Free school meals in the school holidays

[enfieldspares]

Of course Tory MPs quick to vote this down are happy that at least the taxpayer still subisides meals for them at the Palace of Westminster.

Here's some recent current menus.

https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/adjournment-menu-10th-september-2019.pdf

https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/debate2019-09-10-menu.pdf

https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/mdr-main-10.09.19.pdf

Snouts in a trough that we, taxpayers, subsidise. Right or wrong the issue of kiddies' meals may be but this, these subsidised menus for people of £80,000 a year plus generous expenses is just plain wicked.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by enfieldspares

[captainhastings]

7 minutes ago, Rob85 said:

You literally described at least half of my childhood meals, was raised on mince n spuds and still love it. Actually had mince with some gravy and chips the other night...lovely. shin still isn't too bad a price but when I want some for soup I avoid Tesco and all them places as the ones near me take the best bit out...the friggin bone full of marrow! Always the local butchers for it. A lot of people who are tight for money need to start looking at their local butcher and fruit n veg shops again as i think even the 'cheap' supermarkets are a bloody rip off for the quality of their meat.

Can you still get a pot roast these days? I used to get then about 10-12 years ago and they made a beautiful roast Sunday dinner and there was always enough for Monday's dinner or lunch in work.

As regards the slow cooker it's not really necessary so long as you have a pot and a lid and turn your heat down. 

True Rob you need the bone marrow gives a great creamy flavor. You have to pick your local butchers around some seem to think they are the queens own personal butchers going by there prices but there is a few more down to earth ones in town. I was proud of my eldist when she went to uni and shared accommodation she all ways had a slow cooker bubbling away in her bedroom giving off lovely smells of soups and stews. But I some times prefer the depth of flavor from oven and good 3 hours on low gives a nice flavor to most things 

[chrisjpainter]

29 minutes ago, captainhastings said:

You can buy packet mince for 3 quid fry it off drain fat if you wish. Add some water and a stock cube throw in some spuds and bit of veg of your choice. You have a big sauce pan of grub to dunk bit bread in for a fiver or there abouts. Or a chicken or small lump of pork. The cheap cuts like shin and cheeks etc are no longer cheaper thanks I guess to tv cooking shows. 

So you've spent £35 this week already. And you've not done breakfast or lunch. That's more than too many families would have for the whole shopping budget.  

[Lloyd90]

9 minutes ago, chrisjpainter said:

So you've spent £35 this week already. And you've not done breakfast or lunch. That's more than too many families would have for the whole shopping budget.  

 

Is it really? It does amaze me the amount of money some people are on. 

 

I often see people hard up in work, and always make sure that they get sorted, especially the kids (have personally ordered food, clothes or whatever to kids in the middle of the night if needed), but the cliche of the parent sitting there smoking fags with the big TV on the wall whilst shouting about how alwul the government is and how their kids are hard done by because the Government is out to get them, isn't a stereotype for nothing, it hasn't been dreamed up by an evil Tory government in their evil lair cackling whilst thinking up ways to screw the everyday man. 

This is obviously not every person out there. What is truly the saddest thing, is the lazy work shy types above, will be slagging off the Government, and taking any free meals and free stuff they can get their hands on, even when they have cash to buy food. 

 

The truly hard done by, those parents who are working, and earning less than they would get sat at home on their *****, feel ashamed to take free meals or handouts, and won't ask or accept the help for fear or looking like a scrounger. 

 

A child should never go hungry in this country. Never. I will never think that they should. 

However I think that having kids has just become the norm, something just to do and have a crack at, when everyday in my work it disgusts me how some people treat their own children. There are many people out there that are unfit to own a pet dog let alone have children.  

 

My new role out of hours is dealing with all sorts (mixed adults, child protection and mental health). I was looking forward to dipping my toe in a bit of children's social work as I have always done adults. I can honestly say I am glad I went into adults and mental health, and have a new found respect for my colleagues who have done many years in children's. 

[henry d]

3 hours ago, Stonepark said:

Because between fashion clothing, fags, booze and netflix/sky, they have no money to feed their kids.

Yeah, everyone is like this.

Just like everyone who lifts a gun murders endangered raptors, poisons wildlife, etc etc

🐓

[WalkedUp]

8 hours ago, henry d said:

Yeah, everyone is like this.

Just like everyone who lifts a gun murders endangered raptors, poisons wildlife, etc etc

🐓

👍

[Ratlegs]

12 hours ago, Stonepark said:

Because between fashion clothing, fags, booze and netflix/sky, they have no money to feed their kids.

