them with a bed for the night.

[Theland]

Nailit, either we get a room, or continue the war.
Do you snore?

[nailit]

//Do you snore?//
Only when I try to watch your you tube vids...

[kvalidir]

Without a TV licence Nailit???? :) x

[nailit]

No licence needed to view you-tube kval but lets not go there again eh ;-)…?

[ummmm]

Did you read the story about the homeless man who died after his local council took away his sleeping bag?

Rob - a lot of the reason that hungry kids don't like hungry is because they're being fed crap food. Fruit and veg is quite cheap, but it doesn't last long and an apple won't fill you up. So they're buying big bags of cheap fatty sausages and big bags of frozen chips. You can buy that stuff in Iceland for a couple of quid.

[nailit]

//Did you read the story about the homeless man who died after his local council took away his sleeping bag?//

Ummm, the church that I mentioned a few posts ago provide tents for the homeless and then our local council come and rip them up and dump them. A vicious circle. (and totally unneccesary as they often pitch them deep in woods away from anyone. Theres been more than one case recently (local) where rough sleepers have been found dead.

[Baldric]

/// Yes but if a family is hungry and threatened with eviction, what should be done NOW? TONIGHT? ///

Carry on with the eviction, get someone in who can actually pay the rent, they are not the Landlords responsibility let's be serious.

[ummmm]

It's awful. I said said to my friend about going to the council. All our public toilets are shut. Open them up and let the homeless use them, they're big enough. They might not be warm but at least they're dry.

We have a really large group of volunteers in town helping the homeless....I'm sure they'd be more than happy to maintain the unused toilets.

When the shopping centre closes there no toilets for them to use so they have to go in the street. How humiliating, as if life wasn't bad enough!!

[Spicerack]

Tsk,tsk,Baldric, I feel quite sorry for you. If I had a spare house I'd let them stay there rent free, take them a 3 course meal and share some crack with them, if they like that kind of thing.

[vetuste_ennemi]

//All our public toilets are shut. Open them up and let the homeless use them, they're big enough. They might not be warm but at least they're dry//

Dry? You're taking the...

[ummmm]

Don't know where you live VE but our public toilets have roofs.

I agree with you Baldric. We can be compassionate but we can't help everyone.

Like when people sat daft things like taking in refugees. 'Yeah yeah, I can do that in my 3 bed house which 5 people live in'

Just because we can't help doesn't mean we have no compassion.