stephec
Legendary Member
Your starting to drift slightly more leftwards than normal then? 😂
If someone is looking for something to volunteer at then local FoodBanks often have needs - either in the warehouse or actually handing food out to people
Handing out food to men and women with £2000 - £3000 sleeve tattoos … not anymore ….
All that shows if that they had some money at some point
If they have no money now then they have no money now
the manager I work with told me about a family - and when she went to see the mother (no father around) it was in a large new house (4 bedrooms) and there was a smart new car on the drive.
Inside there was just the sofa and a small telly in the lounge - and a small table and 3 chairs (mother plus 2 kids)
She had lost her job and the mortgage went up and she couldn't afford it - previously she had been on a good salary and her husband was on even more
She was waiting for the bank to finish the legal stuff to re-posess the house and couldn;t drive the car because it was leased from the company and the insurance and lease ended when she was made redundant.
she had nothing - AT THAT TIME - before she had everything
and the vast majority of people coming to Food Banks are desperate - they have no money to feed themselves - OR THEIR CHILDREN - properly and the help from the Food Bank help keep them afloat - and their kids fed
and more and more people need their help every week
So far I've worked in a homelessness project, a project with refugees and a local theatre.
My heart bleeds … how much time have you spent with substance abusers .. big house .. fancy car .. no furniture.. no food in the fridge or freezer. Hungry kids …. Food banks mask the horror the children go through while the parents spend everything on drugs …. A reality we have lived with for 25 years….
Help out at the food bank … tick the social conscience box on your bucket list and move on ….
No harm to you… but typical middle class approach to life ……
I can recognise this viewpoint. I have just stopped volunteering after 8 years as the volunteering was becoming unpaid work for the government. A lot of what might be called social work has been passed out to charities under government contract. So latterly I was handing out food, energy, clothes and furniture vouchers. There is a lot of hidden poverty and addiction related issues out there which are not getting better. But the thing that pushed me out was that it is endless. I really, really pity the paid staff who still have to deal with it and seeing the effects on the families.
If you have the time, volunteer but don't think it will be a sunny job.
I'm currently volunteering in a refugee organisation and, a year in, find it an absolute joy.
B'stard