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As many of you already know the DWP never miss an opportunity to sanction claimants, however it was much harder to do so whilst the country was in lockdown because of the pandemic.
The drop in Universal Credit sanctions was as a result of changes to the conditionality rules that were implemented in March 2020 because of the pandemic.
Normal service seems to have resumed sadly with the rate of Universal Credit sanctions rising 15 fold in four months according to Benefits And Work.
This all changed in April 2021 when face to face meetings returned thus causing sanctions levels to rise. This proves that the decision to sanction claimants lies firstly with Job Coaches and often is influenced by their opinion and not fact.
Theres no other reason for this when online claimant were seen to meet the expectations of their claimant commitments, yet now they apparently don’t.
Benefit sanctioning is an extremely cruel way of punishing someone for apparently not reaching the DWPs expectations. Taking away a persons financial means of survival is wrong on all levels, it’s hard enough trying to survive on the meagre amount of monies given in the first place.
I’ve blogged about benefit sanctions for many years now, and I’ve also had articles published in newspapers etc.
My opinion is this, and it will never change.
No one should be punished financially by sanctions. Sanctions do not and never have encouraged people to find work or look for work more diligently.
When a claimant is sanctioned they can only focus on keeping warm, being able to eat and how they’re going to pay their rent.
Being sanctioned and refusing to pay ESA and PIP claimants their rightful payments directly causes mental and physical distress, often leading to long term illness and depression.
Whilst quite rightly we are told to leave an abusive relationship for our own safety a person can’t leave the DWP and everything that comes with it. It’s obscene that people are treated in this manner, being guilty before being found innocent. It’s gaslighting at its worst.
Prior to the pandemic the highest sanctioning levels happened back in July 2019, when 22,566 claimants were hit with a reduction in their benefit.
I have no doubt that this figure will be surpassed if it hasn’t already.
We must continue to hold the government and the DWP responsible for their actions.
Many thanks once again to Benefits And Work for their hard work for researching and gathering the data. They work extremely hard to help others.
If you want to raise awareness about these issues and more there are several ways that you can do so.
You can share blogs such as mine and likewise online of your preferred social media platform. You can also email blogs and articles like mine to MPs and other important people and influencers.
Every share, tweet, conversation etc helps to raise awareness and this is extremely important to do.
If you live in the Greater Manchester area and you’d like to get involved please join https;\\manchesterdpac.com You will find likeminded people and will be given opportunities to join in any activities that they are doing.
Unite community is another trade union organisation that is well worth joining. There is a small payment to join but you can get help and advice from them also. You can join them over at http:\\join.unitetheunion.org
Please read, share, tweet and email my blog posts. Like I said earlier every share helps enormously.
Huge thank you to everyone that has and does support my blog and campaign. Without you I really couldn’t do this.
How am I doing? Not good unfortunately a very good friend of mine died this week, and I’m struggling to cope with it because I’m still grieving for my son.
Financially I’m also struggling. I’m having to make the choice between heating and eating. I know that so many of you are struggling with this as well.
If anyone would like to donate to keep my blog and campaign going or to help me put some electric on the meter theres a PayPal donation link at the top, side and underneath this blog post.
I am trying to update my blog more than once a week as you might have noticed this week.
Dear readers I write this blog on Christmas Day, a day when people are expected to celebrate and be happy.
Sadly because of the government’s cruel Universal Credit system and the torturous PIP and ESA DWP ‘medical’ assessments thousands of people won’t be able to celebrate, cook a Christmas dinner and exchange gifts.
This year is tougher than normal because we are still in the middle of a pandemic that the government is trying it’s best to ignore.
Today the UK’s official Covid death toll has surpassed 70,000 on as 570 more people died today.
Let that sink in 570 people have died from Covid 19 on Christmas day. Also a total of 70,000 people have died as a result of Covid 19.
Meanwhile the government continues to ignore this, they just don’t want to know and they certainly don’t want to help.
70,000 families will be grieving as will their friends. But hey let’s ignore them and continue to put the public at risk.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if the government actually tool some positive action, set an example to the rest of the world and protected people. This won’t happen though.
