Tag: government lies

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, 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, 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

You’ve got to wait a month for another food parcel. Universal Credit is literally starving people.

Dear readers, it’s freezing cold out there and the wind chill certainly isn’t helping. Today I woke up to snow but it quickly melted and at the moment the sun is shining. We’ve had endless rain so it’s so good to see it.

As usual we handed out all the food parcels and we gave everyone help and advice to everyone that required it. We gave everyone a copy of our survival guide as well.

It was a strange morning, quiet at first, most likely because of the snow. Needless to say we still spoke to lots of people. Some needed help, others needed someone to talk to. You wouldn’t believe how many people don’t see anyone to speak to from week to week.

The first conversation that I had was with a woman struggling with her housing benefit and the council. She was patiently waiting for her son to arrive to give her support.

Asking for help sometimes takes a whole lot of courage and having to put your pride to one side can hurt like hell. The realisation that you need help can be very depressing. Most of the people that we speak to feel this pain. Please keep this in mind when you’re trying to persuade someone to accept help.

I had a conversation with a man that I’ve spoken to on quite a few occasions. He’s struggling with homelessness and is finding it hard to accept that he needs to accept help from the bed every night scheme.

Life is very complicated for many, and I hope that he does access this help. It’s not perfect by any means but it’s a roof, shelter and a warmer place to stay. Let’s hope that he changes his mind.

I had a chat with a man who was in need of a food parcel. He’s waiting for his universal credit claim to be processed.

Earlier this week he asked his local food bank if he could have another food parcel, they refused saying that he’d had his quota and has to wait another month to get another one.

I handed him a food parcel and a copy of our survival guide which has all the links for most of the local organisations that will offer him help.

Thanking me he said that he’s been forced to live off plain pasta with salt and pepper on it to give it some taste. Feeling very relieved that he now had some food he couldn’t thank us enough.

It beggers believe that people that are desperate for food are refused extra food parcels. Many food banks do let people take extra parcels but its important to remember that many don’t either.

Let’s not forget the medical implications for people trying to survive like this. Their bodies will be trying to survive on zero vitamins and very few nutrients.

How on earth can people be expected to live like this? They have to fulfil the requirements that the DWP pile on them with little or no energy.

I’ve asked if food banks could hand out vitamin tablets with their food parcels and I was told no, no they don’t.

It’s very worrying that with mortality rates increasing every year and I doubt that anyone that I’ve spoken to over the years will live as long as the generation before them. It’s very reminiscent of victorian times in more ways than one.

We had a conversation with a man that was being messed about by the DWP.

The DWP had forgotten to send out an important email for him and as a result he hadn’t been issued a payment. Having no credit on his phone meant that he couldn’t phone them either.

This resulted in a series of conversations with the DWP and lots of messing around all of which should have been prevented.

I just hope that he’s OK and that it’s now sorted out for him.

I asked a man how things were going for him and he said ‘crap’. Yep that just about sums things up doesn’t it.

We spoke to a woman that has been waiting for her universal credit claim to be processed. She’s been waiting five weeks now and she’s struggling.

I offered her some advice and I’m hoping that she gets her payment ASAP.

We spoke to a woman that was told by her advisor that £900 had been paid into her bank account only she certainly hasn’t received the money yet. Let’s hope that it’s with the bank and is being processed, otherwise that’s a whole new battle that she’ll have to fight.

We asked a man how he was and if everything was OK with his claim. He told us that its shit, it’s all shit but he has no choice but to go through this week in week out.

It’s very clear that universal credit isn’t fit for purpose. Most people aren’t given enough money to survive on. Combine this with a rise in council tax, the bedroom tax and repayments of DWP and its a hellish nightmare.

Many people, in fact most people become depressed not only because of the stress that the DWP piles on top of them, but also because of the lack of nutrients in their diets.

Once again I’m positive that this is going to have serious ramifications later on in life. I worry so much about everyone trying to survive this cruel and inhumane system.

We aren’t just a number to be thrown on the floor like yesterday’s paper. We are people with dreams, hopes, ambition and everything else that comes along with that.

Be kind to each other, help each other and be thoughtful of others. Everyone’s path in life might be different but that doesn’t make them a lesser person than you or I.

We will be returning again next week as usual.

Please read, share, tweet, email my blog.

