Displaying items by tag: Dickensian children
Dickensian Christmas even in 2017
People say Christmas is all about the children - and for Christians, one child in particular. But this year many children are faring badly in villages, towns and cities. Granada ITV news has been reporting on child poverty. Primary school staff spoke of hungry children, and parents collapsing in the school hall because they had not eaten for days so that their children could eat. Those parents were invited into the breakfast club for cereal and toast, and then referred to a foodbank. Other parents are being allowed to charge their phones and wash children’s clothes in the school, because they have no electricity or hot water at home. Coats and shoes are given to children who haven’t got them. The schools reported that they had seen a ‘noticeable rise’ in the numbers of working families who were in this kind of poverty. Mrs May was recently challenged in parliament about 128,000 children being homeless this Christmas.