It appears that the government is in some sick competition with America about how many people will die from Covid 19.
Then we have the thousands of people now unemployed as a result of the pandemic. Now facing the inhumane universal Credit system, many can’t understand how they’re expected to survive on so little money.
Thousands of people won’t be able to give anyone presents this year, heat their home and have a Christmas dinner.
This year the queues for food banks and suchlike places have more than doubled. Families are queuing for hot meals in city centres and children and their parents are hungry because they don’t have the money to survive on.
How sickening it is that I have to use the world surviving… People shouldn’t be surviving they should be able to live, be happy and have enough money to be able to feed themselves and their children.
I want to be positive I really do but it’s extremely hard to find the good in all of this. We shouldn’t be celebrating the fact that food banks are opening and organisations and charities are working extremely hard to find food to give to hungry people.
Theres a reason why the government likes foodbanks. If given the opportunity one of their Tory MPs will see this as a photo opportunity.
Foodbanks save the government thousands of pounds every year. They also take the responsibility of feeding people away from them and moves it to the foodbanks and organisations to do this.
No wonder Tories smile so much at the thought of another foodbank opening.
Basically what I’m saying is yes please support your local foodbank but please remind the government of their duty of care towards the people of this country.
Normally we would see the government’s opposition making a speech or statement about the terrible neglect of the poorest and most vulnerable of this country. This year it’s virtually silent.
Sir Kier Starmer quite rightly made a speech about Brexit, but he failed to address the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable of this country.
As a result thousands of people are feeling neglected and unimportant and totally pissed off with the political system in general.
So what do we do now? We support each other in whatever way that we are able to.
A friendly word, a smile can sometimes be enough.
We have to be there for each other because this damned government will never never care.
A huge thank you to everyone that reads and supports my campaign and blog. Your kind words and support have kept me going throughout my own covid 19 nightmare.
Sadly I’ve got pleurisy again, thanks to long covid. Hopefully I’ll be better soon.
For anyone that would like to donate towards my campaign and blog there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post. Thank you!
Please read, share, tweet and email my blog.
Dear readers I need to apologize because I’m late publishing my blog this week.
There’s no real excuse for this but I’ve had a stressful week and I haven’t been sleeping well. I find it hard to write when I’m over tired.
This week I was reminded of one cold Thursday morning outside Ashton Jobcentre.
The demo started as usual, we were helping or something and handing out food parcels.
Whilst we were doing this I noticed a woman with three children walk out of the Jobcentre, walk past us and she then approached me.
I asked her if she was ok. Her story was particularly heart wrenching. She was a victim of domestic violence and she was struggling to get help from the DWP because she had to leave in a rush.
As usual the DWP failed to recognise and appreciate her situation. They suggested to her that she should have gone back to her abuser to collect her ID.
Theres no excuse for their lack of caring. There’s no way that she should have to return to her abuser.
I advised her on what to do and I put her in touch with all of the relevant agencies that could help her.
I asked her if she needed a food parcel, she said that she did and that she hadn’t ate for days. She had just managed to feed her kids with the very basics, bread and some biscuits.
I gave her a good parcel, she was so thankful because so far no one had been understanding of her situation.
She then took her kids to the steps outside the old cinema. They all sat down and started to eat some food directly out of the tins.
I’m not lying when I say that this broke my heart. How have we managed to elect a government that is extremely aggressive towards people who are struggling, disabled people and unemployed people.
Let’s move forward to 2020.
Nothing has improved, the hostile environment created by the government is even worse than ever.
People are still dying as a direct result of this uncaring governments actions.
There is no excuse for the government to behave in this manner but they do because they can.
It’s certainly not going to get any better. We are in the midst of a pandemic, more and more people are loosing their jobs as a result of the pandemic.
This week I’ve had quite a few newly unemployed people email me to ask me about how they’re supposed to manage on the meagre payments that they receive via Universal Credit.
It’s horrible that anyone is in this situation. Universal Credit doesn’t benefit anyone except the government.
To say that it’s a huge shock to newly unemployed people is an understatement. So many more people are now struggling to eat properly, pay their rent and survive.
