Category: Cookery

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

On universal credit owes council tax and the bailiffs keep banging on my door. This weeks blog.

Dear readers it appears that winter is most definitely on the way. Today was very cold and wet a deadly combination for street homeless people and people that can’t afford to heat their home.

Sadly I also know what it feels like when the electric goes and you can’t top it up. Solidarity with all those in the same position, its not one bit enjoyable. Anyway I digress.

Today there was a lot of people waiting for the food parcels to arrive. Each and every one of these food parcels were needed and some of those collecting them hadn’t ate properly for a while.

It’s easy to fall between the cracks of society and not deemed important enough to help. Many don’t like to ask for help because they don’t feel that they’re deserving of it. Some are barred from local organisations for various different reasons. This makes life very hard for them. Others have had their allowed three foodbank vouchers and have been refused anymore. Can you imagine being in their position?

My first conversation was with a man that I’ve been talking to every week. He usually brings his dog when he collects his food parcel, his dog is lovely and he takes really good care of him. He told me that he’s hoping that his latest job application is successful and I gave him my best wishes. He deserves so much better than this.

After I handed out the food parcels a young woman asked me of she could speak to me privately. She told me that her health isn’t good at the moment and being homeless doesn’t help, telling me that later today she will be going to the walk in centre to hopefully get some medication. I gave her some money for a phone charger because her phone is her lifeline not only to the DWP but to her children and friends.

I really hope that she’s ok because she’s really not well at all.

Today we had various conversations about lots of different things, one matter kept popping up and that was council tax payments and visits from bailiffs.

I gave the best advice that I could but its awful when the person that you’re speaking to is crying because they’re scared. I was speaking to a lovely woman that told me she was absolutely terrified of the bailiffs banging on her door and windows.

It’s very easy for someone to fall into council tax arrears and a universal credit application was to blame in this case. Because of the long wait for her universal credit payment to be processed she fell into arrears with just about everything.

After her latest bailiff visit she went into the council offices to see if she could arrange a payment plan with her. Their answer was a flat no. No they wouldn’t help, no they wouldn’t stop the bailiffs from coming. Even though she was offering a reasonable repayment plan they denied her any assistance. They did however tell her to go to citizens advice and ‘they might’ be able to contact the council tax department.

This has not helped her one bit,she’s living in fear and she’s scared. I gave her some sound advice and told her that she can contact me if she needs to.

Although I am very aware of what the council can and can’t do in situations like this their refusal to help speaks volumes doesn’t it. So many people live in fear of bailiffs coming to their homes and sometimes barging in.

This shouldn’t be happening. The current council tax scheme is a punishing system. It .demands that people pay an unreasonable amount of money when they can’t afford it.

Council also costs more to implement than what local councils gain from it. It’s not working and this system needs to stop asap.

No one should be living in fear in their own homes, scared when the bailiffs come banging on doors and windows or barging their way into their home.

I’m also very aware of the laws surrounding council tax so please no comments saying that I don’t know how the system works. I know only too well how it works and I’ve been campaigning against it for years now.

I had a conversation with a lovely young man, he asked me what we were doing and I replied. He told me that he really didn’t know anything about politics but he’d like to learn more. We had a good chat and hopefully he will be more aware in the future.

This did raise my concern about the lack of public education regarding politics. It’s not taught as much in school as it should be and many people, like this young man aren’t as aware as they should be.

We need to educate those that aren’t aware by conversation but I believe that children should be given some political education whilst at school.

I then had a second conversation regarding council tax, and not long after another. I offered some advice and signposted to the best of my ability.

We then had a long conversation with a woman who’s homeless. She was worried because she needs to change her care of address but didn’t want to be thrown onto universal credit as a result.

To say shes scared and worried is an understatement. The words universal credit often cause people to panic. John was extremely helpful and helped this lovely woman whilst I was helping someone else. We did everything in our power to help her but thank you John.

