*very sensitive - mentions SIDS* Breadline Britain

[bumpy_j]

https://www.guardian.co.uk/society/video/2012/nov/19/child-damp-temporary-housing-video

The Guardian have been publishing observational documentaries based on UK residents living on the poverty line - this one is the most hard-hitting but some of the others to the side of it are worth a watch too. I always felt that people on benefits can give their children a comfortable upbringing albeit stripped of most luxuries but this has humbled me hugely and made me think how there really are people who struggle by unforgivable standards. I can't stop thinking about the poor family in this episode.

ETA for anyone who doesn't want to watch the video:

Spoiler

it is about a family of 4 who live in a flat rundown with mould in an awful state - it should have been temporary accommodation but hasn't proved to be (they have moved now) - sadly after the documentary was made their little girl passed away in her sleep at 11 months old and it concludes with the shocking statistic that 64% of unexplained cot deaths happen to deprived families in the UK.

 

[Lellow]

How heartbreaking - Can believe it took an infants death for the council to move them to somewhere safer and bigger...

Im sure that perhaps the damp contributed to the SIDS...Maybe im wrong.

I cant get her little face out of my head

 

[bumpy_j]

That's definitely what was heavily hinted by the documentary - I've never really heard of a SIDS case possibly being associated with damp but that statistic has really thrown me. Obviously, so many SIDs cases are completely random with no explanation but to think that in the UK there might be cases due to living conditions...it's just unbelievable, and terrifying.

When I was 15 my stepdad took away my bed and I slept on the floor in a room covered in damp by the spot where I slept for over a year (that sounds kinda bad written down- he was well off, just a nasty person) - I was always so tired, pale and ill at school. In hindsight, that could have been a huge factor. Have they done a lot of research into damp effects on people? -off to google-

 

[dgirllamius]

I can't believe how awful the housing system really is in the UK. All 4 of the squat in a room with no other spare room and mould growing everywhere.

When I first moved to Germany me and my OH had a one bedroom flat. Once I got pregnant we needed to get a two bedroom - we had it sorted in 2 WEEKS! And that's the norm here...you find a flat, send off the paperwork to the job centre and they either approve or tell you to find something in their price range. No waiting lists, no priority lists or whatever. Obviously you got to have a reason to move but it doesn't take years to find something new.

I find it ridiculous people have to wait months if not years to get a bigger place. We seriously had our 2 bedroom flat sorted in 2 weeks, there was no list to go on...we just had to find the flat, get the details and send it off. Once approved we could sign the contract. I don't see why it's so difficult to get housing in the UK when in Germany it's so bloody easy.

Such a shame what happened there, it shouldn't have happened and waiting lists are just ridiculous.

 

[bumpy_j]

^^ that's unheard of ! wow, I always hear wonderful things about the quality of life in Germany. It's just out of control here. 1.5 million waiting for houses? That's insane!

 

[Tasha]

I will watch this in the morning. My sister died and it was labelled as SIDS. It was army accommodation, and three or four babies died that same weekend. I know my parents home had damp

 

[Lellow]

The SIDs statistic is so high - 64% of SIDs cases come from deprived families

Surely if the council provide housing for people then it should meet a certain standard, but obviously not which is abysmal.

I just couldnt believe it took a death AND a documentary for York Council to act

 

[lovehearts]

Thats so sad. That poor family.

 

[Bevziibubble]

That's absolutely awful, so heartbreaking

 

[shellie]

I can't finish watching this. My sons around the same age and our house is FULL of damp in every room. There is nothing I can do to move, I don't have money for a deposit, and because I have a house I'm not classed as a priority for any kind of housing. The landlord wont sort it and I have had one visit from the environmental health who have told me they will send someone out but it will take time.

This is why it annoys me when people start bashing people on benefits when a lot of the time this is what people on benefits have to put up with. I've always worked, I lost my job when I was on maternity leave as the charity I worked for lost its government funding. I had to then move and the houses the agency has put me in have been so bad I've had to move three times in a year and a half, but all their houses are as bad as the other, once the lick of paint they use to hide the damp fails.

It is a struggle on benefits and not a life I would wish on anyone. Yet people who have never been on benefits will assume you are getting more money than them, living the high life and living in a fantastic house, wrong, wrong and wrong again. I struggle weekly to make the money stretch after bills are paid, there is nothing luxury or living the highlife about my life, and my house is in terrible condition.