It’s a reality check that they certainly didn’t expect. So many of these newly unemployed people had previously believed the government’s lies about how wonderful Universal Credit is.
Add into the mix the thousands of people that are ill with Covid 19 that are so scared of loosing their jobs that are forced to return to work when they’re unwell.
We’ve also got Long Covid to contend with. I doubt that the DWP will recognise this though. This is another battle that we have to now fight.
We also have thousands of people that have died and will die from Covid 19.
I’m extremely worried that their deaths are being ignored and normalised by society. This is extremely cruel and callous.
Please, let’s not forget about their deaths, most of which could have been prevented if the government had responded correctly when the virus had arrived in the UK.
It’s all wrong, none of the above would have happened if we had a caring goverment, but that’s not likely not happen in the near future.
As the Christmas period looms on the horizon, please spare a thought for all of us that can’t celebrate Christmas because of the expense. Also remember that so many people won’t be celebrating Christmas because they’ve lost a loved one due to Covid 19.
The Christmas period is such a hard time for so many of us. Let’s not forget about them.
The above statistic is horrific but true. This is exactly why the government hasn’t reacted responsibly and stopped the spread of covid 19.
Each and every death is saving them money and they don’t care what people think about this.
Let’s continue to fight for the living and dead. We cannot allow the government to treat people like this.
Please read, share and tweet my blog.
A huge thank you to everyone that supports my blog and campaign. You all mean the world to me.
For anyone that would like to donate to my campaign and blog there is a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
Dear readers this week’s blog is going to be rather short and I apologize for this.
The other week my daughter brought a virus home from school. This in itself wouldn’t be problematic but combine this with my long covid and respitory problems because of this it’s been a nightmare.
I was prescribed some meds which have worked to an extent but I still feel terrible. As a result it’s impacted my life dramatically this week and all that I’ve been able to do is nothing. A flat nothing except essential tasks.
I know that I should probably go back to the hospital but I’m putting it off because they’ve got much sicker people than me to deal with.
The reality is that long covid sufferers like myself are left to it with very little or no support. If you haven’t been admitted to hospital then it’s extremely hard to get someone to listen and to help you.
Unluckily I was admitted to hospital so I have been able to access some very basic tests and have been allocated a respiratory specialist that I’m still waiting to see.
I’ve tried all of the alternative remedies out there and none of them work. Some slightly ease the symptoms but the only things that really work are time, antibiotics for any infection lurking and a nebuliser on bad days.
To access any of these you either have to have access to a decent doctor and a local hospital. By decent I mean a doctor that actually recognises that long covid and related problems are an actual thing.
This sadly isn’t as easy as you might think. Often when you get covid 19 you also can get some really strange symptoms that there’s no explanation for.
My strange symptoms have been high temperature but not skyrocketing high, hallucinations in the early stages, really strange aches and pains, fatigue, breathlessness and a crappy immune system that can be set off by the slightest thing.
When the decision to have another so called lockdown not once were people with illnesses, disabilities and long covid taken into account.
The government shuts pubs, restaurants, gyms etc but they refuse to shut the schools, colleges and universities.
It’s a total misconception that children are being adequately socially distanced. The covid 19 and other viruses are running through these establishments at a high rate. This then returns home with the pupils, teachers, teaching staff and school staff and is passed onto any person living with them.
It’s extremely dangerous but so many people are failing to see this. We aren’t even an afterthought we aren’t thought of at all.
It’s also extremely frustrating to see that so many people in my area at least don’t believe that this virus exists or if it does it’s not harmful.
It’s all a conspiracy they say, wearing a mask takes away our freedom! They fail to see that wearing a mask actually does help to give them the freedom that they crave.
Then we have the news of a vaccine that’s on the way. It’s supposedly around 90% effective and it should be welcomed. But it isn’t by many.
Like anything new it’s ok to be suspicious but this vaccination has been tested adequately. I can’t however comment on any side effects but to be honest I’d give anything to feel well again.
Whilst the schools etc are still open the virus will still be spread amongst our communities. Add into this the people that refuse to wear a mask etc and so many more people are going to become ill or much worse die.