If you can please donate. I run this campaign on a very low budget and the blog also. Every penny makes a difference.

Thank you to everyone that does and has supported the campaign and blog. It means the world to me.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, 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, 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

Man died before he got his ESA tribunal decision to reinstate his ESA.

Dear readers today was a busy day there was a queue for food parcels and I was passed notes from people that couldn’t pick up a food parcel due to illness. It’s cold and flu season and it’s extra tough for people who rely on food parcels to survive.

We were busy today, surprisingly so and we spoke to many people with differing problems ranging from housing benefit, postal voting, universal credit and so on. Whilst we can’t change the world we can help people others.

The weather is cold and people were rushing around most likely so that they can get things over and done with quickly. However the DWP work at their own pace and people are governed by them.

Whilst we were chatting to folk I noticed people that were leaving the Jobcentre one of them was holding his neck. I asked him if he was OK and he said yes. Far to many of us accept being treated badly it becomes the new norm and the new ok.

I had a lovely conversation with an older man who wanted to know where the council offices were, this is a common conversation that we have with people because there’s a distinct lack of signage. I congratulated him for managing to climb the steep steps to the upper level, he told me that he didn’t know that there was a lift inside of the building.

He expressed his concerns with the steep steps and rightly said that they’re an accident waiting to happen.

I had a conversation with a chap who has recently become unemployed. He told me that he’s struggling to find jobs to apply for online and those that are available are often repeat ads for the same job usually a zero hour contract agency work. He’s going to keep looking though.

This is a problem that thousands of people that are looking for work. Many are aware that these jobs are unsuitable but they’re forced to apply for them or else be sanctioned.

We said hello to quite a few people and handed our leaflets to many.

We then had a conversation with a woman who has just lost her job because her employer left his company and has refused to pay his employees. The very worrying thing is that this man owns several children’s units in the area. Let’s hope that the children are OK.

We handed some more leaflets out and were joined by a colleague and I was very happy to see her.

I had a conversation with a disabled woman who’s finding it difficult keeping up with the universal credit system.

I then had a conversation with a chap that works for the council. We had a lovely conversation putting the world to rights.

I then asked a woman of she was OK and I handed her a leaflet. She replied saying that it’s a load of rubbish. We have heard this a lot.

I then had a conversation with a young chap who’s finding it hard to survive on his universal credit payment of £288 a month. This is what he’s left with after his rent has been paid.

We then said hello to a woman who we’ve spoken to before. She looked me in the eyes saying “Let me tell you what happened to a relative of mine. He was very ill but had been declared fit for work at his ESA medical assessment. He appealed this and it then went to tribunal. Sadly he died on the day the tribunal decided that he should get his ESA”.

I wish that this was unusual but it isnt. This happens a lot, disabled people are being denied their rightful payments every single day. They’re left to live in abject poverty struggling to survive.

The government and their henchmen might say that they care, that they treat people with respect but they don’t. We know that that they’re lying and we’ve got enough evidence to back up our claims.

Enough is enough how much more of this cruelty are we expected to take?

We then had a conversation with a woman who told us that she’s had two strokes. As a result of her strokes she now has a very poor memory but don’t expect the DWP to care. She told me that they had read out her claimant commitment to her and asked her if she could remember that. She then told me that she said no, I probably couldn’t but she’ll try.

You see the DWP never fail in making vulnerable people’s life much harder. They say that they don’t and they help people. I’m certain that some of them believe this but its definitely not true.

The facts certainly back up our claims, the mortality levels, foodbank usage, also back up our evidence.

You see when DWP staff say that they’re ‘Just following orders’ doesn’t wash anymore. Some DWP employees find the time to try and troll blogs like mine. They feel threatened by our version of reality because its true.

One day we will get justice for each and every person who has suffered and or died as a result of actions taken by the DWP.

Like I said today was a busy day and we will be returning next week to help yet more people.

Please read, tweet, share, email my blog. Thank you so much to those of you that do this already.

For anyone wishing to support our work and the blog there’s a PayPal link at the top and side of this blog.

A huge thank you to those that have done already xx.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, 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, 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

Had throat cancer? Can’t speak? We expect you to look for work.

Dear readers and supporters I hope that you are all well and surving the best that you can. I know that lots of you are suffering, but remember I’m here for you to talk to as we are all there for each other.

