Mattie Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAStewart Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 First, I think you should establish the level of poverty in Shetland, so that we can comprehend the scale of the problem. How do you define poverty? What are you comparing this against? Shetland is very fortunate to not have a high level of poverty al la Glasgow etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turningright Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 check out the 'ethical investment' thread.it would seem some shetlinkers are more interested in supporting bolivian donkey farmers than our own economy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAStewart Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 There is nothing wrong with supporting others who are in need. Someone in poverty in Shetland is probably rich compared to someone in poverty on Bolivia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turningright Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 granted, but the point was is it not in our interests to assist and address the problems in shetland before we get bogged down by the persistant do gooders who make it their lifes work to be appologetic of what we have achieved.if im not mistaken you are one of the persistant few who often procrastinate about so much but i often wonder how much of it gets actioned on your part Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJ Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 it's good to see folk are ignoring it less now.1st thing I'd do is enable folk who are eligible to recieve financial assistance to get it. This social work department has the same "everything's for the central belt" attitude the rest of the council seem to have.I know I've written it somewhere else but it is so difficult to get shetland to apply for money it's eligible for, my whole time on national trusts no one applied for money for shetland.I've come across too many parents who are struggling financially unnecesseraly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 In my 23 plus yrs working with two very prominent charities I found that there were those who were in great need and suffering from real hardship but did not ask for help because of the stigma of admitting they could not cope..Few people know what help is available as it very difficult to know where to go. They see Social Sevices as an admission of failure and there fore struggle on until a crisis happens to bring them to the sttention of said services.IMO this help shoud be better advertised trough Doctors Surgeries,Librarys ETC..The stigma of Free School Meals has for yrs held back parents from claiming because their kids are singled out and the rest of the scool know..I have known children who would go without a decent meal because they dont want their peers to know that their families are living on the breadline.Iike it or not there seems to be a great problem here is Shetland and It needs to be addressed in whatever way it takes to help those people who IMO should not be suffering simply because they cant get through thr Red Tape and Buerocrosy and dare I say the unforgiving form filling that seems to go along with any request for help.. Again IMO A directory of what help is available and where to access it would go some way towards making it a little less painful to claim help..If the council were to stop throwing millions od pounds away on stupid ventures maybe then just maybe some of that money could go towards easing the winter heating bills for those who do not recieve a Winter Fuel Payment or Money from the Charitable Trust.. If you feel you are in fuel povert please contact the Hydro they have a scheme for those who are paying 20% of their income for fuel and will put in place a discount so that you do not have to go without heat in the winter....It,s there to claim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgonzola Butt-cheese Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 There is no neeed for unemployment in shetland today , it is a fact we have migrants here taking jobs . We do how ever have a growing population of unmmemployable degenerates , drugs and alcohol are a big issue..Perhaps it all a sympton of the welfare state in which we live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swc123 Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 If you feel you are in fuel povert please contact the Hydro they have a scheme for those who are paying 20% of their income for fuel and will put in place a discount so that you do not have to go without heat in the winter....It,s there to claim I think it may actually a 10 percent threshold for the reduced social tariff. Other energy providers, if you use them, have other criteria. If you phone 0800 512 012 then energy saving advice centre in Inverness should be able to help. They will also have other help on offer to reduce bills and any grants on offer. Like snow says it is there so lets use it, as energy bills are a ,ajor problem up here.