I can’t thank the team enough today, the weather was awful but that didn’t prevent us from helping lots of people. We will be back again next week, please come and join us!

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. Thank you to everyone that has done already.

Thank you to those that do support my blog, your help enables the campaign and the blog to continue.

There’s a paypal button at the top and side of this blog post if anyone would like to donate. Thank you so much.

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Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Five year aniversary of blogging and the suffering continues.

Dear readers it’s been five years almost to the day since I started writing this blog although I’ve been campaigning for much longer.

A friend encouraged me to write it but I honestly didn’t think that anyone would read it. I was proved wrong though, it took off straight away.

Back then we were chosen to be a trial area for universal credit along with Oldham and Wigan.

Hardly anyone else was documenting the day to day cruelty that universal credit and the benefit reforms.Most likely because it wasn’t happening everywhere and lots of people weren’t aware of this

We were ignored and called liars and suchlike.

Myself and other groups continued to fight against it even though every door was being slammed in our faces. No one wanted to know.

Through perseverance and determination we continued, we weren’t letting this go. People were and are dying as a result and that was and is unacceptable.

DPAC have been consistently supportive and they’re amazing. The work that they have done and are doing is outstanding. I can’t thank them enough.

When I started this blog almost everyone that I spoke to outside Ashton Jobcentre was or had been sanctioned.

Pregnant women were being sanctioned for three years, suicides of people that we had spoken to were a constant worry. I’ve lost count of the people that we have lost.

It breaks my heart and I’ve always got them in my thoughts. Thanks to Black Triangle for their work collecting this info and publishing it.

At the the time the DWP were a law unto themselves, they still are. I’m certain that they were given orders to sanction as many people as possible (remember Sandra’s stars anyone?).

I’m certain that they still have these targets but they’re not so open and brazen at displaying them. People are still being sanctioned and it’s abbhorant that this is continuing to happen. Being sanctioned can and does kill people.

The suffering continues and every week I’m told yet more awful stories from claimants about their experiences whilst on universal credit and other benefits.

Today a man told me that he’d been barred from the Jobcentre for loosing his temper when he was told that he’d been sanctioned.

When he was allowed back into the Jobcentre he had a G4S guard to escort him to his appointment and to take him out again.

The stress of this took its toll on him and he started to pull his hair out. He can’t believe how horrible this system is. Thanks to the DWP he’s mentally scarred for life.

The system hasn’t got better the DWP and government have become more devious, constantly putting unrealistic demands upon people that they know won’t be able to keep up with it.

We’ve handed hundreds of food parcels out because people were and are literally starving. I’ve watched a family open the tins of food and eat it because they were so hungry.

It’s hard to tell you what the worst thing that I’ve seen is. Everything about this system is awful. It persecutes children, women, men, women who should be receiving their pensions but were conned out of them. The DWP won’t leave anyone alone.

The fight continues though. The Labour Party have at last commited to stopping, scrapping universal credit. They’re going to replace it with a caring system and I know that they’re going to do this. The Labour Party have been working very hard on creating the new system for quite a while now.

But the changes won’t happen overnight and until they’ve been elected nothing will change its going to become a whole lot worse.

Every week we speak to disabled people who have been found fit for work. They aren’t fit for work though and we help them to start the appeal process.

We’ve handed out thousands of copies of of our survival guides. They’ve proved to be invaluable and have helped a lot of people. Thanks to Roy for your help with this.

The blog doesn’t end after I’ve published the blog on Thursdays though. It’s become a full time job. Myself or members of the team don’t get paid by anyone either. We do it because we care.

The fight continues week after week. We’ve had abuse from G4S, I’ve been spat on called a scrounger and worse.

The DWP have unsuccessfully tried to move us from outside the Jobcentre. We aren’t going anywhere, we aren’t stopping until the suffering ends.

Whilst the suffering continues we will continue. I made this commitment all those years ago.