If the kids get fed  mothers can have another Tatoo and fags

[TIGHTCHOKE]

9 hours ago, Lloyd90 said:

 

Is it really? It does amaze me the amount of money some people are on. 

 

I often see people hard up in work, and always make sure that they get sorted, especially the kids (have personally ordered food, clothes or whatever to kids in the middle of the night if needed), but the cliche of the parent sitting there smoking fags with the big TV on the wall whilst shouting about how alwul the government is and how their kids are hard done by because the Government is out to get them, isn't a stereotype for nothing, it hasn't been dreamed up by an evil Tory government in their evil lair cackling whilst thinking up ways to screw the everyday man. 

This is obviously not every person out there. What is truly the saddest thing, is the lazy work shy types above, will be slagging off the Government, and taking any free meals and free stuff they can get their hands on, even when they have cash to buy food. 

 

The truly hard done by, those parents who are working, and earning less than they would get sat at home on their *****, feel ashamed to take free meals or handouts, and won't ask or accept the help for fear or looking like a scrounger. 

 

A child should never go hungry in this country. Never. I will never think that they should. 

However I think that having kids has just become the norm, something just to do and have a crack at, when everyday in my work it disgusts me how some people treat their own children. There are many people out there that are unfit to own a pet dog let alone have children.  

 

My new role out of hours is dealing with all sorts (mixed adults, child protection and mental health). I was looking forward to dipping my toe in a bit of children's social work as I have always done adults. I can honestly say I am glad I went into adults and mental health, and have a new found respect for my colleagues who have done many years in children's. 

Nicely put Lloyd.

[Lampwick]

How did they feed their children before the virus? 

Speaking to two parents at the weekend who were moaning about the vote, one out on the town drinking £7.00 G&Ts, the other not working more than 16 hours as this would affect his claim? 

[Cranfield]

As a past recipient of free school dinners, even standing in a different queue at school lunchtimes, I support the principle of them being extended during non school days, during the present crisis.
We were a single parent family of five kids.

The matter of feckless parents wasting money, neglecting their children, etc., should be dealt with separately.
Its not the childrens fault their parents are scum.
 

[bottletopbill]

I worked as a youth worker for many year's  in a area in London /Kent borders house prices are above 250k to million's. The kids with all the designer cloth's were starving in love and food but some on the poverty line had more love and a better respect for other's around them. Me and the wife would pack bags of food from our home every week to give them a meal. Staff grew fresh veg in summer month's  to help kids and they to loved pick and cooking the food. So why cant  all the shoots arrange for  excess pheasants to be put into the free food chain to help. Sorry forgot to say that i worked three times a week for four hours per shift and never got paid as i wanted to put some thing back . Was asked to go on payroll many times but said no and when I meet some of the kids now who are grown up and working I know it was  all worth it.

Edited October 26, 2020 by bottletopbill

[oowee]

How do kids get free school meals outside of school time? 

[AVB]

A mate I play cricket with is a school teacher at a secondary school in Essex. Not ‘London’ Essex but a lot further out. The stories he told me of the amount of child ‘poverty’ shocked me. I wouldn’t have been surprised if it was inner city but this is a relatively affluent area. They gather all the kids clothes every half term and wash them (they provide spare clothes in the meantime!) as a lot of kids don’t have their clothes washed from one week to the next and absolutely reek. Sorry but that’s got nothing to do with not having money but just outright laziness imo. 

[Lloyd90]

21 minutes ago, oowee said:

How do kids get free school meals outside of school time? 

Teachers and other school workers have a list of ‘vulnerable’ families and children. 

Despite the claims of some that they spend all their time off sat about relaxing and doing no work, they are at present doing home visits, welfare checks and preparing and dropping off food to children and families that otherwise would be going without. 
 

 

[discobob]

1 minute ago, oowee said:

How do kids get free school meals outside of school time? 

They get the "value" loaded onto a card and they can spend it in the likes of Iceland. I have some doing with the back end systems for this. 

However, I am off the opinion that there are quite a few that are there by their own choice. Not only is it free school meals, it is free school trips etc.. (and before anybody jumps on me - I was in receipt of free school meals for a few years) - and in my kids school the free school meals got to go on trips away/abroad for free as well. 

One of the free school meals families I see and know a little of, I regularly (and within the past 12 hours) see the mum sitting on the doorstep of the house across the street, smoking and drinking.

However, there are others who do not fall into this classification and are truly deserving of any help they can get.

I know however that if we ever fall on hard times, it will only be when we have nothing left that we will receive help and then we will be getting less than people who know they system inside out!!