Yesterday was a rather busy morning but once again I had to finish early again. We ran out of leaflets, I’ll hopefully have this rectified for next week.

We spoke to lots of people and helped lots also. We were also thanked by members of the public both for the help that we had given them previously or for advice that we gave them yesterday.

The most common sentences that we heard yesterday were ‘They never told me that I could do that’ ‘Thank you’ It’s crap and a pile of shite’.

As usual we handed out our food parcels and gave everyone that we spoke to help, advice and signposting if needed. Of course the DWP should be doing this but they aren’t so we have to do it.

We do all this because we can’t stand injustice, we also hate the fact that so many of you are suffering and if we can alleviate this a little its the right thing to do.

As I arrived outside the Jobcentre I spotted a woman walking in and out of the Jobcentre and council offices which are next door.

I approached her and asked her if everything was OK and could I help her.

Her story is this. She’s a single parent and works part time because it’s the only work that she can find that fits around her children. She is claiming universal credit and is struggling to survive.

Whilst she was waiting for her universal credit to be processed she accumulated rent arrears that she’s offered to pay off by paying a bit extra rent every month. Her landlord refused and has started the process of evicting her and her children.

When I say that she’s doing everything to rectify her situation I mean it, she’s really trying but to no avail.

As a direct result of universal credit she’s going to loose her home, and you can bet that our local housing options will tell her that she’s made herself intentionally homeless.

No person in this situation wants to make themselves homeless but universal credit ensures that almost everyone finds themselves in rent arrears.

Does the government care? Not one bit. But many people in the same position as her voted for the Tory party in the general election. Shame on them

I had a conversation with a 65yr old man who was told to attend Ashton Jobcentre to see an advisor. Upon seeing his advisor he was then told that he had to travel to Hyde Jobcentre for another appointment.

He asked them if he could see someone at Ashton Jobcentre instead but they refused. So he had to travel to Hyde which isn’t exactly near Ashton.

This happened twice yesterday, also with a younger man that had been told that he had to attend Hyde Jobcentre at 2pm making him late to pick up his kids from school. He asked if he could have an earlier appointment but they refused saying that he had to attend.

The DWP were responsible for him being late collecting his kids from school. The DWP doesn’t regard children and childcare as being important, nor do they care a bit about a child’s safety.

It wasn’t much later when I had a conversation with an older woman who asked for a leaflet. She told me about her experience with the DWP when they phoned her up recently.

The whole experience was awful for her, she told me that they were literally shouting to her and they made her cry. She’s disabled and already suffered from anxiety. This experience made her ill with worry.

I then was stopped by a woman that gestured towards me, she wanted to ask what we were doing. She couldn’t speak because she has had throat cancer and lost her ability to speak.

Luckily I lip read myself quite a lot so it could understand what she was saying. Her story is this.

Because she can’t speak she can’t make phone calls, she also finds the whole process of being forced to look for work very stressful. She had been told that not being able to talk shouldn’t stop her from applying for work.

Her advisor had also told her that she had done something wrong but she denies this.and is trying to fight it.

Even though she found it hard to explain what she had done wrong it was very obvious that she shouldn’t be forced to go through this rigmarole. But she is. The DWP don’t give a toss about anyone or anything.

It’s blatantly obvious that no one should be suffering like these people are. It’s such a cruel, horrible system that is determined to make everyone suffer regardless of age, sex and disability. Don’t let them tell you otherwise.

Needless to say we will be back next week to help people.

Thank you so much for all your support, when I say that it means the world to me it really does.

Please read, share, tweet, email my blog. The more people that reads it the better. Unbelievably there are still people out there that are denying that this is happening.

For anyone wanting to donate theres a PayPal button at the top and side of my blog. Thank you so much xx.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, 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, 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

Not a merry Christmas for the victims of the cruel DWP regime.

Dear readers the blogs late. I apologise for this once again.

As many of us have dreaded Christmas has arrived again, this is a stark reminder of how poor we are, what we don’t have whilst we watch those that can afford to buy lots of things that they don’t need on TV and YouTube.

Many of you will be spending your first Christmas without a loved one, being alone for the first time is a scary thing.

I hear you, I’m with you. Hang on in there it will get easier.

For everyone dependant upon food banks for food over the Christmas period. I’m with you, I’m doing the same. It’s hard to piece a meal together from the contents of a food parcel, I hear you, I’m doing the same.