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longdog Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 There is no neeed for unemployment in shetland today , it is a fact we have migrants here taking jobs . We do how ever have a growing population of unmmemployable degenerates , drugs and alcohol are a big issue..Perhaps it all a sympton of the welfare state in which we live. Wow that's a pretty unambigous statement! So could you define unemployable degenerates? I don't see any empathy in you statement for the reasons why people might have drug, alcohol, educational or aspirational issues. Do you think they think 'hey this killing yourself, losing you family, kids, right to freedom, having diseases, teeth drop out and the rest is way cool dude' What about learning issues, genetic or environmentally induced? Family and social pressures? Or do you think they're disempowered and suffering in a limbo of personal issues and could benefit from less stigma and more pro-actice support? A lot of these people you talk of are often so lost in day to day dramas that they actually need some pro-actice support; they won't go looking for it for reasons of embarasment or just not realising reality of the position they're in. As for migrants taking jobs... I dispair and won't even go there. Just hope you have the courage of your convictions and only live with and on things produced on Shetlands fair soils by 100% DNA'd Shetlanders (is there such a thing) and sold by said. Your house is obviously made from good old shetland timber, glass, cement, and furnished with the isles natural goods including white goods etc, no TV, no more internet for you matey... Even on Sheltand there is this thing called globalisation, one might not like it, but it is in the very fabric of everything that is today. Oh and yes Gogonzola cheese-butt (made in shetland?)the welfare state does have a lot to answer for, it's not perfect and people can take advantage of it but I'd rather have it than not. Look at real poverty and extremes of wealth and poverty in places that don't have it like the good 'ol US of A, never mind 'less developed' places. There is no accepted view on what povetry is, largely because there are so many variables and it is subject to reality the society you are living with in. Here is one view... http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/2277.pdf if you google it you will see the house of lords can't agree on it for benefit purposes either. Needless to say poverty in this country is often due to disempowered, ill, and hard up people trying to do the right thing for their familes and keep up with what this consumeristic society and media tell them they have to have. The system isn't totally right, it isn't easily fixed but atleast some people are wrkoing trying t improve the situation not just slating those who need it's support. I genuinely do hope you never suffer and illness be it mental , physical or both that removes you of the power to function well and hold down a job. Rant over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamlar Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 (** mod edit - removed long quote of above post **) ^ Well said, I could not agree more.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malachy Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 First, I think you should establish the level of poverty in Shetland, so that we can comprehend the scale of the problem. How do you define poverty? What are you comparing this against? Shetland is very fortunate to not have a high level of poverty al la Glasgow etc. I presume Mattie is responding to this article in the Shetland Times, which shows that Shetland does indeed have a problem with povery. http://www.shetlandtimes.co.uk/2009/11/27/dramatic-rise-in-poverty-in-isles-with-one-in-10-now-deprived Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosn Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 skint is skint where ever you are n theres plenty skint here these days. Is it any wonder anyhow when we pay more for our household bills, travel , groceries , evereything - but lets not upset the wonderful capitalists by telling them they are robbing filthy *******s . Yes theres ones who have chosen a life of drugs drink & debotchery and others who have been knocked down by ailments but when its your fellow human being thats on a downward spiral i always thought it was the traditional Shetland ethos to try n give them a hand up , surely no these days. Was kinda how i was brought up to not boot folk when they were down Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longdog Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 Well I've read that article, interesting but also vague. You know statistics. I decided to look up the postcodes (on the site below) used to justify their statistics over such a diverse and unique a place as Sheltand guess what....their study only gathered info from ZE2 9DU, one postcode to cover everything from Lerwick to Unst?! If you check out http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Statistics/SIMD/BackgroundMethodology you'll see the methodology of the study of The Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation and lots of other boring but relavant things but basically they used and gave the % weighting to current income (28%), employment (28%), health (14%), education (14%), geographic access (9%), crime (5%) and housing (2%). Doesn't list the ratings within each topic i.e. what is education, housing, health etc needs. Incedently the list only names the lowest 15% on the index (not Shetland) so you'd have to do some maths to see if Shetland is in the lowest 26% Doesn't change the reality of povery in Shetland for better or worse this study seems to compare the range, so the more wealthy some are the poorer others appear, doesn't really tell you anything unless you want to use it to justify getting further government support for the isles. Kev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAStewart Posted November 28, 2009 Report Share Posted November 28, 2009 How do they define poverty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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