This week saw the death total for UK hit 50 thousand. Yes these people died from Covid 19 related illnesses but people still insult the dead and their families by saying that its all a lie.
It isn’t a lie, people are dying and they need to take this seriously.
I’m sorry for repeating myself again but people do need to hear this. It’s extremely important.
As for me, I’ve not been able to go out anywhere except for my local post office which isn’t far.
I struggle walking there and back, breathing isn’t easy when your mobile but it is what it is.
I wear a mask whenever I do go to the post office and I’m very strict about using anti bacterial hand creams etc.
I stay away from any crowds of people because I realize the risk of catching something else.
I’m not contagious anymore but so many people are vulnerable and we all need to look after each other.
What I do want is a proper lockdown with the full support of the government for workers and self employed people.
I want people to realise that long covid is a serious thing as is having a weakened immune system thanks to covid 19.
I want people to realise that we don’t get well overnight. It takes a long time and its a struggle to do so.
For some catching covid 19 is the only way that they’ll start to realise how awful it is.
As for the vaccine. It’s going to take quite a while for it to be rolled out to the general public. It’s being offered to vulnerable groups of people first and quiet rightly so.
Please don’t become complacent because a vaccine is on the way.
Please keep safe. I know that as a single parent it’s doubly hard to do so but it’s so important.
Continue to look out for each other, help and support each other.
I’m going to end this blog here but please know that you’re all in my thoughts.
Please read, share and tweet my blog.
A huge thank you to all of you that do this already.
There’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog. I receive no funding for anything that I do. Every penny helps me to continue with my blog and campaign.
A massive thank you to everyone that has and does support my blog and campaign. Your support means the world to me.
Dear readers I’m writing this blog post from my bed, I’m trying to put off the inevitable hospital visit that will have to happen if I get any worse.
I thought that I was getting better but sadly my daughter unknowingly has brought home a virus from school. The said virus is now having a good time rampaging through my body whilst making me feel dreadful.
I haven’t stopped coughing for two days now, my whole body hurts and I’m not capable of doing much. But I am trying to get better.
Covid 19 and other viruses are rife in my daughters school, children have tested positive and the school remains open.
There’s no way that any type of virus can be controlled in a school environment. It’s impossible, an endless task of trying to make the best out of a very bad situation.
I realise that all children need and deserve an education but it comes with a huge risk to other family members.
For anyone with a weakened immune system like mine and a compromised immune system regardless of the cause are being put at a huge risk of becoming ill with Covid 19 and other viruses.
It’s not a case of if we catch it, it’s more like when we will catch it.
I’m knackered, fed up and my body feels like it’s been in battle for a long time now.
I can’t stop coughing, my temperature is high again and I have to admit that I’m a tad scared.
You see I don’t know if I’ve caught covid again or if this is another evil virus piggy backing on top of my weakened immune system. I don’t want to be admitted to hospital again either. I just can’t win.
I have sent off another covid test and I should get the results soon. Sadly the tests aren’t reliable and have only a 70% rate of accuracy.
The area where I live will be being put in the level three category later today. Whilst I agree that this is needed it isn’t enough.
The government have so far offered no support to any of the businesses that will be affected by this. There’s zero real life support.
I agree that health comes before business, but people have to survive.
I also agree that the whole country should be put into an at least two week lockdown and real life working track and trace systems put in place locally to monitor the situation.
We can’t rely upon the government to devise any system that would work properly in the best interests of the public. All that they’re interested in are making their friends rich.
I also believe that schools should be shut for a short period of time and all schools should be given a deep clean to get rid of any viruses etc.
When our children return stricter measures should be put in place and more home schooling implemented temporarily.
We need to keep out teachers safe as well.
None of what I say is easy but we can’t continue like we have been doing. I’m ill because of a virus brought home from school.. Can you imagine how many people could die as a result of this?
Not one decision is going to make everyone happy but we need to control this virus. It’s the government’s lack of taking correct action is why we are in this situation now.
Please keep safe, I’ll update my blog and social media as soon as I get my results or if I have to go to hospital.
It’s been a struggle for me and thousands of other people but we need to get rid of this virus.
Please read, share and tweet my blog.
For anyone who would like to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post.
