View Full Version : Homeaid Caithness
cuddlepop
13-Feb-06, 19:43
What do people think of this charity?Is it a good idea to for some people to obtain furniture that they could have got themselves if they saved up.?Are we becoming a hand out state?Is there any security checks carried out to see if the people are genuine in there need?
We are thinking about starting something here so are interested in how it is working there and yes i will phone them myself and hear the political spin which they will spout.Thats why i'm asking the forum.:grin:
philupmaboug
13-Feb-06, 20:03
With such a cynical view of life do you think that starting a charitable aid is you forte??
i dont know much about the charity but i dont agree to bums that have to intention of working getting hand outs, not that i am saying this charity does this but have heard they do.
some people would rather live of the state than get up and do a days work. dont get me started on it as it really annoys me
think its a good idea in general. sometimes you see who they give stuff to and your like eeehhh. when we started out we took a loan from the bank. thou homeaid didnt exist then.
lassieinfife
13-Feb-06, 20:26
works well here in fife................. sureley ots better for furniture etc to be recycled than end up filling landfill sites?............
Alice in Blunderland
13-Feb-06, 20:31
Not everyone is in a financial position to be able to get credit/loans and home aid can sometimes be the start a lot of people need to help get them going.Like everything else in life it is open to abuse and people are willing to abuse it and use it for their own gain but its human nature some folks are genuine others are as crooked as they come.
I'm confused. Are you all talking about charity or state???? They are not one and the same. Charity shop: recycles and gives use to something that someone else found no use for. Laudable by any standards. State and benefits: maintains people who cannot care for themselves. Laudable when authentic and outrages when not. I do not see the connection between charity and state, sorry.
Anyone starting out their home can use some second hand stuff. Hands up everyone who made do with amatress on the floor at some time when starting their home? Or who got auntie mables old couches or gran's cutlery?
cuddlepop
13-Feb-06, 21:44
Ju , living of the state or any other reference to it can include charity hand outs depending on who says it.What I am asking is what opion people have of the service.I'm all for using other peoples furniture etc .Its whether or not there is a criteria attach to the said item being given.The scheme as Alice as rightly said can be abused.:confused
Is this being set up to recycle the decent stuff that gets put into the bin at the Wick recyclng centre?
When my son moved back down the road, he put a fair bit in that bin,as he was moving from a 3-bed to a flat, but he never knew who organised the disbursement.
I agree with Alice_in_Blunderland.......
Everybody doesn't have the wherewithal to set themselves up in a home even using second-hand goods, and many people who find themselves in that position may well not have people from whom they can acquire even the bare necessities.
There are certainly those who would, and probably will, take advantage, but I'd rather see those who really need it being helped, rather than do nothing in case there is abuse of the system.
Ju, let me explain the way things work.
If I can have it and they can't then that's fair because I'm deserving of it.
If I can't have it and they can then that's not fair because they are lazy, idle, no good scroungers who want everything giving to them at my expense.
It's called "Caring for the Needy", or more usually, "Charity begins at home and at my home only!"
Alice in Blunderland
13-Feb-06, 22:23
Okay so the happily married mother of three, whose husband decides he no longer wants extra baggage finds herself out of a house living with parents and working part time.Rather than living off the parents gets a council house doesnt bother fighting the husband for half the furniture as its more hassle than its worth and she is already at her wits end turns to home aid.Within no time she has the basic furnishings for a house for her and her kids.This is what they are there for she has found that her personal situation has thrown her at the mercy of the social system we are not talking luxury items we are talking basics and not modern latest gear yes open to abuse by the next person who comes along and says I want it so Ill try and blag it....the system is not foolproof but is a lifeline for some who are genuinely less fortunate than others.
r.rackstraw
13-Feb-06, 23:11
I have given furniture and appliances to Homeaid a couple of times. Better than it going to the dump.
I think Homeaid is doing a good job and deserves support.
http://www.homeaid.org.uk/
We also gave to home aid it's a good charity and i think that they should give to people that really in need of it ie single mums and and family on low low income that are starting out on there own as it hard to furnish a house when on the minimum wage as i was in that position my self i dont think there's any thing wrong with second hand good and when you have the money to buy something new you apprecate it more then. ( keep the good work up )
I have given furniture to homeaid there is always someone worse off than ourselves.
I have also given to home aid and when i was first starting out got a few thing of them .
Alice in Blunderland
14-Feb-06, 00:15
I think they do an excellent job and unless you have been in that situation you cannot fully appreciate them.I understand people will think go out and work for it but it is truly easier said than done in some situations. Any organisation helping those less off are to be commended.
One has to have been down and completely out to really appreciate the services supplied by people like Home-aid.So what,if a few less needy cases get what they don't really need or deserve.What they get was discarded as scrap anyway. And not everyone finds it easy to get work or to save money which they haven't got.
Those of you who are puting this service down because of the few who abuse it should spend some time on the road with nothing and see for themselves what it is like to have nothing in this reality.
Absolutely Gleber2
When you have walked away from a situation with nothing except your clothes and duvets then you can pontificate about "scroungers and wasters". This organisation does a great job and means that people can begin to make a home where they might not have been able to do so otherwise. And cuddlepop as for "security checks" to make sure they are needy enough???? Whats this? You have one chair and there is only one of you so we wont give you any more? Give over:roll:
This is a good idea but like everything else its open to abuse.
Gleber2, Squidge, what you is very right and I am in full agreement.
I am fortunate, and it is nothing more than fortune for anybody, not to have been in that position. That can never give me the right to sneer at those who have. "There but for the Grace of God go I."