[clangerman]

what the parents do is no excuse not to feed these kids if doris and his fat over fed cronies collected the MILLIONS in unpaid maintenance a bill that YOU are now paying all of them could eat after failing the children of this country least we can do is chuck them the bone of a meal 

[johnphilip]

2 hours ago, TIGHTCHOKE said:

Nicely put Lloyd.

Yes spot on  dave .

[Lloyd90]

3 hours ago, Lampwick said:

How did they feed their children before the virus? 

Speaking to two parents at the weekend who were moaning about the vote, one out on the town drinking £7.00 G&Ts, the other not working more than 16 hours as this would affect his claim? 

To be blunt, people on benefits should have something similar to American food stamps, and shouldn’t be allowed to buy fags and booze with their benefits.

 

And people who are unable to go back to work, or unable to work so many hours because they would be worse off financially would be stupid to go back to work to be fair to them.

Especially when they’d have to then pay silly amounts of money for childcare. 
 

Quite frankly the benefits system needs a massive overhaul! 

[Mice!]

6 minutes ago, Lloyd90 said:

To be blunt, people on benefits should have something similar to American food stamps, and shouldn’t be allowed to buy fags and booze with their benefits.

 

And people who are unable to go back to work, or unable to work so many hours because they would be worse off financially would be stupid to go back to work to be fair to them.

Especially when they’d have to then pay silly amounts of money for childcare. 
 

Quite frankly the benefits system needs a massive overhaul! 

Spot on.

1 hour ago, discobob said:

my kids school the free school meals got to go on trips away/abroad for free as well. 

That seems nuts, a day trip fair enough but not abroad.

[discobob]

2 minutes ago, Mice! said:

Spot on.

That seems nuts, a day trip fair enough but not abroad.

Yep - the family I quoted previously, theirs have been on everything going including abroad. Mine haven't but that was only because the kids chose not to.

We would get the letters saying that the price also included the costs for free school meal children to go as well!

We have friends though who both work, not well paid jobs - not entitled to free school meals - their eldest lad got himself out and got a job setting up and taking down the market that happens twice a week in our time - so he could buy a pair of trainers he wanted because his parents couldn't afford them. I slung him £10 towards them as well.

[Mice!]

4 minutes ago, discobob said:

We have friends though who both work, not well paid jobs - not entitled to free school meals - their eldest lad got himself out and got a job setting up and taking down the market that happens twice a week in our time - so he could buy a pair of trainers he wanted because his parents couldn't afford them. I slung him £10 towards them as well.

And that lad will appreciate them, and learned that earning something is far better than a hand out.

[bottletopbill]

Some need help other's do take the Pee but let's not all get bitter and not help at all help our own.

[Vince Green]

School meals are not the responsibility of Central Government, they are provided by the individual schools and funded out of Local Government. The Government made an additional £60 million available to local authorities to cover hardship.

However, the cost of providing the school meals in holiday or half term is much higher than just the cost of the meals. The school has to be opened up and heated, staff have to be paid to come in, teachers, catering staff, caretakers etc even though its their holiday time and they might not want to, or be able to because they have kids of their own at home. School dinner lady is a popular job for mothers with school age kids.

  Essential  and scheduled maintenance cant be done.  Its a much bigger problem that it first appears.

[Lloyd90]

36 minutes ago, discobob said:

Yep - the family I quoted previously, theirs have been on everything going including abroad. Mine haven't but that was only because the kids chose not to.

We would get the letters saying that the price also included the costs for free school meal children to go as well!

We have friends though who both work, not well paid jobs - not entitled to free school meals - their eldest lad got himself out and got a job setting up and taking down the market that happens twice a week in our time - so he could buy a pair of trainers he wanted because his parents couldn't afford them. I slung him £10 towards them as well.

Some kids in our school used to have free school meals, but never heard of free trips abroad. 
 

Are you sure? It does seem like a Daily Mail headline 🤷‍♂️🤣.

 

There did used to be skiing trips abroad and what not. People never got to go for free. This must have been 20 years ago. 

My father worked self-employed as a market trader growing up, we used to go all over the markets in Wales selling rugs and carpets.  

 

Some weeks he did well and we had a few quid. Other weeks I remember going to market with him and us driving home barely having enough money to put fuel in the van to get home. 
 

Never entitled to free school meals or anything else handed out. 

 

[Vince Green]

My ex wife worked for a while as a volunteer at the local food bank. Some people would come in then sort through what they had been given and chuck out things like tins of peas or carrots and ask if they could swap them. Its not a straight forward subject.