I don’t get paid for anything that I do and every penny really helps both myself and the campaign.
I’m not able to get out so everything is so much more expensive.
A huge thank you to everyone that supports my campaign and blog. I really do appreciate it. It means the world to me
Dear readers its Thursday and I’ve just returned home from the hospital. I managed to get a cancellation appointment for a CT scan for my lungs.
Anyway you can imagine my disgust when I saw this article in The Guardian.
I don’t need to tell you that the DWP and government are disgustingly selfish people that care nothing about the working classes health and wellbeing.
This was no surprise to me.
I knew that the government would try and shaft these people for having the nerve to lose their jobs. In their eyes a pandemic is no excuse for not working and is certainly not an excuse for not looking for none existent jobs.
We’ve seen this before and no matter how much we tell people that this could happen to them we were still ignored.
Their futures are looking very different from last years. No one could plan for the pandemic because we didn’t know that this was coming.
Some of us knew that this was going to happen way back in December but theres no way that we could save up just incase. We have no spare money.
No savings allowed.
The DWP and the government’s reasoning for this is because these people ‘they have savings’.
They don’t care that it takes around six weeks for a universal credit claim to be processed. By then their savings will have gone to pay their rent, mortgage and food.
They could become homeless.
It’s extremely unreasonable to believe that these people lost their jobs through any fault of their own. But still the government will punish them because its what they do best.
The DWP has forgotten that there’s a pandemic.
Hello DWP, we are in the middle of a pandemic.
There are very few jobs out there so stop putting people under pressure to find work.
Lets not forget that thousands of people, probably many of those that lost their jobs are recovering from Covid 19. They’re unable to work.
There are very few jobs to find and there’s certainly not enough to look for work for 35 hours a week.
If you refuse to do this then they’ll sanction you. It’s all about punishing innocent people.
Their aim is to bully us until we give up altogether.
Where’s the safety net?
There is hardly any safety net left to help people. It’s extremely hard to make a claim for any type of social security.
When you manage it the DWP lie and make it extremely hard to continue to do so.
Claimants are given unrealistic goals that they have to attain and are spoken to like shit.
The sad fact is that many of these newly unemployed people that have been refused help believed that the government would help them.
They didn’t realise how cruel and callous the system can be.
The DWP certainly aren’t there to help anymore.
How very dare anyone make a claim for the help that they’re entitled to.
My heart does go out to them though. They’ve been thrown very abruptly into the lions den. I hope that none of them vote for the Tories again.
There are no jobs.
I’m certain that many of these people that have been refused help thought that they could find a job. I’ve heard this thousands of times when talking to people outside the Jobcentre.
In the first few weeks people have hope for a better future but that soon wears off.
The reality that there are no jobs kicks in pretty soon. People sell or pawn their possessions and many loose their homes because they can’t afford to pay their rent or mortgage.
Don’t expect local councils to be sympathetic either. It’s all bloody wrong.
We aren’t criminals and shouldn’t be treated like this. But we are.
You are left on your own to cope and this is very scary for many that thought that the safety net would be there for them.
A foodbank reliant society.
We are quickly becoming a food bank reliant society. Most of the people that have lost their jobs will become reliant on them.
Talking from experience I know just how humiliating it is.
Some foodbanks have reintroduced the three bag limit. So people are only allowed to eat three times a year?
Thanks for that.
I’m a firm believer that anyone that needs the help from a foodbank should be able to do so freely without judgement and for as long as they need them.
More and more people are becoming reliant upon food parcels to survive and many food banks are already struggling to cope with the demand.
I do what I can to help but its only a drop in the ocean.
Support your local independent foodbank.
Fuel poverty.
Winter is on its way and thousands of people are going to be extremely cold this year. Heat or eat will be a choice that they will have to make.
Fuel poverty is very real.
No one should be forced to live in a cold house without hot water. But hey, the government doesn’t care about this either.
Having to live in the cold like this is very dangerous for both body and spirit.
Does the government realise this?
Yes they do but they don’t give it a thought. They’re resentful of us being here, alive.
The pandemic is still here.