I want to thank you all for reading and supporting the blog for these last five years. Its been a massive comfort to know that you all support this blog and the campaign.

I’ll end the blog here this week. I know that it’s a bit different than my usual blog style but I really wanted to thank everyone that’s helped along the way whether it’s on foot at the demos or online. Both are equally as important.

To everyone that does come and help though thank you so, so much. We’ve had a lot of physical support from Stockport Against Austerity and I can’t thank them enough as well as Gordon, Roy, Carol and everyone else who I’ve met along the way.

My local Labour Party and my MP Angela Rayner have also been hugely supportive even though I’ve been a pain sometimes.

Can I ask you to continue to read, share, tweet and email my blog. Thank you to those that already do.

There’s also a donate button at the top and side of this blog. Every penny donated ensures that the campaign and blog can continue. A massive thanks to those that have.

I’ll be back next week with my usual blog. Thank you for the five years of support and thanks to Mike for persuading me to start this blog.

Don’t worry I’ll be writing next weeks blog in my usual style.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, confidence, Cookery, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

I dream about being able to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

Dear readers what a horrible week it has been in parliament, I’m certain that you’re feeling the ramifications of this.

At the moment we are having to put up with a government that throws constant hatred out towards others with absolute no ramifications at all. Their hostile environment has certainly become a whole lot more hostile.

Right wing politicians, newspapers and followers are being encouraged by the government to abuse people especially left wing politicians and individuals.

I’ve had to start carrying a personal alarm with me at all times.It saddens me greatly that this is happening, we already have enough to cope with trying to survive from day to day.

This week I will be concentrating on one conversation that I had this morning.

All food parcels were taken as soon as they arrived. It’s not becoming better it’s getting much worse.

Whilst I condone the need for foodbanks the realisation that thousands of people would have either died or become extremely ill without them.

It goes without saying that the Tory party don’t give a stuff. But we already know this don’t we.

Every week for years now I’ve had some lovely conversations with some amazing people trying their best to survive whilst dealing with the DWP system. They’re the true heroes of society not someone wearing a suit and spouting all the right words. To survive the DWP system is a massive achievement and we need to recognise this more.

This morning I had a conversation with a lovely chap, I’m probably the only person that he talks to all week. He’s always got a smile to spare for others but he’s suffering greatly.

He hasn’t been able to have a proper cooked meal for a long time, and told me that he couldn’t remember the last time that he had been able to eat properly.

Being constantly hungry and having to rely upon foodbanks is taking its toll both mentally and physically. Mentally he’s feeling completely worn down, he’s trying his best but not achieving much in the DWPs eyes. He knows that he needs to find work but it’s hard, very hard.

Physically he’s feeling terrible. He’s unable to buy fresh vegetables and fruit and his diet which mainly consists of tinned food and cheap carbohydrates is taking its toll, telling me that he dreams of being able to buy some fresh vegetables and fruit and eating them. He knows the importance of a good diet but how on earth can he eat healthily when he hasn’t got the ability to do so.

This is a massive problem in society at the moment but it’s rarely spoken about.

It’s easy to become overweight when relying upon cheap quick food yet the media fat shame just about anyone they can find who happens to be overweight.

Dieticians and celebrity chefs can have as many programmes as they want on television to teach is how to eat healthily but they haven’t got a clue about what the reality of the situation is.

We don’t have enough money to buy fancy ingredients or the next new superfood whatever that might be at the moment.

Jack Monroe appears to be the only one that does know because she’s lived the foodbank life. Check her work out she’s fabulous.

We can’t afford to eat properly we’ve only got the means to survive.

If you take any message from my blog let it be this.

We aren’t responsible for the way that the government is treating us. Poverty is extremely hard to escape from, it follows us about everywhere.

You are not to blame for this.

Don’t listen to the Tories when they say that finding work pays. It doesn’t and this has been proven time and again. Universal credit has been created to make us fail, to make us dissappear, to make us give up.

