I am sure many of you will by now be aware of the intended closure of Remploy factories up and down the country.
I like many many others believe that this is wrong and extremely short sighted and like many of you I have made my feelings known.
Today though the reality of the human cost of these closures hit home to me.
I would like to share this with you all.
My friend and I arrived at the Jobcentre at 8.55am this morning, nothing unusual in that for us, for those of you who arent familiar with Jobcentres(if you arent then please do consider yourself fortunate) I will explain what its like at 8.55am.
There is always a queue at this time of day a long queue that seems to be getting longer weekly despite what the Government figures might try and say.
There is a wide mixture of people, young, old, male, female, black, white, some with young children some with older children as its the school holiday all there to sign on or to attend an appt of some sort, some people do go daily to access job search facilities or to use the telephones in the foyer, the telephones have no privacy save for a little black hood thing, there are 4 in a row :(
The job centre is on a main road a very busy main road so everyone is on show, not sure if thats a deliberate act to shame people who have no choice but to sign on but it feels that way :(
There are 2 parts to the Jobcentre, the downstairs where most people go to sign on and then there is upstairs which deals with group appts this is where you sit in a room of strangers and talk about how to find a job :(
The upstairs also deals with new claims and disability advisors are also up there, why they are on the 1st floor and not the ground again there seems no logic at all to this.
My friend and I needed to go upstairs so we joined the forming queue, the doors never open until exactly 9am no matter what the weather :(
Standing there I always people watch, people interest me and I like to see who is around.
Some people were talking to each other some stood alone.
One man stood out from all the others for me this morning.
A gentleman stood close to the wall, he looked sad, a carrier bag in his hand and he was wearing a purple Remploy polo shirt with the logo on, I watched him intently he looked completely lost and that made me both sad and angry.
The doors opened at 9.am on the dot and the queue then became a huddle to get through the door 1st, my friend and I stood back and let them pass, there by the door stood the gentleman from Remploy, he waited until every lady had entered including my friend and I, we both said thank you.
I was so touched by his good manners, and he followed us up the stairs.
Once in the large room you are greeted by a very nice lady who asks you why you are there etc(she knows us so doesnt ask us we just say good morning and pass by)
I dont know why but I felt the need to linger to make sure this gentleman was ok, he still looked lost and that concerned me.
The lady asked him what he was there for whilst the security guard was asking who was there for group sessions and was directing them off to a room, the gentleman was softly spoken and said he wasnt sure why he was there but he had to make a claim for dole or something, he seemed very nervous at this point.
The lady said oh new claim follow me and strangely he was led to right were my friend and I were and told to take a seat, again he seemed unsure so asked where to sit, the lady was nice and said oh just there is fine, the gentleman sat down.
The process for those of you unfamiliar with new claims is that you are seen by a new claims advisor, this involves possibly 15/20 mins of going through your proof of identity and asking if you have claimed before etc, after that you see another advisor who then sets up your claim.
The lady who had been given this gentlemans paperwork less then 5 mins before stood up and called a name out, no one stood up, she called again, still no one, at this point she stood up and walked over to the gentleman and said the name again and he said no, she asked again, no I am not that person replied the gentleman, the lady returned to her desk and then managed to call the right name and the gentleman said is it ok now, she did reasure him it was ok and that he should come and sit at her desk.
My friend and I had to go about our business at this point so I cant tell you what happened afterwards, what I can tell you though is what I saw today was wrong, that gentleman should not have been in the Jobcentre, no one from Reploy should be in a Jobcentre they should be working in the factories up and down this country where they are happy and no doubt feel safe and valued as is everyones right to feel.
I came home with a heavy heart today for this man and I cried for all of the Remploy workers all over the UK who no doubt face the same in the coming weeks and months.
I urge every one of you to do what you can to stop this happening, some will say it is too late, it is NEVER to late and if we ALL pull together we might just make change happen, PLEASE think about it.
Friday 17 August 2012
Tuesday 7 August 2012
Today was a hard day :(
Where to start with today, what a day its been!
It started off as a typical day really, the expected calls for help with food which we managed to fullfil with no problems thankfully.
My friend is poorly at the moment with a chest infection so she needs to rest, she doesnt like having to but has no choice at the moment as she does feel quite ill :(
Then from lunchtime onward it has been so busy and extremely draining.
I recieved an email from a lady whos father is poorly and really just wanting to sound off about how she was feeling about things, all the things you cant say to your family at times like that. We mailed for about half an hour until she felt just a little more able to carry on.
The next mail was from another lady who needed to talk and could she call me, yes thats fine so we talked for about an hour again it was about personal issues and how to deal with it best, I have helped this lady in the past through a v.sad time, I didnt do anything other than be there for her on a daily basis, sometimes till the early hours of the morning, it seemed to help her to know that there was someone there and she is much better than she was but still sometimes just needs to talk.