At any stage in life you can be subjected to illness, accident or misfortune, sometimes beyond your control, which could mean that you are incapable of looking after yourself or working so you can provide for yourself.
It can happen to anybody at any time and just because it hasn't happened yet is no reason to be smug!
Maybe those who are quick to condemn should try walking out of their home with nothing but two kids and a suitcase of clothes. For goodness sake, if you don't need the old suite because you can afford a new one, isn't it better in somebody's "new" home rather than in the land refill?
We have charities like that down here. Works well and used by all walks of life. I myself have received and given.
I think charities like homeaid are in principle a great idea, I'm not 100% sure how homeaid in particular works - perhaps someone could explain it to me.
My only experience of them was trying to give them a perfectly good 3 piece suite which they refused to take, when I mentioned this in company, several other people had had the same experience, one lady tried to give them a suite that was only a year old and was told they didn't want it because it was flowerey!
I'm sure they have storage problems at times which makes it difficult for them to accept everything, but I'm pretty sure that people who are so desperate as to need this service won't care if the suite has a flower pattern or not!
Another guy tried to give them a lovely living room unit and was told these units are too old fashioned. I'm all for other people getting some use out of things I no longer need and was really upset to see my suite going in the back of the scarffy truck when I knew fine well it would have done somebody for a couple of years no problem.
Perhaps someone could explain to the community in general what homeaid actually want from the public and how it is distributed
cezzy1234
14-Feb-06, 13:01
hi it would be alot better if you started up an auction as all the one now have closed i dont think its far peopole have to give stuff for free and then in the home aid shop people have to buy them.Its not fair on the people how think ther stuff is going to people how need it are geting sold for a lot of money in the shop.
cuddlepop
14-Feb-06, 13:28
We have an organisation in Skye who supports people with mental health issues.They have an old shed which they use to store unwanted furniture.This is then given to those in need.Here too the charity has declined unwanted furniture mainly due to storage problems.
What the problem here is that some people may or may not be abusing the system for either profit or drink or drugs.Thats why i mentioned security checks.
How would you feel if your goods were being sold for someones habit?I no i'd not like it and be less inclined to give again.:confused
All too often you think it will never happen to you but believe me it can.Its very reassuring to no that these org exist when you walk away with nothing.There just needs to be better control I think
Alice in Blunderland
14-Feb-06, 14:55
I for one would not like to sit and judge if people were truly in need or not.These organisations are there to help if it is abused by the receiver then there is nothing else that can be done,for as many people who receive properly, there will be those out for themselves.If in the first instance its done for all the right reasons then is that not the aim of the organisation.We can all say what if ,oh but, they might, you would be forever wondering,its the same as people who get things on credit/ hp and then sell it on for whatever reason they need the cash for no one checks this before giving clearance to hand over the goods. All systems are open to abuse that is sadly the way of the world today....
alistair harper
14-Feb-06, 16:12
I have read all issues on this topic and digusted by some people 's views
unless like my self at one time i too used home aid not to profit from them but i could not afford the basic furniture some things people take for granted
like a bed.tv.washing machine fridge some people can be down on there luck and my moto is if it can be used give it to someone who needs it why throw it away. i think its a great charity and now that i can afford things and i dont need them i give them to the red cross or home aid i dont ask for anything in return if it makes one persons life a little bit better i say good luckto homeaid
just like phill collins song think twice
next time it could be you
hi it would be alot better if you started up an auction as all the one now have closed i dont think its far peopole have to give stuff for free and then in the home aid shop people have to buy them.Its not fair on the people how think ther stuff is going to people how need it are geting sold for a lot of money in the shop.
I don't know about anyone else but I for one am happy to put my unwanted items to Charity shops for them to sell on, people don't HAVE to give to them and can sell their items privately if they wish. Those who give, I am sure don't grudge the charity making money out of it.
"Nobody knows you when you're down and out"
Why would anyone get upset about someone getting some old furniture that has been discarded by others? Faith, hope and charity, and the greatest of those is charity.
cuddlepop
14-Feb-06, 18:09
Idont think people are upset.I think everyone thinks its a good idea.Like everything in the world today it can and will be abused.:roll:
Have you looked around their shop in Thurso? I would support it but I can never find anything to buy in there. I much prefer the Highland Hospice shop a few doors away.....the staff are friendlier and the goods better and cleaner. Highland Hospice has no furniture......but the Blythswood shop in Wick does.
Another good place for cheap furniture and household goods is the furniture sales at Quoybrae......it's a pity they don't have them more often! I think there is one later this month.
home-aid has a big premises for storage in high Ormlie and their shop in thurso (formerly mackenzies) is huge so i dont think they are short of storage.It is strange though how some folk get it free and other needy folk dont.
home-aid has a big premises for storage in high Ormlie and their shop in thurso (formerly mackenzies) is huge so i dont think they are short of storage.It is strange though how some folk get it free and other needy folk dont.
How do they work that? On what criteria is their decision based ?
I'd have thought a charity would either give goods free to all who qualified or charge a nominal price to everyone...........a nominal price need not, after all, be more than a token.
moose and Lindsay
15-Feb-06, 00:45
people on low income ie income support,jobseekers etc get stuff for nothing but they have to be refered by a social worker, doctor etc
people who work have to pay for stuff, and are welcome to go upto homeaids warehouse in ormlie
U get charged for delivery £5 in the town and £10 castletown, halkirk and i suppose its costs more further away
Thanks for that. It sounds reasonable enough.
I'd have thought if they had to be referred to get items free, then there can't be a lot of abuse of the system.
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