Middle class, professional... and forced to feed our families from food banks

[Warlord]

Returning to her £1.6million London home, Faye Davies Fuller took a minute on the doorstep to compose herself, shielding her three children from her tears.

How on earth had it come to this — being handed food tokens at the Citizens’ Advice Bureau to supplement her measly £54-a-month Universal Credit payment — when, until nine months ago, Faye and her husband, Darren, had a six-figure income between them?

The answer, of course, is the global pandemic, which has taken a devastating toll on countless hard-working people and utterly crushed the live events industry in which Faye, 42, earned her living as a freelance executive producer.

‘I was preparing for a corporate event in Copenhagen at the end of March when Covid brought everything to a standstill,’ recalls Faye. ‘I lost all my income and, being the sole director of my limited company, I wasn’t entitled to any of the grant money the Government gave to sole traders.

Meanwhile, my husband, an estate agent, was furloughed, which meant his income fell by 20 per cent. As a household, we lost 70 per cent of our income in one fell swoop.

‘As Darren’s income was taken into account when they assessed my claim — despite the fact it nowhere near covers our hefty mortgage, bills and other outgoings — I was only entitled to £54 a month in Universal Credit.’

With their savings all gone — together with the proceeds from selling off any bits of furniture, electronics and clothes the family could live without — and desperate for ways to feed her three kids, Faye turned to her local Citizens’ Advice Bureau for help in August.

She was given the option of either having food parcels delivered or vouchers she could exchange for goods at her local food bank.

Some may struggle to sympathise with the plight of a family who have long been so fortunate — especially when many thousands of others, already struggling to make ends meet, have had their lives utterly destroyed by the pandemic. Faye is keenly aware of this.

‘I felt so ashamed that it had come to this,’ she says.

‘I couldn’t bear the thought of someone from a less affluent area, or a smaller house, turning up at my front door with provisions and thinking: “What the hell are they doing asking for food parcels when they live in this massive house?”,’ says Faye.

‘And pride wouldn’t allow me to go to the food bank myself. I imagined people looking at me and thinking: “She doesn’t need to be here!”’ So she turned down the food bank vouchers she was offered.

‘Still, I really didn’t know how we would manage without this help.

‘Fortunately, when I mentioned my fears to a friend, it turned out her mum volunteered at a nearby food bank and she has packed a bag and delivered it to me, without shame or fanfare, every week since.’

Admittedly, it’s a far cry from the homemade crab ravioli and Goan fish curries the family love.

‘It might not be the kind of food we’d have eaten in the past but it contains all the pantry basics — rice, pasta, tuna, beans — from which you can always make something,’ says Faye. ‘I try to make it into a game with the children, saying: “Let’s see what’s in the bags this week and what we can create from it.”’

The startling reversal of the family’s fortunes illustrates the sweeping and indiscriminate economic devastation wrought by the pandemic.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9011057/Middle-class-professional-forced-feed-families-food-banks.html

 

[Si1]

"despite the fact it nowhere near covers our hefty mortgage, bills and other outgoings"

[spyguy]

Sell her 1.8m.

Take 500k, buy a nice big house in Scabby.

Feed family with return on 1m.

Sorted.

 

 

 

[Warlord]

 

Sell her 1.8m.

Take 500k, buy a nice big house in Scabby.

Feed family with return on 1m.

Sorted.

 

 

 

Yup.

She is going to have to leave London. Oh, the horror

[smash]

 

Sell her 1.8m.

Take 500k, buy a nice big house in Scabby.

Feed family with return on 1m.

Sorted.

 

 

 

West London house brought 15 years ago and what/where was the previous house and the gainz on that? Pictures of glum looking children and sob stories and stigma of food banks, these people have been gifted vast sums for doing jack.

[reddog]

Surely they should be forced to sell the house before they can use the food bank?

[spyguy]

 

West London house brought 15 years ago and what/where was the previous house and the gainz on that? Pictures of glum looking children and sob stories and stigma of food banks, these people have been gifted vast sums for doing jack.

Put some number in.

She claims to be 42, 42-15 = 27.

Quite a young age to be buying a 1.8m in London. OK they are stupidly expensive now.

2020-15 = 2006 - Peak IO resi mortgage

She should not be having an issue with the mortgage - unless its an IO/leveraged up.

Compared to Scabby. where prices doubled+ 2002-2005 and have been same price now, for ~16 years, London was niflated by gormless leverage.

Looking at the empty streets, it looks like London is going to collapse.