I look for work and worry about my childrens health daily. I don't usually comment on threads like this, but I know there will be a handful of people who may watch this and think "well they get enough to save to move" or "well get a job and you can move" I wanted to say that it is not always as black and white as people would assume. If you have never struggled then that is good, but please just remember the saying "there but for the grace of god go I" in another life it could have been you. There are people out there who are stuck in situations they find it impossible to get out of. xxx

 

[bumpy_j]

I can't finish watching this. My sons around the same age and our house is FULL of damp in every room. There is nothing I can do to move, I don't have money for a deposit, and because I have a house I'm not classed as a priority for any kind of housing. The landlord wont sort it and I have had one visit from the environmental health who have told me they will send someone out but it will take time.

This is why it annoys me when people start bashing people on benefits when a lot of the time this is what people on benefits have to put up with. I've always worked, I lost my job when I was on maternity leave as the charity I worked for lost its government funding. I had to then move and the houses the agency has put me in have been so bad I've had to move three times in a year and a half, but all their houses are as bad as the other, once the lick of paint they use to hide the damp fails.

It is a struggle on benefits and not a life I would wish on anyone. Yet people who have never been on benefits will assume you are getting more money than them, living the high life and living in a fantastic house, wrong, wrong and wrong again. I struggle weekly to make the money stretch after bills are paid, there is nothing luxury or living the highlife about my life, and my house is in terrible condition.

I look for work and worry about my childrens health daily. I don't usually comment on threads like this, but I know there will be a handful of people who may watch this and think "well they get enough to save to move" or "well get a job and you can move" I wanted to say that it is not always as black and white as people would assume. If you have never struggled then that is good, but please just remember the saying "there but for the grace of god go I" in another life it could have been you. There are people out there who are stuck in situations they find it impossible to get out of. xxx

Thank you for commenting I hope this doesn't worry you too much - what happened to this little girl is still incredibly rare. I absolutely agree with you though, thanks to a certain portion of the national press we have a 'sheeple' mentality that people on benefits are getting so much when really, I think it's completely distorted by stories of people who play the system.

Shocking that they wont move you - surely people with babies/small children and the elderly should be moved to clean houses ASAP ? I don't understand how this happens.

 

[shellie]

I can't finish watching this. My sons around the same age and our house is FULL of damp in every room. There is nothing I can do to move, I don't have money for a deposit, and because I have a house I'm not classed as a priority for any kind of housing. The landlord wont sort it and I have had one visit from the environmental health who have told me they will send someone out but it will take time.

This is why it annoys me when people start bashing people on benefits when a lot of the time this is what people on benefits have to put up with. I've always worked, I lost my job when I was on maternity leave as the charity I worked for lost its government funding. I had to then move and the houses the agency has put me in have been so bad I've had to move three times in a year and a half, but all their houses are as bad as the other, once the lick of paint they use to hide the damp fails.

It is a struggle on benefits and not a life I would wish on anyone. Yet people who have never been on benefits will assume you are getting more money than them, living the high life and living in a fantastic house, wrong, wrong and wrong again. I struggle weekly to make the money stretch after bills are paid, there is nothing luxury or living the highlife about my life, and my house is in terrible condition.

I look for work and worry about my childrens health daily. I don't usually comment on threads like this, but I know there will be a handful of people who may watch this and think "well they get enough to save to move" or "well get a job and you can move" I wanted to say that it is not always as black and white as people would assume. If you have never struggled then that is good, but please just remember the saying "there but for the grace of god go I" in another life it could have been you. There are people out there who are stuck in situations they find it impossible to get out of. xxx

Thank you for commenting I hope this doesn't worry you too much - what happened to this little girl is still incredibly rare. I absolutely agree with you though, thanks to a certain portion of the national press we have a 'sheeple' mentality that people on benefits are getting so much when really, I think it's completely distorted by stories of people who play the system.

Shocking that they wont move you - surely people with babies/small children and the elderly should be moved to clean houses ASAP ? I don't understand how this happens.

I worry everyday about this, unfortunately there is nothing I can do right at this moment. As I said I am no priority as I have somewhere to live. I realize that there are people worse off than me, some people have no where to live, and I remember this when I think my situation is bad. It's true what they say, there is always someone out there in a worse situation than yourself.