So many organisations and supermarkets are returning back to normal. Very soon they’ll be very little support for anyone shielding or recovering from Covid 19.
It’s not as if there was a lot of help out there in the first place.
What are we supposed to do? Risk catching covid to go for appointments and to run errands?
This is exactly what we are having to do. It’s shocking.
Unemployment.
As we face more people becoming unemployed since the 1980s don’t expect the government to help.
The government are still intent on taking the extra £20 a week extra payment away from Universal Credit and Tax Credit claimants in April.
I bet they’ve got a countdown click counting down the days until so many of us are thrown into even worse poverty than we are now.
So many people are relying on this money to survive. But once again the government doesn’t give a stuff.
£20 is a lot of money to us. For the Tories it doesn’t even cover the cost of their breakfast.
They don’t want us to survive.
They don’t want the working class person to have any decent quality of life. Its even worse for people with disabilities and illnesses. They’ve been suffering for many years now.
Their actions say that they don’t care, will never care so stuff you.
What can we do?
Like I said last week we need to continue to support each other because no one else will.
A kind word can make such a big difference.
As for myself it’s been a bad long covid week for me. I haven’t been able to do much except advise people and signpost them for help.
I’m also one of those people that doesn’t qualify for any help from the government even though I badly need lt.
So many of us are struggling to get through this and your not on your own.
We can and will get through this. We need to.
Dear readers I hope you are OK and keeping safe.
Let’s talk about my week.
It’s been a tough week for me but it is what it is.
I’ve finally finished my latest lot of antibiotics and at the time of writing this blog I am feeling a bit brighter.
Long covid is awful, but yesterday I walked the furthest that I’ve been able to for a long time.
I walked to the bottom of my street and back. Its a fairly long street and I’m proud of myself for doing it.
In other news I still feel like a failure for not being able to be a better parent for my daughter.
I do my best but health and finance prevents me from being able to take her out like I used to.
I’m alive though and I survived Covid 19. I’m very proud of this. My body was strong enough to fight this horrible virus, and I daily think about everyone that has died from covid 19 and their families.
Lets talk about the DWP
For years we have been saying that the DWP and government has created the ES and PIP system to punish people for being disabled and ill.
So many people have called us liars and suchlike, but thanks to Works And Pensions we now have the evidence.
The DWP has an endless pot of money to fight ESA and PIP appeals. They’re pretty blatent about this now, hell they don’t even deny it anymore.
They are spending this money even though they loosing an increasing amount of cases.
They don’t care if they loose, its all about punishment, making people feel like giving up and worse.
It’s obvious they see us as surplus to requirements. If they can’t profit from us then they will continue to persecute us to our very last breath.
No one should have to live like this. The government doesn’t have a heart, they don’t care and they don’t want us to fight back.
Luckily we are a savvy group of people and we have formed our own support groups via Facebook, Twitter and via local communities.
We care for each other and this is something that government officials haven’t got a clue about. They’re selfish morons. I could say more but I’m being polite.
Despite their appeal loses the DWP have increased its spending on fighting PIP and ESA appeals.
Remember it’s all about punishment and there’s an endless pot of money for that.
Figures obtained by the Independent, show the DWP spent £121m between 2017-19, with £58m spent on mandatory reconsiderations and £63m spent on tribunal appeals.
When broken down annually over three years, it shows that the amount spent on mandatory reconsiderations increased by 19% between 2016-17 and 2018-19, and the cost of tribunals surged by an extraordinary 64%.
The DWP is actually losing more and more appeals, with the success rate for PIP claimants now at 76%.
The DWP can’t just buy off tribunals with cash incentives.
Tribunals trust claimants and their evidence rather than the DWP and their obvious lies. They can’t be bought off like other organisations have been.
Thanks to Benefits and Work for your hard work and for keeping us informed. Check them out if you can.
More about covid 19.
As children go back to school, the infection rates are dramatically increasing.
Combine this with the re opening of pubs etc it’s not going to get better any time soon.
As usual the government are failing to give any direction and proper leadership.
The public are confused and I’m sure that this is why so many people are ignoring the rules.
How can you abide to the rules if you don’t know what they are?