Almost every person that I spoke to today was suffering because of the system that’s intent upon making them fail.

I want to tell the man that I spoke to today who’s too ill to work but is forced too look that he doesn’t have to look for work.

Basically I want a magic wand to stop this eternal suffering felt by thousands upon thousands of people every day.

I want to bring back industry to areas like mine where there is none. I wnt suitable jobs for everyone who is able to and wants to work. I want employers to be flexible around childcare and other family duties

I want people who have a disability or are ill to be respected instead of being failed at every step and constantly punished for existing.

I want a society that understands that not everyone has access to the Internet or a computer.

I want to see the end of universal credit and it be replaced with a fair and understanding system that helps not punishes people.

I want everyone to live in decent housing, not stuck in a B&B or suchlike. Everyone deserves a good place to call home.

I want everyone to be able to have a good and varied diet without worrying where their next meal is coming from and when.

I want children to be happy, not hungry and certainly not worrying about when they’ll get their next meal and certainly not to be forced to wear clothes that they’ve grown out of because their parents can’t afford to buy new ones.

I could go on forever but you get the jist.

What I can do though is to buy some fresh fruit and veg for the chap that I was speaking to today.

I can continue to help others and advise them. I can become a friend to them and I can be a shoulder to cry on. I can do this and I will continue to for as long as I’m able to.

I apologise for this weeks rant. Today hit me very hard, we’ve now become so poor that instead of dreaming about going on holiday or suchlike we’re dreaming about being able to eat fruit and vegetables.

Sad, bad times indeed.

Many thanks to Gordon for helping today. I apologise for this weeks blog I’ll be back to normal next week.

Please read, share tweet and email my blog.

Please support my blog and campaign. Many thanks to everyone that has already. You all mean the world to me.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

DWP refuse to pay for DBS check but will pay over £200 for a course.

Dear readers I’m extremely sorry for the delay in publishing my blog.

This weeks demo was extremely busy, as usual the food parcels were taken as soon as they arrived. I really wish that this wasn’t the case but it will be for the foreseeable future.

As usual I will list some of the conversations that I had today, identities won’t be revealed either.

As I arrived at the spot where I pick the food parcels up from I was greeted by a chap who I had a conversation with last week. He had followed my advice and as a result he managed to get hold of some much needed work boots etc.

I’m so happy that I can signpost people, remember we don’t leave anyone in the lurch we always do our best to help everyone.

Here’s a typical example of DWP logic it’s obvious to me that they don’t really want people to find good positive employment.

Jenny spotted us she was leaving the Jobcentre, she asked me if she could have a leaflet. As I handed her a leaflet she expressed her disgust of the whole DWP system. Here’s her story.

Jenny told us that she’s a qualified nurse and she would like to return to work. She asked the DWP if they would pay for a DBS check. You’d think that the DWP would agree to this because they apparently help people into work……

The DWPs answer was this, no they wouldn’t pay for a DBS check but they would pay over £200 for Jenny to attend a door persons job.

If course we advised that a future employer should pay for the check but as we know not all employers will do this.

As I’ve said before claimants are nothing but a number to be bought and sold at the DWPs whim. They profit from sending claimants to these often rubbish courses and until this stops they won’t stop.

I was then stopped by a woman who’s being forced to attend what seems to be endless pointless DWP courses. She told me about the latest course that she was forced to attend.

She told me that she was told to attend an effective job search course for people with arthritis. Telling me about her experience she said “I was stuck in a room with lots of other people. They tried to tell us that we shouldn’t let arthritis prevent us from finding work. Easier said than done when you’re in constant pain.”

If this wasn’t enough enough she was also told that she had to attend a job fair in Ashton as well. The DWP advised her that if she didn’t attend they would sanction her.

The word on the street later was that the job fair was rubbish. Potential employers telling people that they were either too old or unsuitable for the work that they were offering. This didn’t surprise me because I’m told the same every year that they hold this event.

