Children in Need


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My post is in reply to #45

Fly. No need to take your ball away. We don't need to fall out.

But do you really believe that everybody on benefits is a Chav or a Scally? Of course there are some, but all of them? Really?

And surely you can't be extrapolating a few beer cans into evidence about anything?

I take offence because I have relatives who have been on benefits for very genuine reasons.

I've been on them myself on occasion.

I also take offence because I have both relatives and friends who live on Bestwood Est. and are hardworking honest people.

I've stated that I have a disabled daughter. Are you surprised I'm hurt by attacks on benefit recipients implying that they're all the same? She's registered blind for God's sake. If life's so easy for her do you want to swap?

It's time to stop buying into the Govt. led narrative that all of our economic woes are the fault of benefit recipients and to start grasping that we are in our current economic state because of greedy bankers trading worthless debt between themselves till the bubble burst.

This Govt with it's 'austerity' (and much more to come) is forcing the poor and disadvantaged of this country to pay for the greed of bankers and most of the population is buying the lie hook line and sinker.

I'm not complaining for myself. I'm doing OK thanks. But I'm sick of seeing everybody who's unemployed, on benefits, disabled etc., being tarred with the same hateful brush.

If anyone is genuinely scrounging, or fiddling benefits, Govt. can lock them up and throw the key away as far as I'm concerned, but for God's sake don't punish everybody.

Col

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In answer to post 50......I not only believe " babies for cash " situation is a career choice for many, but I know it to be true......Ask many young girls what they want to do after school and they wi

Pudsey the one eyed bear, I'd poke his other bloody eye out if I had my way, what a bloody embarassment, It's just another excuse for the so called do gooders, the likes of Bob (look how good I am) Ge

I have worked in some of the most deprived inner city schools in the Uk..........I now work unpaid with some of the most vulnerable in our society....there needs to be a welfare system to help those w

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Col,I said it in a previous post,a lot of what you say is valid,and money taxpayers coughup for support for the needy seem to be diverted to other things.,remember the stretch limo?? Yes kids are moulded by adults and are not born with a ub40 in their hand..many would argue otherwise!! It is frustrating though to see food banks being abused etc..more monitoring of poor parenting..and maybe like the old visiting midwife..show the whole household how to cook,clean and live a healthy way..in effect basic life skills..what There parents didn't do!! There is no quick fix..but as workers options are squeezed.. sympathy and mistrust flourish.To be honest I think charity begins at home..and I had a shit one!!

Ian, I know your heart's in the right place but much of what you are advocating is already happening via Surestart programmes. They're designined to improve parenting, support parents, involve parents in kids education, etc., etc.

And guess what?

They're being cut.

By who?

Three guesses.... :)

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I work in the private rented sector and see it all, from the best to the worst. Those that make a huge effort to get things right and those that take the pi$$ and scrounge for everything.

There may be children in need in this country but the fact is with our welfare state there should not be, but when the parents come home with one carrying a bag from the food bank and the other with 6 cans of Stella bought with money that should feed and clothe their children I have to ask where did it go wrong.

One thing I do know you didn't see many folks with their hands out in the 50s and 60s someone would only have spat in it anyway.

Your sentiments here are in direct conflict with your quotation from AESOP. So which is it? :)

Col

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My, my, this is getting to be a hot potato. I've re read this lot, and it is not a case of blaming everyone on benefits for the cash shortage or regarding them as parasitic leeches. Nor is it a pop at the residents of Bestwood estate. I can only report on what I see as I go there to pay my lottery there sometimes.

This government has rightly taken the steps to rectify a ludicrous situation instigated by the Bliar, Brown combination.

I too have relatives on benefits so I know the score there.

Something has GOT to be done to identify the true needy, and eliminate the parasites from the never ending take, take, take mentality

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When I read these I think there is a kernel of truth in what each person is getting at. This is not dialectical but multifaceted.

All views are reasonable and well argued.

The problem of poverty and disadvantage remain with us despite the heroic efforts of the previous generations.

Solutions to the problems of our benefits systems teaching people how to scrounge and be irresponsible have not yet been successful.

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DJ360.

You mentioned SureStart in your post, well my daughter works for them in quite a senior position, some of the stories she relates to me about "poor families" is laughable.

Take for instance the mother who complained that her kids were always hungry & had no decent shoes or clothes to wear.

After chatting with the mother it transpired that she could only "go out" with her mates two nights a week, only buy 1 X 20 pack of fags a day. She "had" to have her mobile & landline phone also she "had" to have all the Sky TV channels also she could no longer keep up with the cost of her driving lessons.

Most decent, hard working parents would love to live like that example, but can't. Welcome to the real world DJ 360.

Sadly my daughter is always sympathetic to these lost causes, I put it down to being in that line of work for so long she has been brainwashed. Some of the discussions me & her have would make your hair curl.

The benefit & blame anyone else culture is alive & well it seems.