When I worked I'll admit, I did used to envy that some people didnt have to go to work. Not because I thought they were getting any more than me (none of the people i know on benefits are well off) but because they didnt have to get up every morning or put their child into nursery like I did with my son. As nice as it is being able to spend time with my second son while he is young, I feel judged every day for doing so. I agree with your opinion that it is the papers which have caused this sheep mentality in which people believe benefits are a fantastic amount of money. The reality is so far away from that though.

Once I get back into work I hope to NEVER go back on benefits, and I will certainly never envy the fact people on benefits don't have to go to work each day, as I have found it so depressing not having anything to look forward to.

Sorry to have gone off topic from your original thread. As I said I don't usually comment on threads like this. I just want to help people understand that that video, and how the people in it live, are closer to the reality of living on benefits in britain today, than the reality the papers would have you believe! xxx

 

[littlepeps]

The situation is terrible for the family and damp can be a real problem, when I was a student I lived in house that was damp due to a problem with the roof .. water ran down the walls and yes it really effected my chest and breathing, so it must be much much worse for a baby.

 

[smileyfaces]

Ive not watched it yet (will do tomorrow) but reading the comments has me concerned. We have just (in the last 4 days) noticed damp in our bedroom and LO always sleeps in our room. Over the last day or so he has gotten really ill, bad chest, got the runs, snotty etc etc...Im really worried now. I thought he just had a cold. Off to the doctors first thing in the morning.

 

[RileysMummy]

I can't finish watching this. My sons around the same age and our house is FULL of damp in every room. There is nothing I can do to move, I don't have money for a deposit, and because I have a house I'm not classed as a priority for any kind of housing. The landlord wont sort it and I have had one visit from the environmental health who have told me they will send someone out but it will take time.

This is why it annoys me when people start bashing people on benefits when a lot of the time this is what people on benefits have to put up with. I've always worked, I lost my job when I was on maternity leave as the charity I worked for lost its government funding. I had to then move and the houses the agency has put me in have been so bad I've had to move three times in a year and a half, but all their houses are as bad as the other, once the lick of paint they use to hide the damp fails.

It is a struggle on benefits and not a life I would wish on anyone. Yet people who have never been on benefits will assume you are getting more money than them, living the high life and living in a fantastic house, wrong, wrong and wrong again. I struggle weekly to make the money stretch after bills are paid, there is nothing luxury or living the highlife about my life, and my house is in terrible condition.

I look for work and worry about my childrens health daily. I don't usually comment on threads like this, but I know there will be a handful of people who may watch this and think "well they get enough to save to move" or "well get a job and you can move" I wanted to say that it is not always as black and white as people would assume. If you have never struggled then that is good, but please just remember the saying "there but for the grace of god go I" in another life it could have been you. There are people out there who are stuck in situations they find it impossible to get out of. xxx

x

 

[Jchihuahua]

Heartbreaking .

 

[isil]

For those who are worrying about the damp, I think keeping it under control is key. We had it in the house we had when boy was little. I used to use mould and mildew remover (green bottle) on it weekly to keep it under control. The mould in the house on the film looked like it had never been treated, there was also some kind of fungus growing.

Poor little girl and that family I agree Shellie, sometimes people think it is too easy to just get another house or job. It doesn't work like that.

 

[kmbabycrazy]

I've not watched this yet but just to reply to Shellie's original post. I hate how people think of those on benefits. I got accused by someone (indirectly, they were bitching behind my back) of getting pregnant to get a council house. I don't even have a council house and so glad we managed to avoid having to get one. I grew up in council houses, I have friends that live in council houses and I would do everything possible to not have to bring my children up in them. They do fuck all for you once you're in there! My mum believes my asthma was probably caused by the damp in our house when I was young. I have people on my facebook bitching and moaning about how people on benefits have a better life and can afford better things. Even when I was living with my mum and was on benefits I could barely afford to get by. I don't know where those people they're seeing are getting that money from because I could never have afforded the iPads, LED TVs and designer clothes they assume everyone on benefits can afford!!

 

[Jchihuahua]

I can't stop thinking about that poor family and that darling little girl. I just showed the video to my husband and he was really upset too. Our baby is 11 months too. Just heartbreaking for those poor people.

 

[shellie]

I can't stop thinking about that poor family and that darling little girl. I just showed the video to my husband and he was really upset too. Our baby is 11 months too. Just heartbreaking for those poor people.

It's been on my mind today also. It's so sad the way you see the little girl just being a normal baby, but you know what the outcome is going to be. xxx