A little later I had a conversation with chap that I’d had a conversation with a few weeks ago. He’s been waiting for over 3 months for his first universal credit payment. He told me that the DWP have informed him that he should receive his first universal credit payment on Saturday. Let’s hope that they do.

Last but not least we spoke to a woman who was very quick to tell us that she was over £600 worse off since claiming Universal credit. She’s gone from being able to being able to cope on the benefits system to not coping at all.

Her story is that she had previously been homeless and she had been rehoused to a three bedroom house. She only needed a two bedroom home but she couldn’t refuse the offer of this property. If she did they would refuse to help her.

As a result shes now forced to pay the bedroom tax and top up rent as well as the council tax supplement. She’s applied for a help with this but she keeps on being refused. She’s also asked to move to a smaller property but this is refused also because she owes rent.

It’s absolutely shocking that local housing providers refuse to help people find smaller properties because they owe rent. Of course they’re going to owe rent they need a smaller home so that they can pay back this debt.

The whole system is geared against the poorest people in society. At every turn they get the door slammed in their faces, are told that they’re not good enough and are used by companies employed by the DWP until they burn out, become ill or disabled and are then left with no support at all.

Poverty is isolating which helps the DWP to abuse these people in whatever way they see fit. Like I said earlier we’re a commodity and we’re bought and sold at the DWP and governments whim.

We spoke to lots of people yesterday and offered help, advice, signposting, food, support and solidarity. We will return next week to help even more people.

Please read and share this blog thank you. Tweet it, email it etc because everyone needs to know the truth behind the DWPs false advertisements claiming that universal credit is the best thing ever.

For everyone who supports my blog thank you so much.

For anyone wanting to donate there’s a PayPal button at the top and side of this blog.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

I’m so hungry I could faint.

Dear readers I hope that you are OK and surviving. It appears that surviving is all that we can do these days.

Even though it’s been busy in parliament our work never stops. Parliament is parogued but we aren’t. Let’s hope that there’s an end to all that madness soon.

We can guarantee that it’s going to be the poor and disabled that bear the brunt of any Brexit related decisions. The wealthy really don’t care because it won’t affect them, this really annoys me. I know that it’s to be expected though.

As usual the food parcels went as soon as they arrive. This is a terrible reflection of the government’s war against the poor. It really shouldn’t be like this after all there was no real reason for it.

The tory government would rather give their friends millions of pounds only to blame us for their mess. The price that we have paid is a very heavy one. Thousands upon thousands of people have either died or are suffering, many have become ill as a result.

I can suppose that you would have seen the fancy DWP adverts everywhere and especially in the Metro newspaper, saying that ‘work pays’ and ‘universal credit helps you into work. Despite being a down right lie I’ve spoken to many people who can prove this isn’t the case.

This morning I spoke to Ron. Ron has completed quite a few of the useless DWP courses. They didn’t help him to find work they delayed him in his quest to find a job.

Despite this Ron found a job, a well paid one. He could start within days but his new employer advised him that he would need to bring his own safety gear including proper strong work boots.

Not having any spare money he approached the DWP and asked if they could help him out with the cost of this. The DWP unsurprisingly said no, they wouldn’t do it.

Ron understandably worried then phoned up the DWP and he was told that they could help him and he should tell his advisor that they could.

Ron then spoke to his advisor who once again told him that they wouldn’t help him.

In the meantime Ron wasn’t able to start work, he lost the job but was told that he had to attend yet another pointless DWP course.

Ron’s experience isn’t uncommon though. This happens to lots of people. The DWP are actually preventing people from starting work.

Meanwhile people like Ron are forced into constantly attending the pointless courses and threatened with a sanction if they don’t attend.

The companies and organisations that provide these courses are paid very handsomely to do so as are the DWP.

Sadly we are all a commodity to be bought and sold at the governments whim.