Anyway yesterday Johnson informed the public about his latest lockdown rules.
It’s farcical saying that people can only mix with six people whilst schools are back in and they have more than six pupils.
Yesterday I read that arough estimate shows that teachers can have on average contact with about 200 households.
Does the government think that teachers and pupils can’t catch Covid 19?
It’s unbelievable isn’t it. Johnson and his ilk are liars, but I don’t need to tell you that.
This week has certainly been eventful. The town that I live in is now in double red alert and I’m expecting a local lockdown like Bolton.
It’s awful but if everyone took it seriously and wore masks etc it really would help.
I’m scared of catching it again and I know that thousands of people are as well.
Please keep safe, wash your hands, wear a mask and keep your distance from people if you can.
Lots of love to you all. I do think about you.
Please read, share, tweet, email my blog.
I really appreciate everyone that already does this.
A huge thank you to everyone that supports my campaign and my blog.
It’s been touch and go as to if I can continue writing my blog. Financially its a massive struggle because I don’t receive any funding from anyone.
For anyone who would like to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog.
My PayPal ad is seercharlotte@gmail.com
Thank you!
Dear readers it’s not Thursday but I wanted to write an extra blog post mainly to express how I’m feeling at the moment.
Since becoming ill with Covid 19 in March my life has changed so much. Its even changed the way that I look.
I don’t recognise myself anymore.
I don’t have an income to speak of and I’m struggling with everything.
Every month the bills roll in and I know that I can’t afford to pay them.
I’m now dependent upon foodbank food. Sometimes they’ll be some fruit and vegetables in the bags.
I’m so grateful for them but at the same time I’m totally ashamed of myself for having to depend upon them for help.
I and thousands others haven’t been shopping in a supermarket for months. Going shopping for anything is a dream now.
My health isn’t brilliant although I’m better than I was.
This week’s been a bad long covid week because I’m recovering from another bout of pleurisy.
Thanks for that Covid 19.
I really don’t know how long that I can continue to live like this. It’s depressing to say the least.
Everything that I used to take for granted has now gone. If I want to do simple tasks I have to prepare myself for it.
I can’t go to places because A, I’m very wary of catching Covid 19 again and B I haven’t the means to do so.
I know that this is depressing but it’s how it is.
I don’t want to have to rely upon foodbanks etc but I have to.
This government have well and truly screwed us all over.
You see Covid 19 and long covid has caused immense suffering for so many people.
It’s not just about health, its our whole life’s.
I want to be a better person, I want to get back to normal and be outside the Jobcentre again to help people I really do.
I’m hoping that my health will return ASAP.
I’m so sorry for ranting, but I needed to express myself. I’ll be ok, I’ll manage, but it’s not easy.
I’ll be plodding on as I usually do, but a bit of good fortune would be good.
I’m thinking about everyone that are also suffering, we can do this we really can.
As for myself I’ll take it day by day, hoping that tomorrow will be better.
Thank you so much for reading this and for supporting my blog. It means the world to me.
I shall be publishing Thursdays blog as usual.
It’s Thursday yet again, it appears to creep up on me far too quickly. I really hope that you are OK, well and safe.
This week has been a mixed bag for me, some good days mixed with some awful ones. I bet that you can relate to this.
Being poor and recovering from Covid 19 is no joke. Suffering from long covid is no joke either, especially when the highlight of the day is beans on toast when you can muster up the strength to make it.
We struggle on though. There are some fantastic Long Covid groups on Facebook and we support each other. It’s a good job that we do because not many other organisations do.
I am worried about a second wave coming in September when we have been told that we have to send our children back to school.
So many people still believe that children can’t catch Covid 19. They can and they do. Many unknowingly will be symptom free and will be at risk of passing the virus onto their loved ones.
Are our children going to be used as some type of sick experiment by the government?
My daughter attends a secondary school, her school has decided to keep lesson time to the very basics therfore her hours at school will now be from 10 until 2.40pm.
This won’t stop the spread of covid 19 though. Her school is a new school but they don’t turn the air conditioning on and many of the teachers don’t open the windows either.
Children will be stuck in this hot, sweaty environment at a very close proximity to their friends.
