Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts

Monday, 5 January 2015

Are we getting our priorities straight?

As the clock counted down to the new year, people all over the UK gathered around television screens or headed for London and other cities around the UK to watch impressive firework displays.




They estimate that 100,000 people showed up and paid £10 to watch the massive display that cost a whopping 1.8 million.

If you combine all the displays held in the UK that night alone, imagine the overall expense.

And that's fine, who doesn't love a good celebration right!

The problem is, not everyone can afford to celebrate. In fact an estimated 13 Million UK residence now live below the poverty line.

Which means many families are having to turn to foodbanks for help. In 2013-14 foodbanks in the UK fed 913,138 people nationwide and statistics provided by The Trussell Trust say that 330,250 of those helped were children.

Given those statistics can we really justify a 1.8 million pound bill for a firework display that lasted just over 10 minuets.

 That's far from the only money wasting that been going on either. The Royal family cost us an extortionate 33.3 Million between 2012-2013 and there cost apparently rise on a yearly basis. On top of that, the belief that they create revenue by attracted tourist is untrue. In fact the only time that the revenue created from tourism that can be directly attributed to the Royal family has come anywhere close to covering the costs of having them, has been when there have been special events such as wedding and births and the buildings an history alone could continue to draw tourist, even once the Royals were cast out. So why do we insist in supporting a family and providing them with untold luxury at our expense, when so many others in the UK are struggling to feed their children.




And then there was the 2012 Olympics, which cost an eye watering £8.77 bn. The reality is all of these things have something in common. They are designed to impress. To say look at us, how big and expensive everything we do is, which begs the question posed as the title of this post.

Are we getting our priorities straight?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and feelings on this matter in the comments.

love and hugs
Joss xxx





Thursday, 10 March 2011

Famouse, rich and in the slums





The second part of this programme aired in the UK last night, and was heart wrenching, for those who didn’t get to see it, four Celebrities, were sent into the into Kibera, which is one of the biggest slum’s in the world.
The four celebrities that had to face the difficulties of the Kibera slum are Angela Rippon, Lenny Henry, Samantha Womack and Reggie Yates





Each of them in the second program was sent to live with the people that are faced with a life in the slums, everyday, and Lenny Henry really had it rough when he was sent to live with a group of orphaned children who lived in a single tiny room, that was stuck between two public toilets which are really just holes in the ground. The Stench was so bad Lenny Henry could barely stand it.
And the situation the children faced was so heartbreaking that Lenny broke the rules of the program that stated they were not allowed to use their own money in anyway but were to live as the people would, when he refused to allow the kids to continue living like that for a moment longer, and brought them a house.
I was crying my heart out as these kids were finely given a chance in life, and think that Lenny Henry is awesome.
But Lenny was not the only star to offer help to these wonderful people, who despite living a life of little hope, cling onto their dreams and keep smiling.
It drives me mad that there are so many that say we should be helping the people in our own country and not people aboard the reality is that most people in our own country even those who are homeless have options, have schemes in place to try and improve their situation. That is not the case in the Kibera slum, if you do not have money you do not eat it is that simple.
The way I see it, we are all human beings regardless of where we live and we all deserve a chance to live out of poverty, I think what red nose day does is amazing.
And I will be supporting them one hundred percent.
If you didn’t get to watch the program it is a must watch, but make sure you have the tissues handy.