Hang on in there, I’m here for you, we’re here for each other.

Yesterday was our annual Christmas Demo and it was a huge success despite Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre and the building manager of the Tameside One building being rather disgruntled at our being there. We had to agree to take our banners down but we marched around the market grounds with them, making more people aware of our campaign and our advice service.

We also laid a wreath in memory of everyone that has died as a result of the government’s cruel austerity measures and their inhumane DWP regime. We do this every year, it’s important to remember everyone that has died, hoping that one day we will get justice for each and every person and their families.

A huge thank you to everyone that came to support us yesterday.

0ust last week we lost our only chance for at least five years of ending this cruelty.

Working class voters were tricked into lending their votes to the Tory party, believing the lies that Brexit will ‘be done’ straight away.

Brexit won’t happen overnight like they thought though, more fool them.

The Tory party has already broken some of their promises made in their election campaign. They’ve got absolutely no intention of keeping them either.

As a result things are going to get a whole lot worse than they are now.

Unemployment will rise, homelessness will increase, the DWP regime will become a whole lot worse, communities will become even more divided.

I could go on for forever but remember this.

If you voted for the Tories then you voted for more poverty, a decrease in your wages etc. Own it.

If you have children and they find out that you effectively voted to ruin their futures they’re going to be extremely angry.

Good luck with that.

We’ve handed out possibly hundreds of food parcels out this year, I personally have bought shopping for people, sourced prams, baby clothes and household basics for others.

As I was handing a food parcel to a young woman yesterday she turned round and shouted to the public “This woman has helped me when no one else would. She got a pram for my baby, she fed us, she’s helped me so much. I can’t thank her enough for this, I don’t know what would have happened to me if she hadn’t done this”

This nearly brought tears to my eyes. She’s wonderful, a survivor currently battling her awful social housing landlord.

Yesterday all of our special Christmas food parcels were taken as soon as they arrived.

We put two pasting tables outside the Jobcentre and filled them with free coffee and tea, biscuits, mince pies, cakes and leaflets.

A

s usual Ashton Jobcentre staff didn’t like us doing this, maybe they took offence to the Christmas music that we were playing. After all the DWP doesn’t believe in Christmas.

It’s hard to say what has been the most heartbreaking story that I’ve heard, they are all equally heartbreaking. Please read through my blog you’ll definitely agree with me.

I’d like to say Merry Christmas to all my readers and supporters. Your support has kept me and the campaign going this year.

For anyone struggling to celebrate Christmas please take solace that it will soon be over, the reminders of opulence will soon be gone and life will continue as normal.

For everyone suffering under the torturous DWP regime remember that you’re not alone. We care, lots of people care. Keep strong and don’t let the b######s grind you down.

We shall return after Christmas stronger than ever ready to continue our fight against the government and the DWP.

Please read, share, tweet and email my blog. A huge thank you to everyone that has already.

Please donate if you can. I live on an extremely low income and am having to collect food parcels myself.

Thank you so much to everyone that has already this year.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, 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, 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

Forced to attend DWP course dispite having multiple disabilities.

Dear readers and supporters once again I have to apologise for publishing this blog late. I’ve been out campaigning for my local Labour Party.

Anyway today was pretty dire, it was raining, in fact it still hasn’t stopped.

It was also cold, deadly weather for street homeless people and anyone that can’t afford to heat their homes.

Once their clothes become wet, they can’t dry them so they become very cold and hypothermia can set in. This can be deadly so please spare a

thought for people in this situation.

As usual all the food parcels were gone as soon as I handed them out. Most of them were needed by people having problems paying their council tax and extra top up rent. If they can’t pay the council will take the money directly from their universal credit payments. Their social housing landlord will also threaten to evict them even though the person that I spoke to owed less than £100.

New Charter housing certainly don’t give a toss about their tenants but that’s another story.

We spoke to lots of people today but sadly we had to end the demo early because we were drenched and cold.

I had a conversation with a man that has several disabilities which prevents him from applying for many of the jobs on offer.

Dispite this his job coach has told him that it would be in his best interests to attend a so called wellbeing course.

Wellbeing is the latest buzzword being used by the DWP. They like to pretend that these rubbish courses will help people, especially disabled people.

They don’t however tell the person being forced onto these courses that they (the DWP) gain financially from sending people on these courses as do the course providers.