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I notice everyone seems to be using the blanket term 'benefits' to lambast parts of our society. Of course I presume everyone is using the term solely for the 2.5% of benefit spending that goes on unemployment benefit. I mean with 47% of welfare spending going on pensions, The balance goes on subsidising low paid work and disability support. Surely our wrath should be aimed at all the large companies who pay so poorly that we have to subsidise that work out of the welfare pot via income support and housing benefit. Or maybe we could ask why people with significant private pensions or amassed wealth still get a state pension that could be used better elsewhere. Or maybe we could ask why millionaires still get child benefit. Scrounging is such a tip of the iceberg it's not what we should be worrying about. Nor is it what politicians should get away with telling us is the problem. Of course it's annoying seeing the odd scrote pretending to have a bad back or not trying to get work, but in monetary terms it's not worth expending much effort weeding such cases out. Of course what we can spend would be substantially different if we got all the 'offshore' companies and tax dodging individuals to pay up. In 2013 it was calculated that HMG collected £34 billion less tax than it should have whilst only 0.7% of benefit claims were thought to be fraudulent. Which should we be more concerned about?

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It doesn't matter, cheating is cheating. Also, I'm sick to death of folk knocking the rich and wealthy. Why should they subsidise the work shy and downright bone idle.

I'm also tired of hearing how much pensioners are costing the country too. I worked for 49 years and always paid into a pension scheme whenever possible. Why should I now be penalised.

What's the answer.... Euthanasia..... Thanks !

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When I started on my working life, I had dreams, hopes, ambitions, aspirations, wishes and needs. I always wanted to have a better house than my parents had when they were my age. I wanted to get better cars. I worked EVERY hour that was humanly possible to ensure that my two daughters had the best of everything. I always had a summer holiday as a kid, and I made sure my two did too.

I was only late for work TWICE in 49 years and only had a fortnight off due to a hernia operation.

I'm afraid my work ethics and ideals are now frowned upon by many of the younger generations. It's take take take all the time.

You only get out of lif what yo put in to it. So there's not much hope for the future is there?

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Yes. I'm suggesting that all benefits should be based on need, which means not giving welfare money to people who don't need it. I have friends with private pensions in the £30-£40,000 a year index linked. I don't see why we should be still giving them a state pension and bus pass. It really doesn't make sense. I have friends who are multi-millionaires and are entitled to child benefit. Does this make sense? The state pension was devised when private pensions were almost unheard of and were merely an attempt to make sure no-one ended up in poverty when they retired. With the adoption of index linked, final salary pensions, the state pensions should really have been reinvented as a top-up benefit rather than an automatic one but no political party will risk the grey vote. Don't forget, you have NOT contributed to your state pension pot, that's not how it works. In fact that's the problem. Your pension is now being paid by the workers of today, not by money you've prudently squirelled away. With the significantly increased life expectancy we enjoy now, the balance between people working to pay for this year's pensions and those collecting their pensions is not sustainable. When I was 18 or so, the average post-retirement life expectancy for a man was 7 years. Now it's 16 years so the total amount of state pension likely to be drawn on has more than doubled whilst, with more and more going to university, the length of working contribution has reduced. This inbalance is a far greater finacial problem for the country than a few scroungers. If we didn't pay the state pension to those who didn't need it, maybe we could provide better for those who do.

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I don't TOTALLY agree with it all, but it's well put.

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I just wonder whether, in light of all the changes to society since 1948, we need to re-examine the concept of 'welfare'. It seems to have grown to the point where it no longer addresses problems but maybe creates them. What exasperates me is the way certain politicians and the media try to distract us by blaming everything on a few sectors of society whilst the real problems are ignored. How many scroungers equate to the tax Amazon evades? How many people do we need to remove from disability benefit because of people like Saad Victoria avoiding paying £30 million in taxes by strategically going bust? How much could we increase heating allowance if Google paid taxes on British sales here? Our total benefit bill, which includes pensions, housing benefit, income support, jobseekers, disability, the whole lot, is about £166 billion, yet we allow companies to use loopholes and downright dishonesty to evade £34 billion a year. We have this strange culture where foreign companies can work here without paying tax, yet, on the other hand, our companies work abroad without paying taxes here either. It make so sense to allow this while demonising the small fry scrounger. Who's the biggest thief? Someone claiming disability by pretending to have a bad back or a CEO evading millions in taxes?

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Pudsey the one eyed bear, I'd poke his other bloody eye out if I had my way, what a bloody embarassment, It's just another excuse for the so called do gooders, the likes of Bob (look how good I am) Geldof,(used to sell drugs at pop festivals,by his own admission) the idiots on the BBC for their self gratification not forgetting all the other hangers on who could be in line for a knighthood for services to whoever, I often wonder how much of their own time and money they have thrown into the C in N pot very little I think, in this country we seem to be obsessed with starving children and for some reason the pensioners get the blame for taking a big chunk of money out of the pot, well they and the millions of tax paying workers have earned the right to that money and its upto them how they spend it,usually bringing up their family, Mrs P always says to me when this subject crops up " well they did'nt asked to be born" my reply is always " And I did'nt ask them to be born either "people should take responsibility for their own actions and not expect, as their right for others to pick up the tab, I know it's not easy but as a couple with a young family we went without luxuries such as big telly's, nights down the pub/club,expensive holidays etc we got through without those luxuries and survived and our kids all four of them have grown up with respect for others and have good jobs so they can pay their way,as someone put it in an earlier post charity begins at home,so Pudsey the stupid bear can go and swivvel

Rog

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Crikey, it's been a heavy morning already. I'd better get up and find the paracetamol!