London rices appears to be have falling he last 4-5 years.

There might be antoehr big whoosh as they return ot ~2005 prices.

 

 

 

[Warlord]

 

Surely they should be forced to sell the house before they can use the food bank?

AFAIK if you're on benefits you can access a food bank. They ask  to see the letter from the DWP.  

Now I think it is ludicrous that someone with a house like that can access any benefit anyway

 

[Si1]

 

Surely they should be forced to sell the house before they can use the food bank?

+1

[Si1]

 

Put some number in.

She claims to be 42, 42-15 = 27.

Quite a young age to be buying a 1.8m in London. OK they are stupidly expensive now.

2020-15 = 2006 - Peak IO resi mortgage

She should not be having an issue with the mortgage - unless its an IO/leveraged up.

Compared to Scabby. where prices doubled+ 2002-2005 and have been same price now, for ~16 years, London was niflated by gormless leverage.

Looking at the empty streets, it looks like London is going to collapse.

London rices appears to be have falling he last 4-5 years.

There might be antoehr big whoosh as they return ot ~2005 prices.

 

 

 

If the money propping it up is this dumb, yes.

[sammersmith]

Their beautiful Edwardian five-bedroom home in West London, where they have lived for 15 years, is now on the market and, once it’s sold, the family will move to Dorset or Devon, using the equity from their home to buy a place outright, hopefully with outbuildings they can convert into holiday accommodation.

Although Faye and Darren, 49, hope to return to work when normal life resumes, holiday rentals would potentially give them another source of income, should their industries be hit again.

FFS! Their solution to protect themselves from losing work owing to coronavirus is to move into holiday rentals? These people are insane! All of life’s problems can be solved by some other property project it seems. 

Have they researched how established Devon/Dorset holiday rentals have been coping during the pandemic or have they just been watching reruns of ‘escape to the country’ during lockdown? 

[elephant]

How can a couple earning that sort of money not have sufficient reserves/savings/investments to see them through times like this?  They had enough to last less than 9 months.  Constantly p1ss3d it all up the wall on pointless trinkets I guess.

[spyguy]

 

How can a couple earning that sort of money not have sufficient reserves/savings/investments to see them through times like this?  They had enough to last less than 9 months.  Constantly p1ss3d it all up the wall on pointless trinkets I guess.

I think we are about to see London/South go back t pries that the North has been stuck on since ~2005ish.

Again, London prices appear to have been falling for 4-5 years.

Covid is going to knock a few more years off.

 

 

[erat_forte]

I lost all my income and, being the sole director of my limited company, I wasn’t entitled to any of the grant money the Government gave to sole traders

 

How does this work? Is this one of those wheezes where you have no "income" and instead get money out of the company as dividends or something to avoid income tax and NI?

[Si1]

 

Their beautiful Edwardian five-bedroom home in West London, where they have lived for 15 years, is now on the market and, once it’s sold, the family will move to Dorset or Devon, using the equity from their home to buy a place outright, hopefully with outbuildings they can convert into holiday accommodation.

Although Faye and Darren, 49, hope to return to work when normal life resumes, holiday rentals would potentially give them another source of income, should their industries be hit again.

FFS! Their solution to protect themselves from losing work owing to coronavirus is to move into holiday rentals? These people are insane! All of life’s problems can be solved by some other property project it seems. 

Have they researched how established Devon/Dorset holiday rentals have been coping during the pandemic or have they just been watching reruns of ‘escape to the country’ during lockdown? 

this is the economy that MArk Carney built, where he was being vigilant and meaning all you needed to do was load up on debt.

My suspicion is that, as with all deflating bubbles, it will deflate faster than they can liquidate, and they won't be able to buy that holiday let in the West Country.

that's actually the everyday food I feed my kids - except the weetabix are a more expensive brand than I get

those kitchen units look like they cost a tidy penny

Edited December 3, 2020 by Si1

[Warlord]

 

I lost all my income and, being the sole director of my limited company, I wasn’t entitled to any of the grant money the Government gave to sole traders

 

How does this work? Is this one of those wheezes where you have no "income" and instead get money out of the company as dividends or something to avoid income tax and NI?

Yes. She will be paying herself a salary and dividends... 

[Warlord]

 

this is the economy that MArk Carney built, where he was being vigilant and meaning all you needed to do was load up on debt.