We are seen as a pound sign, a number of which they can profit from.

What they forget is that most people have enough commonsense to realise that no one can ever be cured by attending a course. They’re another reason to harass a person more, to sanction them if the course provider advises them to.

The whole system is crooked, people are being harassed so much by the DWP that they can’t see a future for themselves and they take their own life. Meanwhile the DWP will still send letters out to the families of the deceased.

It’s Orwellian in nature, they control a person’s life to the extent that they can cut off their very means of survival with the click of a button on a computer.

I spoke to three people that are having problems with their housing benefit claims. Our local housing benefit department at Tameside Council aren’t the best.

Please can they start talking to people as if they’re human beings, with respect and not disdain? It’s not too much to ask is it.

I spoke to a single parent that had been asked to attend their first back to work interview because their child is now two years old.

They were understandably nervous and had no idea of their rights regarding job searching etc. Thankfully we were able to help them and we handed them a copy of our survival guide.

Call me old fashioned but I’m a firm believer that a parent or carer should be able to stay at home with their child until their child reaches school age or older. Obviously parents that want to work should do so but the option should be there.

Children need their parents, it’s vital for their development.

Children also need to be able to eat good, healthy food and live in a warm house. These very basic things are denied by this cruel government.

I write this on the eve of the general election, the most important General election in many years. Let’s hope that we get a good result. If we don’t many of us won’t survive another 5 years of this cruelty. I can’t stress this enough.

We will be back next week for our annual Christmas Demo. I will be making a wreath unless I can get a volunteer to help me. I’m also needing to buy non alcoholic mince pies and other Christmas foods to hand out to the public.

We will also be handing out extra Christmas food parcels so if you need one please contact me so that I can save one for you. If you don’t it’s a first come first served basis.

Also please come and join us it’s at the same time 10-12 outside Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre. Please come and say hello and maybe sing an appropriate Christmas Carol or two.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, 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

Suspended payments for 6 months because they were seen carrying a food parcel.

Dear readers it’s Thursday and blog day. Please may I start by thanking you all for your support for my blog and my campaign.

I’m still here writing and it’s all thanks to you all.

Today was freezing cold and the crowd was gathered awaiting out food parcels.

This week we had a very kind donation of four extra food parcels from a friend.

It’s a good job that we had these extra food parcels because they were all taken.

I’m going to list today’s conversations. Please note that everyone was given appropriate help, advice, signposting etc. I even went to Wilkinsons to buy some dog food for a dog who’s owner needed a food parcel.

Many people either forget that people struggling have pets and they need to eat. Others reckon that we shouldn’t have any pets, we aren’t deserving of anything.

A much loved pet can be a lifeline for their owner and no one should be criticised for owning one.

The first conversation that I had was with a man who told me that his payments have been suspended for six months. He is claiming the ESA element of Universal credit.

I asked why and he told me that he had been reported to the DWP because he was seen carrying one of our food parcels.

I advised him to appeal this decision and he told me that he’d been advised that he can’t.

Luckily I have contacts that will be able to help him, but regardless of that he shouldn’t be expected to go without any payments for 6 months.

It’s absolutely ridiculous and is so punishing. It’s hellish and shouldn’t be happening at all.

I spoke to a young man that had to walk miles from his home to get to the Jobcentre. He told me that if he’s lucky a bus driver will let him get on a bus for nothing, if they won’t he walks.

I signposted him and bought him some dog food for his dog.

I had a conversation with a woman regarding self employment and universal credit.

Gordon spoke to two people that were making new universal credit claims and needed documentation to do so.

I spoke to a man that’s in the process of being evicted from his home. We advised him to the best of our abilities and I signposted him as well.

I overheard a man shouting ‘B####d sanctions.

I then had a long conversation with a young 18yr old woman that was crying when she was leaving the Jobcentre.

Her advisor had told her that she’s not trying hard enough to find a job, her efforts are rubbish etc. You get the idea.

The truth is that she is trying her hardest to do everything properly but it is a struggle.

No one has shown her how to find a job, how to apply for one and no one has given her any decent career advice.

Her advisor hasn’t told her about further education nor have they told her about apprenticeships etc. They refuse to help whilst criticising her to the point of tears.

Luckili we were there and I sat down with her and gave her some advice, but equally as important compassion.

