Ditch your duvet for vulnerable kids
EVEN before coronavirus hit, over four million children were living in poverty in the UK.
Now our most vulnerable children and families have reached breaking point, as the financial and emotional impact of this horrible pandemic truly hits home.
Action for Children – an amazing charity I’ve worked with for many years – are determined not to let this generation of lockdown children become a lost one.
I’ve always felt a connection with the cause of Action for Children because their existence has given me hope that our society will not collapse in these uncertain times. Playing a mum with a disabled child in There She Goes has also made the importance of the support they give to vulnerable families hit home even harder. Over the years I’ve been involved with the charity I’ve seen the amazing work they do every day to change people’s lives, and the harsh reality of this new world we find ourselves in is that now their help is needed more than ever.
Over these past few months their wonderful key workers have been going above and beyond to support families who have found themselves plunged into crisis – whether it’s by delivering essentials to their doors, keeping up vital contact with isolated families online, or caring for disabled children who can’t be in their own homes.
They are doing all they can but now they need your help. Boycott Your Bed to raise money for some of the country’s most vulnerable kids.
This August 21 they – and I – are asking families across the UK to ditch their duvet, put away their pillows and bunk down somewhere really random in their homes or gardens. Everyone who signs up will get an exclusive invite to a night of incredible virtual entertainment and all of this will raise desperately needed money for vulnerable children and their families who are struggling every day to get through this pandemic.
Please do sign up at www. boycottyourbed.co.uk and I can’t wait to see you all virtually this August.
Jess Hynes SOLUTION TO STARVING
AS Britain reels from Covid-19, another pandemic has also gripped the country – starvation.
Freedom Of Information requests have forced 50 hospital trusts to admit that 11,515 ‘malnourished’ or starving children have been hospitalised since 2015.
So the scandal predates Covid-19 and is rooted in Tory austerity policies, which have provided a perfect breeding ground for the deadly virus.
The past six months alone has seen 2,483 hospital admissions for children aged under 16, equivalent to 103 a week.
That number is certain to rise along with unemployment, homelessness, and benefit claimants as an economic slump not seen since the 1930s grips the capitalist world.
The United Nations has found a similar upward curve of starvation prior to Covid-19. Almost 690m were classed as starving in 2019, up by 10m on 2018, and an increase of 60m in the past five years.
The only solution to starving children and adults all over the world is a Socialist transformation of society to place the world’s productive forces under the control of the people so that need replaces greed as the motive force of the world’s economy.
Capitalism produces starvation in the same way as it produces unemployment, homelessness, poverty, crime, and drug and alcohol abuse.
The inability of capitalist regimes like Britain and the USA to decisively tackle Covid-19 and save lives is rooted in a system that is scarred by class divisions, rampant poverty, and private ownership of essential resources needed by all.
James Roberts