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When the welfare system was first set up we as a country were not supporting the "starving millions" in Africa and other such countries, why should we have to support them now,we see images of all these mothers and children looking all pitiful yet for some reason we never see the fathers,if we must give these people assistance why not in the family planning department instead of financial department, we see images on the adverts just lately of some child walking miles twice a day to a dirty water supply to fill up her plastics drums with the dirty water then have to walk back to the village carrying the stuff, why on earth didn't they build the bloody village near the water supply then start the water cleansing operation, more cost effective surely, throwing money, our money is not the answer, the answer is education, better for the poor unfortunates, better for their country, better for us financially, I am just a thick quarry worker and I can see that throwing money (that we can't afford) at a problem isn't going to solve anything so why can't the so called educated people see it?

Rog

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I'm glad that not everyone cares so little about others. Whilst I don't really support Children in Need because it's inefficient, it might be helpful to highlight what the money IS spent on. Who here thinks that CiN shouldn't have helped this orgainisation for example?

When Daniel was 14, he was an A-grade student and sportsman, but one Christmas he developed
pneumococcal meningitis - an inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord – and it
took determination, spirit and support from Umbrella PALS to triumph over adversity.
Following several brain operations Daniel was finally allowed home on his 15th birthday and although he was
able to was able to walk again after spending a long time in a wheelchair, his confidence had been shattered,
his friends had moved to a new school and he found socialising difficult. He was also learning to cope with
being deaf in one ear and struggling with a poor memory.
It was then, that Daniel discovered Umbrella PALS, an organisation based in Derby set up to help disabled
children access activities and where a BBC Children in Need funded a part time Play and Leisure worker
helped him rebuild his social skills and confidence through talking to other young people his age.
The project also arranges activity days and trips away and enabled Daniel to do simple things like going out
for meals and bowling that he thought were beyond him.

Or maybe this organisation doesn';t deserve assistance

Louise Gough, from Midlothian in Scotland, is mum to five children, a long-term foster mum to another
four young people and a ‘community’ mum to many more.
Her three older sons have learning difficulties, her youngest boy has autism and two of the children she fosters
have severe autism. Her daughter Samantha-Louise, who’s 10, has a visual impairment and is deaf – it was after
her birth that she went looking for extra support and found Bright Sparks.
Since then, the group – which gives a safe place for disabled children to play and socialise – has evolved into
a busy organisation with long waiting lists, running clubs every night of the week and during the holidays.

So would anyone care to explain just whose fault autism or meningitis are? I guess it's down to the parents not having the right work ethic or something. Again a few of you seem to think it's all about 'scroungers'. Of course we can all agree or disagree with individual garnts but the concept of helping those with problems that luckily most of us will never have to is right. Just bear in mind that you haven't saved towards your state pension so effectively you'll be scrounging off this supposedly useless generation who apparently don't have any work ethic.

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#68. African villages have to be apart so that there is enough grazing and crop land for each village. They can't just move all the villages in the area into one place. Hence, people from all the villages have to walk to the one place there is water. See, even someone educated can work it out.

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In answer to post 50......I not only believe " babies for cash " situation is a career choice for many, but I know it to be true......Ask many young girls what they want to do after school and they will tell you .......get pregnant equates to meal ticket for 18 years without having to even think about a job interview, getting up early for the daily commute, working hard and saving for the future ........

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It can't help that it's so hard to get housing now though. when you think that it will cost about £1,000 in deposit and first month's rent just to get a flat, it's no wonder that girls with few qualifications see a baby as the only route to a house. The world is, in many ways, a harder one to make your way in than it used to be. First time buyers need such high deposits that it's a wonder anyone gets on the ladder any more. The days have also gone where you could put your name down for a council house at 18 and get one by the time you got married. Now you have to have special circumstances and jump to the head of the queue. The average person/family will never get enough points to get a council house.

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Indeed. The real reason why so many council houses were sold off was that the Conservative party felt that people who owned their own houses would be less likely to vote Labour. Whether that happened or not, it has created a situation now where far too many rented propeties are privately owned and social housing is in short supply. It's now a financial issue that housing benefit is higher as it is being paid on more private house rentals than council. The shortage also means that only those with 'problems' are eligible for social housing and everyone else is left to the 'market'. What is ridiculous is that for most, their rent is more than a mortgage would be on the property, yet they apparently wouldn't be able to afford a mortgage.

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