For heavens sake she’s only 18 years of age, she needs guidance and hasn’t got a good family network to support her.

I gave her a copy of our survival guide and asked her to phone me if she needed my help or even just a cuppa and a conversation.

The advisor that upset her to the point of tears should be ashamed of themselves, but they won’t be. An 18yr old claimant is an easy target for them isn’t it.

I spoke to a chap that had just failed his universal credit esa element medical assessment. He is appealing this but as usual the DWP have zero compassion.

He’s been told that he has to agree to look for work whilst his appeal is being processed. If he doesn’t agree to this they’ll stop his claim.

The DWP don’t recognise that having a disability can and does prevent a person from working. Persecuting them for this won’t cure their disability it’ll make things much worse for them. Many die, some take their own life.

It’s sickening that people are being treated in this manner, it’s not getting any better it’s becoming much worse.

I honestly don’t know how we’re going to survive another five years of this.

Please read, share, tweet, blog, email my blog. It’s so important that we get the truth out there.

We will be returning to Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre next week from 10am to 12 noon. Please come and say hello.

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

Thank you!

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Brighthouse, 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, 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’ve had no payments for 13 months. Welcome to universal credit.

Dear readers,

It appears that autumn has now merged into winter, it’s freezing out there horrific for anyone street homeless and anyone that can’t afford to heat their homes.

This cold weather worries me because so many people won’t survive the cold, many will either end up in hospital or become ill as a result.

Before the demo I always have a quick walk around the town centre to check in with people and see if they’re OK. I had some really good conversations, people are far more supportive than they were years ago.

Today was quite a busy demo, I spoke to lots of people with differing problems many of them homeless living in temporary accommodation, others street homeless having to rely on the bed for a night scheme. It helps a lot but it isn’t perfect. In reality no one should be homeless like this at all.

I had a long conversation with a young homeless man, he’s trying so hard to survive out there. He told me that he’s getting pressurised by his Jobcentre advisor to find work, according to them it doesn’t matter if he hasn’t got an address even a temporary one.

He told me that he’s been put on endless useless courses that have only promoted zero hour contract agency work, not really suitable for anyone especially when you’re homeless.

You’d think that he would be getting help with this but nope, work must come first, the DWP must come first and complying with the system must be a priority above everything else.

We as rational thinking people know the work doesn’t miraculously cure a person of all their ills and problems, zero hour contract employment makes these things much worse.

I’m sick to death of hearing the same old statements from the government and suchlike. They don’t care, they don’t have your best interests at heart afterall they have a swinging brick in place of a heart.

We spoke to a woman with four children whos universal credit had been stopped because she apparently hadn’t agreed to the claimant commitment. She hadn’t been asked to review it online and luckily she managed to get this decision overturned and they’ll reinstate her payments straight away.

This however hasn’t helped her with her problems regarding council tax and this matter is ongoing.

I spoke to a man that told me that he hasn’t received any universal credit payments for 13 months. I asked him why and he told me that the DWP insist that he’s working even though he’s provided bank statements etc to prove that he isn’t.

Guilty after being proven innocent because the DWP don’t want to give him his payments. Luckily he is still fighting this and I’m confident that he’ll win.

I had a conversation with a chap who’s in the process of claiming Universal credit. There is a problem though, he doesn’t know how to use a computer.

The system works against anyone like this, anyone with a disability, basically anyone. It’s a cruel, heartless system.

We had a conversation with a man that has recently been made homeless by his private landlord. He now spends his days trying to find somewhere to sleep and stay safe.

What was surprising today was the amount of young people, students at the local college saying that they hated universal credit and that they agreed with everything that we are doing, helping people and providing support.

For those working at Ashton Under Lyne Jobcentre that are telling people that they shouldn’t be listening to us, stop it right now. We help people, we feed them and provide solidarity and advice. These are basic things that you should be doing but aren’t.

Today was cold, but we helped lots of people and we will be returning again next week to do the same.

Please come and join us if you can, if you can’t please read and share my blog this really helps to raise awareness.

A huge thank you to everyone that shares, reads and supports my blog and the campaign.

For anyone wishing to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog. I don’t know how much longer it will be there though because I have to pay my yearly subscription for this blog and at the moment I can’t afford to do this. I’ll loose the ability to put links like that on my blog but I’ll work something out.