CROYDON COMMENTARY: The council last week launched a Food Stop service in Fieldway and New Addington, backed by a celebrity endorsement.
HELEN BENJAMINS, pictured right, doesn’t think this is anything to take pride in
This is shameful.
That the Government has desensitised the need for food to be subsidised is dire.
That we accept food banks and the need for places like this Food Stop, because families, both working and not, are struggling with the basic necessity of feeding themselves, is an act of gross negligence for any Government or political party.
We are not a third world country, nor are we the victims of a natural disaster, so why are we being expected to behave as if we are?
It seems to me that the dividing line for social economy isn’t, as we are led to believe, between North and South, but is very apparent right through where we live.
If all political views of Croydon being the “business hub” of the country and is being supported as such, and indeed, if Croydon is the go to place with a bright and invested in future, then can anyone tell me why it is that food has to be subsidised for its residents?
To actually have a “celebrity” endorse the need for such a place isn’t something we should be shouting about.
Or am I the only Croydon resident to feel that this latest development is not something to take pride in?
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Helen is right that the fact that the Food Stop is needed is an indictment of this government and it’s policies – and those of its predecessor too. But that there are good-hearted people willing to step in to try and alleviate the impact of the government’s failure is surely a cause for celebration?
Of course Bernard, any act of selfless kindness indeed does deserve and should be a cause for celebration. Surely though, should it not be the people who work so hard to support those less fortunate that should be celebrated and not, as in this instance, the cause?
Reblogged this on sed30's Blog and commented:
Sad to think 21st century and these places exist for those who live from hand to mouth in a modern society 😞
sed30
Yes it is terribly sad and depressing to think that in my home town, at a time when we are constantly being told of how wonderful Croydon is, that there are indeed, those among us, that really struggle to feed themselves and their families.
It will be Rememberance Sunday soon and I wonder now, how many of those young, heroic men who gave up their lives in order to make ours better, would have done so had they have known that there would be people who were in this awful situation, known of the ever increasing homeless to be found on our streets, that our beloved and revered NHS would be crumbling, that we would have an education system not able to provide the basic tools for children to learn, and by that I mean books, pens and pencils, real basic stuff, that unless you are in a considerably well paid job, suffice to say one paying a heck of a lot more than the Govt.s ‘Living Wage’, (that’s a subject that deserves its own article at least), there will be no homes for our youth in this borough?
I was born and raised in Croydon, spending many years living on the council estate of New Addington. Back then I was proud to live where I did, not only to be surrounded by such beautiful countryside, accessible on foot, but there really was a community spirit. People cared for each other. Anyone who lived there in the 70’s or even the 80’s will tell you the same, everyone knew each other and looked out for one another. My mum worked for 30 odd years in the Post Office and I couldn’t get away with anything, everyone knew her. People had time for people and profit wasn’t a word given any thought. Now, sadly, it is all different. All that seems to matter is the profit.
This is not the place of my memories or the generations of my family that lived here before me. I will be moving within the next couple of years and I won’t be saying farewell through nostalgia induced tears for there is nothing of what I remember, left.