My suspicion is that, as with all deflating bubbles, it will deflate faster than they can liquidate, and they won't be able to buy that holiday let in the West Country.

that's actually the everyday food I feed my kids - except the weetabix are a more expensive brand

those kitchen units look like they cost a tidy penny

@spyguypointed out it goes back to 2006 (15 years)- the Height of the Blair/Brown 'Labour boom' time .. she is a product of that,. Carney came along a lot later!

Bit like Sir Philip Green but on a smaller scale!

 

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Warlord

[Si1]

 

@spyguypointed out it goes back to 2008  - the Height of the Blair/Brown 'Labour boom' time .. she is a product of that,. Carney came along a lot later!

Bit like Sir Philip Green but on a smaller scale!

 

 

indeed

[winkie]

 

Yup.

She is going to have to leave London. Oh, the horror

Some would say, why live in London if got no job in London? Forced decisions are sometimes the best decisions......

Humble pie......can eat some of that.

[Si1]

not sure their house is likely worth 1.6 mil or whatever:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=32578559&sale=84071871&country=england

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/w5/church-lane.html

https://companycheck.co.uk/director/909778315/MS-FAYE-DAVIES-FULLER/summary

The combined cash at bank value for all businesses where FAYE holds a current appointment equals £0, a combined total current assets value of £18 with a total current liabilities of £29.6k and a total current net worth of £-18.7k. Roles associated with Ms Faye Davies Fuller within the recorded businesses include: Company Secretary

https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/08/fears-for-uks-1000000-event-workers-with-companies-facing-ruin-by-end-of-year-13391180/

‘It doesn’t necessarily help when you’ve got the likes of Rishi Sunak and (former Tory MP) Edwina Curry telling us just to go and get any old job or re-train. Well that doesn’t pay the bills unfortunately.’

(actually that's the point...)

 

[Warlord]

 

not sure their house is likely worth 1.6 mil or whatever:

 

‘It doesn’t necessarily help when you’ve got the likes of Rishi Sunak and (former Tory MP) Edwina Curry telling us just to go and get any old job or re-train. Well that doesn’t pay the bills unfortunately.’

(actually that's the point...)

 

Her non-job has disappeared . She is going to have to seriously adapt 

[spyguy]

 

@spyguypointed out it goes back to 2006 (15 years)- the Height of the Blair/Brown 'Labour boom' time .. she is a product of that,. Carney came along a lot later!

Bit like Sir Philip Green but on a smaller scale!

 

 

Phillip Green is pure Brownian creation.

He was crappy  market trader who, due to Brown's gormless rules that allowed the banks to grow their 'assets' by 10%/year from ~1999, was able to borrow ~1bln to buy Arcadia. With absolute no diea on how to run it.

The job losses by the sot of leveraged loons (called Fat Bloke Finance, and the subsequent blowing up of the banks, followed by the bankruptcy of the   likes of Debenham Top Shop, AA (cars) are all down to Brown and his gormless financial sector.

 

 

[spyguy]

 

not sure their house is likely worth 1.6 mil or whatever:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=32578559&sale=84071871&country=england

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/w5/church-lane.html

https://companycheck.co.uk/director/909778315/MS-FAYE-DAVIES-FULLER/summary

The combined cash at bank value for all businesses where FAYE holds a current appointment equals £0, a combined total current assets value of £18 with a total current liabilities of £29.6k and a total current net worth of £-18.7k. Roles associated with Ms Faye Davies Fuller within the recorded businesses include: Company Secretary

https://metro.co.uk/2020/10/08/fears-for-uks-1000000-event-workers-with-companies-facing-ruin-by-end-of-year-13391180/

‘It doesn’t necessarily help when you’ve got the likes of Rishi Sunak and (former Tory MP) Edwina Curry telling us just to go and get any old job or re-train. Well that doesn’t pay the bills unfortunately.’

(actually that's the point...)

 

I think she *NEEDS* her house to be worth 1.6m ... otherwise all the work (cough) and struggle over the last 15-20 years have come to naught ....

Whether it is is another thing altogether.

Its me pension, me income, me selfworth ....

 

[simon2]

Doesn't add up to me.

Even at £530k, they afforded that in 2005? Seems like self-cert mortgage or parents paying for it. Unless they have constantly remortgaged there is 5 years left on the house, that means a shitload of equity. 

No sympathy really, they are the winners from the system, not the losers. 

[Si1]

 

I think she *NEEDS* her house to be worth 1.6m ... otherwise all the work (cough) and struggle over the last 15-20 years have come to naught ....

Whether it is is another thing altogether.

Its me pension, me income, me selfworth ....

 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85305958#/