The next call was from a family with a young child who are facing eviction, they have sadly been caught up in the Wonga loans trap and as much as they have tried to resist borrowing again it seems almost impossible to not do so, this mother got paid on the 5th August and Wongo took the whole lot, every single penny of her wages was taken, the father has just started a new job and wont be paid for 3 weeks, they have little food, little gas and electric and are worried sick, they were in arrears with their rent which by their own addmission is their fault but the mother has felt unable to face the debts head on and was hiding letters it was only when the baliffs turned up that things came to a head.
They cannot pay the rent this week or for the next 3 and were told that if they missed one payment then they were to be evicted without notice as it has already been to court.
I have given them numbers for CAB, CCCS AND CAP, we can help them in the immediate short term with some food and moral support but they needed much more help than we are able to give to we have pointed them in the direction of the help they do need.
The saddest mail I recieved today was from a lovely lady who does a lot of fundraising, she was heartbroken that a little girl of 6 who she was fundraising for to send to America for treatment for a brain tumour has been told that the treatment isnt an option and there is nothing more that can be done, how do you answer a mail like that?
I offered to help in any way I could as the plan is now to send this little girl and her family on one last family holiday to Disneyland.
I just hope there is time, I fear there wont be and that makes me so sad.
We need to address the complete lack of specialist treatment in the UK for children with Neuroblastoma ( paediatric brain tumours) WHY do people have to fund raise £250,000 to take a child to America for treatment, WHY is it not available here?
They would have you believe that this is a rare cancer, I know of 5 children who have had this in the last 6 months, 1 little girl died she was 10 years old and she was beautiful, the 6 year old little girl that needs help right now will also die from this awful awful disease, the other 3 are so far doing well, 2 are still recieving treatment here in the UK and one little boy was treated in Philadelphia after the community did a wonderful thing and raised way more than the 250,000 that was needed, he is in remission BUT like every cancer survivor you live with the possibility that it can return.
If you have a facebook account please spend a little time looking at just how many children have this type of cancer, not just here but all over the world it is truly heartbreaking to read their stories :(
The next mail came from a lady who needed a rant really, she is being questioned about benefit fraud in the morning, she admits to maing a mistake but cannot understand why they have taken it this far as she is willing to make an arrangement to repay what she owes to housing benefit and council tax, it does from what she told me sound like a genuine and honest mistake rather than a deliberate act and in fact they would not have known has she not called then and alerted then to the fact that they were in fact paying her too much so when they looked at it it seems there was an overpayment last year for approx 5 months, this years is now sorted, it probably adds up to around £200 give or take a few pounds and leaves the question of is it cost effective to question under caution someone who has readily admitted to there being a problem and also willing to reply any monies due?
My final mail for today came from another lady who is unemployed, doesnt want to be but has been a single parent for a number of years, she has few qualifications and feels as though she is getting nowhere, we chatted via email for a while and I explained to her about the Enterprise allowance scheme which sadly she had never heard of via the job centre, how sad is that, that they arent tellig people or exploring if it might be a possibility for them to start something for themselves, she seemed more positve when we said goodnight, she like many others that have to sign on doesnt sleep the ight before for worrying about what if their job search isnt quite right and they get sanctioned, terrible way to have to live in constant fear of having no money and not knowing where to turn.
I know some people will read this entry and think this cant be true, every single word I write is 100% true.
I dislike feeling the need to write a blog BUT if it the only way to make people see the realities of life for millions of ordinary people here in the UK then I wont stop.
I want people to know and to at least try to understand just how hard life can be for some people, even some that dont outwardly show how hard it is.
We need a change in this country, WE ALL need to start caring again.
I am shattered now, it is almost 1am, I have been up since 8am and now need to unwind after today ok yesterday really, but please do read and take just a little part of what I am saying away with you, it will cost you nothing but it can make a huge difference if we all talk about what is REALLY happening instead of the the press would have us all believe!
It started off as a typical day really, the expected calls for help with food which we managed to fullfil with no problems thankfully.
My friend is poorly at the moment with a chest infection so she needs to rest, she doesnt like having to but has no choice at the moment as she does feel quite ill :(
Then from lunchtime onward it has been so busy and extremely draining.
I recieved an email from a lady whos father is poorly and really just wanting to sound off about how she was feeling about things, all the things you cant say to your family at times like that. We mailed for about half an hour until she felt just a little more able to carry on.
The next mail was from another lady who needed to talk and could she call me, yes thats fine so we talked for about an hour again it was about personal issues and how to deal with it best, I have helped this lady in the past through a v.sad time, I didnt do anything other than be there for her on a daily basis, sometimes till the early hours of the morning, it seemed to help her to know that there was someone there and she is much better than she was but still sometimes just needs to talk.