The school hasn’t suggested that children should wear a mask, but I’d challenge anyone to get all of the pupils to wear a mask all day. It’d be a challenge to say the least.
I am very concerned though. I don’t think that the government has thought this through, just like they didn’t put enough thought into pubs reopening.
As we’ve seen in the news lots of people have contracted Covid 19 from a visit to a pub. I’ve no doubt that it’ll be the same when our schools reopen.
I, like most parents want the best for my daughter. I want her to be able to have all of her lessons, to he educated and to do well in life.
Sadly, it looks like she doesn’t stand a chance of that the way that things are planned at the moment.
Educating children online isn’t the answer either. Thousands of families don’t have the Internet or don’t have a device to watch the online lessons on.
So what’s the solution then?
I do think that having a dedicated television channel for lessons would be beneficial. Children can often learn more visualy and some good results could come from this.
We could also learn alot from the parents of home educated children. They’ve been doing it for years, and so many home educated children go to college and university.
They rock this!
But I’m aware that I’m missing one important point.
I’m sure that my daughters school isn’t the only one that will be reducing their teaching hours and lessons.
What will the parents of these children do when they have to go to work? You can’t just leave children to their own devices, to rely on them to go to school without prompting.
I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have gone into school if my parents weren’t there to make sure that I did.
This puts parents in a very difficult situation. Childcare is expensive and not everyone has family members that they can ask to help.
People are desperately trying to hold onto their jobs if they’re lucky enough to still be employed. They can’t rely upon their employers to be sympathetic either.
What I do know is that if their children are absent from school, their school will soon be chasing them up and threatening them with legal action.
This isn’t at all fair though. Those making these decisions have absolutely no idea about what life is really like.
Then we have school uniforms to buy.
School uniforms are very expensive,
I know that I can’t afford to buy my daughter a new uniform this year. Thousands of parents will be in the same position as me.
My daughter has sensory issues so buying her school uniform is difficult at best.
To say that it’s humiliating and depressing to not being able to provide necessities for our children is an understatement.
Hopefully my daughter will never experience this when she has children.
When you’re left with no choice but to have beans on toast once a day how on earth can they demand that you buy a school uniform as well?
In my area there are no school uniform grants available which is shocking.
My daughters school, and most secondary schools send home pupils that aren’t wearing the correct uniform.
Once again discriminating against children living in poverty.
We will try but it’s not going to be easy.
So whilst it’s easy to congratulate the fact that schools are re opening on September, please consider the above.
I don’t want my daughter to catch Covid 19, I don’t want her friends to either. I also don’t want to catch it again.
I want my daughter to have a good education, but the very idea of that is seemingly impossible at the moment.
Will the government give out children time to catch up with what they’ve missed? I doubt it. Working class children aren’t high on their priority list, if at all.
Will the government give parents free access to online and in print learning materials?
Will the government push to dedicate a TV channel in the daytime for the visual education of children?
I doubt this very much.
Once again it’s left to us, as parents and carers to do the best that we can under very tough circumstances.
I do think that schools are re opening too early.
It’s easier to distance primary school age children from each other than it is a group of teenagers.
This is also going to be very tough and challenging for teachers.
Teachers in America have been advised to make a will just incase they catch covid 19 and die.
I’m certain that many teachers here in the uk will be doing the same thing.
I can’t imagine what could be worse than stuck in a hot, sweaty classroom with children for hours knowing that viruses, germs and bacteria thrive in environments like this.
How many teachers and children will become ill or worse because of the government’s decision to re open schools?
Will the government make the decision to shut the schools again if mortality rates from Covid 19 increase?
I doubt it, once that open they’ll be expected to stay open.
We have a government incapable of putting any positive plans into action. They blatently show their hatred of the working classes by the actions that they’ve taken and not taken.
The government has blood on its hands for more than one reason. They’re up to their necks in it.
It’s up to us to keep reminding them that we are important, that our life’s do matter and our children are valuable.
Don’t get me started on this idea. Covid 19 tests are very unreliable and weekly tests are just not doable. No doubt they’ll expect already hugely burdoned teachers to do this as well.
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The poor side of life 