I then spoke to Tom. Tom has been constantly appealing against ESA and PIP decisions. He has appealed these decisions and every time he’s won.

Tom has been waiting 18 months for the latest appeal and tribunal. He’s understandably angry telling me that he’s extremely frustrated but he won’t give up fighting against their decisions. Tom is an amazing man.

I then had a conversation with Debbie. Debbie hadn’t eaten for a while and she didn’t look well, telling me that she felt faint because she hasn’t eaten for a few days. She hasn’t been receiving her payments because her circumstances have changed and she’s street homeless.

I gave her something to eat, she was thankful but that’s only short term help. Because we had ran out of food parcels I advised her to go into the council offices and ask them for a food bank voucher.

It’s not acceptable for anyone to be suffering like this, I helped her out but tomorrow I won’t be there. I did advise that she visits a few local organisations for some more support. I really hope that she does this.

I spoke to two people that needed to open bank accounts to receive their universal credit payments. They’d previously used a friends bank account to do so. I advised them about what ID they would need and I wished them luck.

We spoke briefly to a man that had just found a job within a month of applying for universal credit. The experience has scarred him, telling me that he didn’t know how people survive on this system. He never wants to experience it again either.

The DWP also owe him money but I doubt if he’ll ever get it. Meanwhile he’s too tired of the whole system to chase it.

Today was quite a busy day but I had to leave 30 minutes early for the electrician to finish fitting my new boiler. I’ve waited about a year for a new one. It’s ridiculous isn’t it.

We had lots of conversations with people, thanks to Gordon for helping and thanks to Gary for the leaflets.

We will be back next week. Try not to forget us whilst the whole Brexit debacle continues. People are still suffering and its these people who will suffer greatly as a result of any decision made by the government.

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. Send a copy of it to your mp.

A massive thanks to everyone that does and has supported my blog.

For anyone wanting to donate there’s a PayPal button at the top and side of ti’s blog.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

We don’t care that you’re disabled and distressed you still have to attend DWP courses. More tales from Ashton-under-Lyne Jobcentre.

Dear readers it’s Thursday and we had a very busy demo. All of our food parcels were taken straight away and we helped lots of people. I’ll list today’s conversations but I will not be divulging anyone’s identities etc.

I realise that this week is an extremely busy week politically but people are still suffering under the government’s cruel and demeaning DWP policies. Please try to support this campaign and the many others that help people so much. It also looks like there’s going to be a general election in the very near future and this will be our chance to oust the awful Tory party. Please register to vote and use the vote that we fought so hard to get.

I spotted Alice sitting on a nearby bench outside the Jobcentre, she was sat with her daughter and toddler grandchild. I asked her if she would like one of our leaflets and she told me about her ordeal with the DWP..

Alice is disabled and like thousands of other people she failed her ESA medical assessment. She has appealed this decision and eighteen months later she’s still awaiting for a decision from the DWP. As a direct result of this she’s now dependent upon her daughter helping her in her home and to take her out for appointments

Alice told me that she’s finding the whole process demeaning and embarrassing, she doesn’t want to ask her daughter for help but she’s left with no choice. Needless to say the DWP regard her as fit for work when she obviously isn’t. I gave Alice some advice and signposted her to other organisations for further help.

I then spotted Ben as he left the Jobcentre. Ben is a University graduate and has always worked until he became ill. Because of this Ben is struggling with his rent payments. After all deductions being taken out of his universal credit payments he’s left with approximately £125 a month to live on.

Ben is struggling to cope and is understandably frustrated. He’s been refused jobs because he doesn’t have an up to date passport and he really wants to work. Being able to afford a new passport is definitely not achievable for him.

Needless to say it shouldn’t have to be so hard to find employment. The only jobs that seem to be available are zero hour contracted jobs and jobs requiring a driving licence. But hey the government reckons that the ‘world of work’ is fabulous and we’ve never been as well off.