The next call was from a family with a young child who are facing eviction, they have sadly been caught up in the Wonga loans trap and as much as they have tried to resist borrowing again it seems almost impossible to not do so, this mother got paid on the 5th August and Wongo took the whole lot, every single penny of her wages was taken, the father has just started a new job and wont be paid for 3 weeks, they have little food, little gas and electric and are worried sick, they were in arrears with their rent which by their own addmission is their fault but the mother has felt unable to face the debts head on and was hiding letters it was only when the baliffs turned up that things came to a head.
They cannot pay the rent this week or for the next 3 and were told that if they missed one payment then they were to be evicted without notice as it has already been to court.
I have given them numbers for CAB, CCCS AND CAP, we can help them in the immediate short term with some food and moral support but they needed much more help than we are able to give to we have pointed them in the direction of the help they do need.
The saddest mail I recieved today was from a lovely lady who does a lot of fundraising, she was heartbroken that a little girl of 6 who she was fundraising for to send to America for treatment for a brain tumour has been told that the treatment isnt an option and there is nothing more that can be done, how do you answer a mail like that?
I offered to help in any way I could as the plan is now to send this little girl and her family on one last family holiday to Disneyland.
I just hope there is time, I fear there wont be and that makes me so sad.
We need to address the complete lack of specialist treatment in the UK for children with Neuroblastoma ( paediatric brain tumours) WHY do people have to fund raise £250,000 to take a child to America for treatment, WHY is it not available here?
They would have you believe that this is a rare cancer, I know of 5 children who have had this in the last 6 months, 1 little girl died she was 10 years old and she was beautiful, the 6 year old little girl that needs help right now will also die from this awful awful disease, the other 3 are so far doing well, 2 are still recieving treatment here in the UK and one little boy was treated in Philadelphia after the community did a wonderful thing and raised way more than the 250,000 that was needed, he is in remission BUT like every cancer survivor you live with the possibility that it can return.
If you have a facebook account please spend a little time looking at just how many children have this type of cancer, not just here but all over the world it is truly heartbreaking to read their stories :(
The next mail came from a lady who needed a rant really, she is being questioned about benefit fraud in the morning, she admits to maing a mistake but cannot understand why they have taken it this far as she is willing to make an arrangement to repay what she owes to housing benefit and council tax, it does from what she told me sound like a genuine and honest mistake rather than a deliberate act and in fact they would not have known has she not called then and alerted then to the fact that they were in fact paying her too much so when they looked at it it seems there was an overpayment last year for approx 5 months, this years is now sorted, it probably adds up to around £200 give or take a few pounds and leaves the question of is it cost effective to question under caution someone who has readily admitted to there being a problem and also willing to reply any monies due?
My final mail for today came from another lady who is unemployed, doesnt want to be but has been a single parent for a number of years, she has few qualifications and feels as though she is getting nowhere, we chatted via email for a while and I explained to her about the Enterprise allowance scheme which sadly she had never heard of via the job centre, how sad is that, that they arent tellig people or exploring if it might be a possibility for them to start something for themselves, she seemed more positve when we said goodnight, she like many others that have to sign on doesnt sleep the ight before for worrying about what if their job search isnt quite right and they get sanctioned, terrible way to have to live in constant fear of having no money and not knowing where to turn.
I know some people will read this entry and think this cant be true, every single word I write is 100% true.
I dislike feeling the need to write a blog BUT if it the only way to make people see the realities of life for millions of ordinary people here in the UK then I wont stop.
I want people to know and to at least try to understand just how hard life can be for some people, even some that dont outwardly show how hard it is.
We need a change in this country, WE ALL need to start caring again.
I am shattered now, it is almost 1am, I have been up since 8am and now need to unwind after today ok yesterday really, but please do read and take just a little part of what I am saying away with you, it will cost you nothing but it can make a huge difference if we all talk about what is REALLY happening instead of the the press would have us all believe!
Sunday 5 August 2012
What is it like to be on benefits?
Much has been made recently of people "choosing" to spend their life on benefits, whilst this is possibly true for a small minority it isnt for the vast majority.
Imagine if you can worrying every single day about money that is a reality for people on benefits.
You dont sleep properly, you dont eat properly, you lose confidence in your abilities.
Many families are struggling as are many single people and it is fine to say "go get a job" where exactly are the jobs for someone who has been unemployed lets say for a year or more, the impact of that alone can be devastating and cannot be easily overcome.
