Starving children have asked for school holiday meals from food bank

ALMOST 90 kids turned up at Glasgow food bank because parents were unable to provide meals for them.

HUNGRY children have been given emergency food packages during the school summer holidays, it was revealed yesterday. Nearly 90 youngsters on free school meals turned up at Glasgow’s Greater Maryhill Food Bank over a seven-day window at the start of August. And food bank co-ordinator Julie Webster, 38, confirmed the unit had seen a spike in the number of people asking for help over the holiday period.

She said: “The schools are off and the only nutritional meal some children get is a free meal at school.  We’ve had families come in and say they can’t provide lunch for their children. It’s heartbreaking. It was a big shock for me. It’s hardest when you see the children – they are the future generation. It must be one of the hardest things in life to come into a food bank and ask for help but I’m dragging people in off the street.”

The scale of food poverty was revealed as Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon visited Maryhill to kickstart a £518,000 Emergency Food Fund. Research by the Trussell Trust revealed the number of people using food banks in Scotland has soared by 400 per cent over the past 12 months.

In that period, 71,428 people were handed emergency parcels – including more than 22,000 children.

The Scottish Government’s EEF initiative will split a pot of cash to projects which dish out aid across 17 local authority areas. Sturgeon said: “There’s a direct correlation between the increase in demand for food banks and the welfare cuts Westminster are introducing. As a Scottish Government, we want to mitigate the impact of these cuts.

read the rest of this article here: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/starving-children-asked-school-holiday-4039159

Triple heart attack pensioner’s warned: Pay up or we’ll cut off your panic alarm

Triple heart attack pensioner’s warning from Glasgow City Council: Pay up or we’ll cut off your panic alarm

A FRAIL pensioner has been left fearing for her life because she can’t afford to pay new panic alarm charges.

Agnes Reilly has suffered three heart attacks in the past three years and only survived thanks to the emergency service.

But the 82-year-old says she may be forced to give up the vital alarm after being hit with a cash demand from Glasgow City Council.

Social work bosses are introducing a £3 per week charge from this month, and will cut off the service to elderly and vulnerable people who don’t pay.

The move comes just months after a former director was given a £600,000 golden handshake.

Social work boss David Crawford walked away from Glasgow City Council with the bumper package when he retired in December.

By then, his department had hit around 12,500 OAPs and disabled people with the £3 weekly charge for their panic alarms.

This sparked a furious reaction and 1650 people cancelled the service over the fees.

Agnes said: “I’ve had the buzzer for three years and I’ve used it for help three times in emergencies.

“The paramedics are always here within minutes. It has saved my life. I only get a basic pension and don’t have a lot of money to live on. It makes me really angry.”

Agnes can call for emergency assistance by pressing a button next to the phone – or on a chain that hangs round her neck.

The pensioner’s details are kept on record for a speedy response, which proved crucial when she suffered a third cardiac arrest just before Christmas last year.

Daughter Carol, 51, said: “My mum has used the alarm three times in emergencies and the last time was really serious. It was life or death.

“She fell in the bathroom. Her face was going blue and I put her in the recovery position until the paramedics arrived.

“I can’t believe the council are going to charge elderly people who depend on these panic alarms. It’s a lifeline for many pensioners.”

Carol lives with her mum in Pollok, Glasgow, and is her carer.

She was furious when the council first demanded money last year, and refused to pay for the service.

Carol said: “I told them we would not be paying a penny, and that I would fight this all the way.

“It’s unfair and a form of bullying to ask pensioners to pay up or hand over their panic alarms. I look after my mum but I can’t be here 24/7.”

Her mother received a follow-up letter from the council two weeks ago stating that the alarm system would be disconnected.

It reads: “You have contacted social work services to advise that you no longer wish/require the alarm and telecare service, now that a charge has been introduced.

“Therefore I am writing to confirm that your service will be discontinued from August 26, 2013.”

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “Financial assistance may be available to those who feel they will struggle to pay for the alarm service.”

 

By Mark McLean  in the Daily Record, 16th August 2013: http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/triple-heart-attack-pensioners-warning-2171990

Hungry ‘can’t afford to travel to food banks’

HUNGRY people in Glasgow are so hard up they can’t afford to travel across the city to access food banks, it has been claimed.

Vincent Chudy, the manager of Glasgow Central Citizens Advice Bureau, said his staff were referring desperate people to food banks but some could not afford the travel expenses to get there.

He spoke as it was revealed a new service was to be launched in Calton. It will be run by the Trussell Trust charity, which already has two food banks in Glasgow – in Scotstoun and Govanhill – and is in the process of developing another to cover the south west of the city.

Mr Chudy said: “Advisers at Glasgow Central CAB have already had to issue vouchers for the food banks in the south of Glasgow, but some people have no money for transport.”

The new Glasgow North East Food Bank is to be run from Calton Parkhead Parish Church and will open its doors on September 19. Ahead of the launch, volunteers are appealing to people to help them stock the cupboards with non-perishable food. A collection is being held on Saturday at Asda, Parkhead Forge, 10am- 5pm.

Reverend Alison Davidge, Minister for Calton Parkhead Parish Church, said: “We guarantee whatever you donate will go to someone in real need in your neighbourhood.”   The Evening Times reported last week on the Glasgow South East Food Bank in Govanhill, which gave out 3000 meals in a month. The service, managed by Audrey Flannagan, fed 219 adults and 116 children in June.

There are now 15 food banks across Glasgow – run by charities, church groups and volunteers.

All those who use the Trussell Trust food banks are referred there by social work, housing associations and the Citizens Advice Bureau. They are given vouchers, which are redeemed for bags of food. Mr Chudy added: “By linking in with food banks we are able to give advice to those in the most desperate situations and help these people resolve the underlying issues, such as benefit or debt problems. We have issued vouchers, but some people have no money for transport.

“Food banks are able to provide necessary short term relief but, at the same time, our social policy team is focusing on getting to the root of the problems and exploring why there has been recent need for food banks.

“By getting a true picture of the reasons why people in Glasgow are needing emer­gency food, we can use this information to tackle any under­lying policy problems.”

by Linzie Watson in the Glasgow ‘Evening Times’, 3oth July 2013: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/hungry-cant-afford-to-travel-to-food-banks-131844n.21731733

 

 

Amputee told he must pay £50 more per month after his mother is taken into care

AN amputee has fallen foul of the hated Bedroom Tax rules because his elderly mother has been forced to move to a care home.

Andrew McIntyre now has to find an extra £50 a month because he lives alone in a two-bedroom housing association flat.

Andrew, 50, who receives disability allowance, shared the flat with mum Agnes, 78, for seven years until her dementia meant she had to move to the care home last year.

Now Andrew has been told by his local housing association in Ibrox, Glasgow, that he must pay extra for the vacant bedroom in the two-bed flat in Brand Street.

However, his initial payments will top £50 per month because the fees are backdated to April.

Andrew, a former shop worker – who had lived with Agnes all his life – said: “If my mum’s dementia had not got to the stage where she had to go into a home, this would never have happened, so it has been a double blow really.

 

From the Daily Record 10 June 2013; http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/amputee-ordered-pay-50-per-month-bedroom-1942725