The reality couldn’t be more different could it.

I then had a conversation with a man who’s struggling with his disability. Thankfully he’s got some excellent support but he’s still having to cope with the whole DWP rigmarole.

Life really shouldn’t be like this but it is for thousands of people. We should all be very angry, but sadly many aren’t. Far too many people accept that this is their lot in life and they don’t deserve anything better. Years of having a Tory government does this to you.

We’ve been targeted by the right wing media as being the enemy, that we don’t deserve anything because we’re a bunch of scroungers deserving of ill treatment and everything that comes with that. The truth is that we’re not and nobody should be treated like this.

I then spotted a woman and her friend leaving the Jobcentre, she was crying and obviously very distressed. She was at first unable to speak because she was so distressed but her friend was able to speak to me.

Jill is disabled but the DWP are treating her terribly. I’ve noticed her having to attend appointments at the Jobcentre every week. If that alone isn’t stressful enough she been forced to attend a DWP course elsewhere.

Jilll is really struggling with this. She feels that she’s being targeted both by the DWP and the course providers and she can’t cope.

Visibly distressed she told her adviser that she couldn’t cope with the demands made to her both both on the course and the DWP, she asked if she could stop attending the course.

Her advisor then told her that she would have to attend the course regardless and she started to cry. Her tears were ignored by the DWP but not by us.

I get both angry and upset when I see the DWP treat vulnerable people like this. It shouldn’t be happening but it is and to thousands of people every day up and down the country. Luckily I and my comrades were there to support and advise her.

Can you imagine how hard it is to cope with the constant stress and discrimination relentlessly metered onto you from the DWP? It makes people I’ll, many take their own life because they can’t cope.

In an ideal world this wouldn’t happen. We would all be treated with respect and dignity. I know that this is a dream and it most likely never happen but it doesn’t do any harm to want to achieve this.

Last but certainly not least I then had a conversation with Alice. Alice is 63 years old and had always worked until she became unwell. Years of hard manual work certainly hasn’t helped her wellbeing.

Alice thought that she could claim her pension only to be told that she has to wait three more years to do so and she must find work.

Alice told me that she struggles to use technology and doesn’t have a smart phone, even if she did she wouldn’t know how to use one.

Needless to say the DWP have demanded that she finds work despite her age and not being fit for work. “How on earth am I expected to find work” she told me “I’m old, riddled with arthritis and I struggle. It I don’t search for work they’ll stop my money. It’s not right but I have to do it”

I agreed with Alice and I advised her. Her situation isn’t unusual, far from it. With the government wanting to raise the retirement age to 75 they’ll literally be working us to death.

We deserve so much more than that and I amongst others will continue to campaign against this governments disgusting policies. We will one day make them answerable for all their decisions, for all the deaths that they have caused and for all the suffering endured by thousands and thousands of people under their rule.

We deserve so much more than this.

We also had many conversations with other people and we advised them. Never underestimate the value of a friendly face outside a Jobcentre. It’s essential that we continue for as long as people are suffering.

A massive thanks to everyone that came to help today you’re all amazing. I really couldn’t do this without you.

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. It might not be perfect but it is vital that we keep sharing these stories out there. The government needs to be made aware of the damage that they’re doing to the most vulnerable in society.

A massive thank you to everyone that has or is supporting my blog, I really couldn’t do this without you.

For anyone wanting to donate there’s a PayPal link at the bottom and side of this blog. Thank you so much.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, love island, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Can’t afford food can’t cope thanks to universal credit.

Dear readers it’s Thursday again and I hope that WordPress doesn’t play up again today. Once again my apologies.

We were joined again by colleagues and friends from Stockport and Oldham and Ashton. Recently support for the demo has been very low so I really welcomed this. It gave me the hope that I needed to carry on with the demos. We are needed and I won’t be stopping them anytime soon.