The staff at the jobcentres for the most part are understanding, caring and are doing their best BUT it takes one person at the jobcentre to decide you arent doing enough to find work and you are sanctioned, you then have even less money, your self esteem is at an all time low, you are vunerable, your life isnt your own as it is always someone elses decision if you can eat that week, not the rosy picture that the press paint is it?
There are a lot of single parents out there who are wonderful, they care for their children and go without to make sure that their child has everything it needs, food, warm decent clothing but this Government wants more, they want single parents to leave their children and go to work, they refuse to take individual circumstances into consideration therefore potentially leaving children at risk, there is little or no childcare for a child over the age of 8 years and it remains unclear what this Goverment would have you do with your child whilst you are at work.
The benefit trap is the worst trap, designed to aid you when you are at your lowest but with little or no support it becomes a black hole from which people feel they cannot escape.
People on benefits are far more likely to fall prey to doorstep lenders, they target low income high unemployment estates.
Why would someone on benefits take out loans they obviously cannot afford, there are many reasons, some do it to buy food, gas, electric, yes that does happen regulalry, others do it to replace an item in the home that has broken for example a washing machine, fridge, freezer etc, some do it sadly because they want to feel "normal" just for a little while they want to go shopping for somethig other than the cheapest brand of food or clothing and although it might seem wrong it is a fact that people do take loans for this reason, it is a temporary fix and almost all come dow to earth with a huge bump, feeling guilty and wondering why they were persuaded by the nice loan collecter to take out that "small" top up loan.
The problem with loans is set to get worse now that the Government are taking away the social fund/crisis loans, that system was a lifeline for many as although it was a loan it was interest free and was taken directly from benefits therefore what you didnt have you couldnt spend.
Many more people on benefits are being treated for anxiety, depression and its related problems, we have read in recent months of couples taking their own lives because they cannot cope, there are also lots of young people who can see no future and have no hope, they too are taking their own lives and this has to stop!
The vilification of people on benefits fueled by many of the popular newspapers has to stop!
Imagine picking up a newpaper and yes shock horror people on benefits can read and do avidly, imagine being labelled as the scum of the earth, being held responsible for all the problems in this country, how would you feel?
How would your children feel to know that because their parent/s are on benefits they are the underclass, it isnt right and it has to stop!
Imagine if you can worrying every single day about money that is a reality for people on benefits.
You dont sleep properly, you dont eat properly, you lose confidence in your abilities.
Many families are struggling as are many single people and it is fine to say "go get a job" where exactly are the jobs for someone who has been unemployed lets say for a year or more, the impact of that alone can be devastating and cannot be easily overcome.
The staff at the jobcentres for the most part are understanding, caring and are doing their best BUT it takes one person at the jobcentre to decide you arent doing enough to find work and you are sanctioned, you then have even less money, your self esteem is at an all time low, you are vunerable, your life isnt your own as it is always someone elses decision if you can eat that week, not the rosy picture that the press paint is it?
There are a lot of single parents out there who are wonderful, they care for their children and go without to make sure that their child has everything it needs, food, warm decent clothing but this Government wants more, they want single parents to leave their children and go to work, they refuse to take individual circumstances into consideration therefore potentially leaving children at risk, there is little or no childcare for a child over the age of 8 years and it remains unclear what this Goverment would have you do with your child whilst you are at work.
The benefit trap is the worst trap, designed to aid you when you are at your lowest but with little or no support it becomes a black hole from which people feel they cannot escape.
People on benefits are far more likely to fall prey to doorstep lenders, they target low income high unemployment estates.
Why would someone on benefits take out loans they obviously cannot afford, there are many reasons, some do it to buy food, gas, electric, yes that does happen regulalry, others do it to replace an item in the home that has broken for example a washing machine, fridge, freezer etc, some do it sadly because they want to feel "normal" just for a little while they want to go shopping for somethig other than the cheapest brand of food or clothing and although it might seem wrong it is a fact that people do take loans for this reason, it is a temporary fix and almost all come dow to earth with a huge bump, feeling guilty and wondering why they were persuaded by the nice loan collecter to take out that "small" top up loan.
The problem with loans is set to get worse now that the Government are taking away the social fund/crisis loans, that system was a lifeline for many as although it was a loan it was interest free and was taken directly from benefits therefore what you didnt have you couldnt spend.
Many more people on benefits are being treated for anxiety, depression and its related problems, we have read in recent months of couples taking their own lives because they cannot cope, there are also lots of young people who can see no future and have no hope, they too are taking their own lives and this has to stop!
The vilification of people on benefits fueled by many of the popular newspapers has to stop!
Imagine picking up a newpaper and yes shock horror people on benefits can read and do avidly, imagine being labelled as the scum of the earth, being held responsible for all the problems in this country, how would you feel?
How would your children feel to know that because their parent/s are on benefits they are the underclass, it isnt right and it has to stop!
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