Why is there a need for foodbanks?

The Trussell Trust runs a network of over 300 church-led foodbanks which provide emergency food to people in crisis, and signpost people to other services able to help them address the underlying cause of the problem.
Redundancy, sickness, reduced working hours, benefit delays and domestic violence are just some of the reasons people turn to UK foodbanks.
Recently, squeezed incomes and rising living costs have caused more people across the UK to struggle to make ends meet, and The Trussell Trust is concerned that April’s proposed welfare and tax reforms will see numbers needing emergency food increase further. We’ve just launched an urgent Easter Appeal to help meet the anticipated demand.
We’re already seeing families whose incomes are stretched to breaking point turn to foodbanks because they cannot afford food. Almost five million people are in food poverty in the UK, and any further rises in prices or reductions in incomes will hit people in poverty hard. Numbers helped by Trussell Trust foodbanks are expected to top 300,000 this financial year, and April’s tax and welfare reforms will squeeze finances even further, making it easier for people to hit a crisis that forces them to go hungry.
There’s a misconception that UK hunger is about homelessness, but the reality is that one in every five UK mums regularly skips meals to feed her children, and less than five per cent of foodbank clients are homeless. Foodbanks are seeing working people come in on their lunch breaks.
Recent research commissioned by Kellogg’s shows that the UK’s poorest are spending nearly 25 per cent of their income on food, and that people are spending 20 per cent more on food than five years ago – but eating seven per cent less. Many of the poorest have cut back on fruit (20%) and vegetables (12%) to make ends meet.
The Trussell Trust partners with local churches and communities to run foodbanks providing three days’ emergency food to people in crisis. The Trust is also working hard to raise the profile of UK hunger, especially amongst policy-makers, so that the public and politicians of all parties are informed of the reality of UK food poverty.

Answer to a Prayer

Within a 2 week period the following occurred and i consider it amazing and the answer to a prayer.

Me - 2 New Jobs - Sunnymead Holiday Park and KH Homecare
Steven - Job at Goblins Pantry
Andy - Job at Manor Park
Micheal - Agency work potentially leading to a permanent Job
Hana - 3 Interviews and offered all of the Jobs.
Jon - Job at Norse, temporary and could lead to something more permanent.

If this is not God working for us i do not know what is.

The Judas Tree

In Hell there grew a Judas Tree
Where Judas hanged and died
Because he could not bear to see
His master crucified
Our Lord descended into Hell
And found his Judas there
For ever haning on the tree
Grown from his own despair
So Jesus cut his Judas down
And took him in his arms
"It was for this I came" he said
"And not to do you harm
My Father gave me twelve good men
And all of them I kept
Though one betrayed and one denied
Some fled and others slept
In three days' time I must return
To make the others glad
But first I had to come to Hell
And share the death you had
My tree will grow in place of yours
Its roots lie here as well
There is no final victory
Without this soul from Hell"
So when we all condemned him
As of every traitor worst
Remember that of all his men
Our Lord forgave him first

D. Ruth Etchells

Silent Night by Tom Barber

Sam Archer Book 4

 This is the second Sam Archer book, i have read, a very good story and well written.

A man is found dead in Central Park on a cold December morning. There are no knife or gunshot wounds. No signs of violence. But beside the body is a box containing a cracked vial. Suspecting he died from some sort of biological attack, a lab team screen the body.

What they find is deeply unsettling.

Seven months after he left the ARU, Sam Archer is now a 3rd Grade Detective in the NYPD's Counter Terrorism Bureau. However, things haven't gone as expected. Most of his new squad have welcomed him. Others haven't. But when he and the rest of his five man team are called in urgently and told of the situation, all personal differences need to be put aside.

It's been confirmed the man in Central Park was killed by an unknown strain of a toxic pneumonic virus. Once inhaled, there is no chance of survival. The victim dies quickly, violently and in agonising pain. There is no antidote. No one knows where it has come from, who planted it in the Central Park and why. No ransom demands or threats have been received.

'This is our responsibility', the squad is told.

'We need to find out where the hell this came from and take it back.'