As usual all the food parcels were taken straight away and I held one back for someone who had messaged me before the demo. We all should be angry about the need for food parcels but unfortunately it’s become normalised and accepted by many. Years of Tory rule will do that. Poverty is also now normalised and it’s become acceptable that we are treated like the dirt underneath someone’s shoe, there’s absolutely no accountability on the government’s part but they’re quick to hound a person to find work whilst their on their deathbed.

I’ll list the conversations that I had as usual and I won’t be divulging any names either.

The first conversation that I had this morning was with a man who’s been having a terrible time of it lately. Basically he’s not getting his payments because the DWP won’t accept that he no longer lives at a previous address.

He’s phoned them up, handed in evidence of his new address but they still aren’t listening. He’s now angry and quite rightly so. He needs to eat, pay his bills etc. Do the DWP care? Nope so he has to start phoning them again in the hope that he will be able to get his payment.

I wish that this was unusual but it isn’t. DWP department are notorious for not communicating with each other and for not knowing the correct procedures for things either. It’s much like winning the lottery when you get a good advisor either face to face or on the phone.

It was then that I spoke to Joanne, she’s a woman that I first spoke to a while ago and she was in need of out help again, saying that she’s been let down by every single service in the area and especially by the DWP.

If I had a magic wand and I could change things for her I would but I don’t and I can only advise her. If you’re reading this Joanne, don’t give up we care for you and one day it will get better for you.

I then spotted James as he was leaving the Jobcentre. He looked a tad confused and I handed him a leaflet.

James told me that since he started to claim universal credit he’s lost weight because he can no longer afford to eat regular meals. He’s also struggling to keep his accommodation going but one by one his appliances are breaking down and he can’t afford to either repair or replace them. Thanks to universal credit he hasn’t got much hope for the future.

The DWP declared James fit for work, he obviously isn’t but they don’t care. I advised him and myself and my colleague had a long conversation with him. From what James was saying he doesn’t really speak to many people so I hope that we made a difference to his day. I also signposted him for further help.

We then spotted Paul as he was leaving the Jobcentre, he was looking at our placards and agreeing with them especially the ‘stop universal credit’ one. We asked him if he needed any advice. Paul replied saying that universal credit is ‘terrible’ and it’s ruined his life.

Paul is given a payment of £509 a month out of that he’s got to pay his rent which is £340 a month. The rest of his payment is left to pay bills, food and gas and electric. To say that he’s struggling is an understatement.

Since making a claim for universal credit he’s struggling to cope because his income is so much lower than it used to be. We had a long conversation with him and advised him. I hope that we gave him some hope.

I then noticed Jim walking out of the building, I think that he had been visiting the local council offices.

Jim is an older chap and remembers when life was much easier. He’s been denied his DLA payments and he was visably upset. We had a long chat with him and hopefully he’s feeling better knowing that he is important and we are listening. As usual we advised him.

I then spoke to a chap who’s really struggling at the moment. Luckily he has a support worker that can fight his corner for him.

We then spotted Debbie leaving the council building. She walked right up to us, pointed at our placards and said that she agreed with everything that we were saying and doing.

Debbie’s daughter had nothing but problems with her universal credit payments over the Christmas period. Debbie said that the system is ‘disgusting’. Her daughter is now forced to work a full time job and she hardly sees her children. Debbie and another grandparent helps with the childcare because she can’t afford that either.

This is all causing immense stress for everyone concerned and she’s too scared to claim universal credit after her experience of it.

Essentially thousands of people are forced into taking zero hour contract jobs etc because they’re scared of the DWP and especially universal credit. This is a sad reality of employment these days. Thousands of employers exploit their employees to enable them to profit more. It needs to stop because we are worth so much more than this.

We left the demo today knowing that we had helped lots of people. Thank you so much to everyone who came to support us it really makes a massive difference.

We will be returning next week as usual.

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog.

Theres a PayPal button at the top and side of this blog for anyone wanting to donate. Thank you so much xx.