As Archer and the other detectives scour the city for answers, they soon discover that they are not alone in wanting to get their hands on the virus. There are others, people with far more sinister motives who will kill anyone who gets in their way. Piece by piece, Archer and his new team learn just what this virus is and where it came from.

They also discover that someone intends to release it in the city.

As people around him start going down, Archer must battle to stay one step ahead of his enemy in the race to find this toxic weapon. As anonymous strangers start to target him and his team, Archer must desperately do everything he can to both stay alive and take this virus back before more people die.

However, he is already too late.

Eat a Rainbow

A Cold Harbour by Martin Keable

A  great book, i thoroughly enjoyed it, a refreshingly different storyline

A DISTURBING DISCOVERY In the pockets of a dead man are sweets, a child's toy and a hair band. A paedophile's toolkit? Or simply the detritus any father would carry? A DYSFUNCTIONAL TEAM Six months into the job and DC Chris raine finds himself propping up a flagging CID team. His boss is distracted and his Sergeant isn't all she appears. A CONFLICT OF EMOTIONS Can raine overcome personal and professional conflicts in the hunt for a brutal killer?

Mixed Neurodevelopmental disorder

Sophie, Jen, Andy and Bob attended an appointment with a Doctor Rashmi Adiga a child psychologist for what we hoped would be the start of a general reassessment, however unfortunately it was most unsatisfactory.

Dr Adiga had quite obviously not done her homework, she asked inappropriate questions in front of Sophie regarding her biological parentage, as Sophie’s biological Father is not allowed contact with her. At this stage of her life, Sophie has not been informed of him, because of her lack of understanding.

A teachers assistant was called in, we had no knowledge of who this teachers assistant is, she never introduced herself and has never attended an Annual Review.  Her input was unhelpful and misleading, according to her Sophie is perfect at school and all the problems are caused by her brother. At the moment Sophie is fixated with her brother, her brother is not blameless, but he is not solely responsible.

The report by Dr Melanie Bruce and Dr Bakka was ignored and not taken onboard.

Dr Adiga said none of the symptoms described were consistent with ADHD, and we had to make a suggestion about the possibility of Autism, she then said she would send out a questionnaire.

Dr Bakka specifically asked for support with bedwetting and this was never bought up.

The meeting was unsatisfactory and offhand and Dr Adiga couldn’t get rid of us fast enough.

Dr Adiga did suggest it could be Mixed Neurodevelopmental disorder 

A neurodevelopmental disorder,^[1] or disorder of neural development, is an impairment of the growth and development of the brain or central nervous system. A narrower use of the term refers to a disorder of brain function that affects emotion, learning ability and memory and that unfolds as the individual grows. The term is sometimes erroneously used as an exclusive synonym for autism and autism spectrum disorders.
Disorders considered neurodevelopmental in origin, or that have neurodevelopmental consequences when they occur in infancy and childhood include:

• Autism and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger syndrome
• Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
• Traumatic brain injury, (including congenital injuries such as those that cause cerebral palsy^[2])
• Communication, speech and language disorders
• Genetic disorders, such as fragile-X syndrome
• Down syndrome.^[3]

Neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with widely varying degrees of mental, emotional, physical, and economic burden to individuals, families and society in general.

There are many causes of neurodevelopmental disorder, which can range from deprivation, genetic and metabolic diseases, immune disorders, infectious diseases, nutritional factors, physical trauma, and toxic and environmental factors.
Some neurodevelopmental disorders—such as autism and other pervasive developmental disorders—are considered multifactorial syndromes (with many causes but more specific neurodevelopmental manifestation).^[4] However other multifactorial syndromes such as Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections (PANDAS) are presently thought to have a more specific primary causation as well as a specific neurodevelopmental manifestation.

Kindle

Bob treated me to a new Kindle today, so i now have a Kindle as well as a  Kindle app on my phone and my PC, so i can swap reading the same book between devices, good times.

20 Years in Guiding

Tonight at the District Meeting i was presented with my 20yr Bar.

However in my records it is the following:-

My records show i joined Guiding on 22nd January 1991
Go says i joined on 22nd January 1993

I got my 20yr bar tonight :)