Tag: housing

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DWP Wrongly Forces Universal Credit Claimants To Repay Entire Payments


According to a recent report from Child Poverty Action Group CPAG) claimants are being forced to repay their full Universal Credit (UC) award despite being entitled to it.

Why Are The DWP doing this?

During the pandemic the DWP temporarily changed some of the evidence rules to complete UC claims.

As detailed in the report by CPAG in January 2021 the DWP started to look into the claims that were made during the pandemic.

Whilst doing this the DWP have been changing the entitlement decisions given to claimants declaring that many claims have been wrongfully awarded.

Why This Shouldn’t Be Happening

CPAG have expressed their concerns that the process of retrospectively deciding claimants were not entitled to UC and beginning recovery is unlawful.



In addition, the DWP is asking for evidence of entitlement via the online journal, even from claimants that are no longer getting UC and would have no reason to check their journal.



Some claimants only find out about the alleged overpayment when they receive a letter from DWP Debt Management.

They therefore miss the one month deadline for challenging a decision and often don’t know that they could make a late challenge if they have good cause.


Shockingly, this process is set to be ramped up dramatically.

The DWPs Reaction

The DWP are employing a team of 2,000 staff to look again at 2 million claims over the next five years including, but not limited to, claims made during the pandemic.



The thought that a government department that tramples on claimants’ rights in this way is to be given powers of search, seizure and arrest, as revealed in our last newsletter, is truly frightening.


Conclusion.

It’s very concerning that the government gives the DWP the authority to stamp on a person’s legal rights in this manner.

Not only are they able to stop a claimants payments without any notice they are also set to be given powers of search, seizure and arrest, as detailed in an earlier blog post.

DWP decisions such as these are life changing and literally leave people without the ability to eat, pay their rent and to keep warm.

Combined with this is the mental toll that this puts upon claimants leaving them in a state of distress not knowing where to get help.

Claimants deserve to be treated with respect and should be given the right to reply before any permanent decisions are made by the DWP.

Not only is it morally wrong to change decisions retrospectively, moving the goalposts when it suits the DWP is despicable and should be challenged at all times.

You can find the full copy of the report here https://cpag.org.uk/policy-and-campaigns/briefing/demands-repay-impact-and-legality-dwp-reverification-uc-claims

Please read, share and tweet this article. Doing so raises awareness of the real issues that affect the working class of this country.

I don’t receive any payment for the work that I do and to say it’s a struggle is an understatement. I’d really like to be able to continue writing and campaigning.

If you are able to and would like to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog post. Every penny makes a massive difference.

Thank you!

A huge thank you to everyone that reads, shares and supports my blog. I really appreciate it and I couldn’t have got through the last two years without you.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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

Merry Christmas one and all.

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.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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 struggling…

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.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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

Still ill. My battle with Covid 19. Should schools be closed?

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

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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

Laughed at for wearing a face mask.

Dear readers it’s Thursday once again. I hope that you are all as safe as you can be.

Good news! So far I haven’t rebounded again and I’m praying that I’ve seen the end of my Covid 19 battle. However I am aware that I can potentially catch it again.

My daughter came home from school last Friday with a virus. Thankfully it wasn’t Covid-19 but it quite easily could have been.

Viruses are free to travel around the school corridors and classrooms. There’s no way that schools can contain it.

Yesterday I spoke to one of my daughters teachers and she was very worried about working in this environment. It’s hard getting the balance right.

Children need to be educated, they need that contact with their friends at school but they shouldn’t be at risk of catching covid 19 and passing it on to family members and friends.

There’s no ideal solution, I wish that there was. So many people are at risk of catching covid 19 and I’m sure that I’m not the only person to be concerned about this.

Yesterday I had to go to my local town to do some errands. It exhausts me, but needs must so off I went.

I would do online shops but I can’t afford to do this.

I was happy to see more people wearing masks, but so many wernt. It’s so frustrating.

A friend of mine said that it’s good manners to wear a mask and it also shows consideration for others.

I have to agree, it is and more need to wear them.

As I was walking towards a shop that I had to go into a man looked at me, laughed and said that I was an idiot for wearing a mask because they do nothing.

I didn’t get the chance to reply because he walked off pretty quickly and I’m not exactly going to go chasing him down the street. I don’t have the energy.

This persons attitude isn’t unusual though. So many people are saying that covid 19 is a conspiracy, that masks don’t work etc.

I’m sure that you’ve all heard and seen comments like this.

I wear a mask because I’m bloody petrified of catching covid 19 again. It’s taken me months of struggling to get over it and my long covid battle isn’t over yet.

I also wear a mask because I don’t want anyone else to catch any viruses that might be walking around with me. I want to be responsible and help as much as I can.

I also wear a mask because Tameside is now in the double red zone and is heading for another lockdown.

Now going back and to the man that laughed at me for wearing a mask. I’m certain that he will change his mind about wearing one of he catches it.

It’s impossible to get a covid 19 test at the moment. The government has completely failed everyone. The testing process is a shambles and don’t get me started on their rubbish track and trace scheme.

We have all been failed by the government, I and others expected this though.

In other news, my local hospital Tameside Hospital has been in the news again.

Sadly its a hotbed for covid 19 and patients on non covid wards have died from it.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/sep/16/tameside-hospital-covid-deaths-are-canary-in-the-mine

Maybe this was caused by people not adhering by the government guidance for wearing masks and keeping hands clean. Who knows but I’m sure that they’ve played a part in this.

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone that has died from covid 19 and their families. It’s heartbreaking especially when so much of this was completely preventable.

Yesterday I cut my hand on a tin in my rubbish bin. It was totally my own fault, I wasn’t paying attention.

It looks like it could do with a couple of stitches but there’s no way that I was going to go to the hospital after this weeks covid 19 news.

I cleaned it and have bandaged it and I’m sure that it’ll be ok.

This did get me thinking though.

How many people are choosing to stay at home rather than seeing a doctor when they need to?

It’s a scary thought.

How many people have absolutely no support and are trying their best to get through this nightmare which is covid 19?

The government has been extremely negligent in providing support for people. They don’t care and it appears that they’re quite proud of their attitude regarding covid 19.

This leaves us living in some kind of limbo waiting for covid 19 to catch us.

All I can suggest is to keep yourself as safe as you can do. You know yourself better than anyone else.

Don’t let anyone else judge you for the decisions that you have been forced to make to keep yourself safe.

I really hope that you all manage to keep safe and as well as you can be.

Please read, share and tweet my blog.

A massive thank you to everyone that supports my blog and my campaign.

I couldn’t do this without you. Your support means the world to me.

I receive no funding for anything that I do and it’s a struggle to say the least.

This week I helped four families.

For anyone that would like to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog. Thank you x.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, G4S, government, Green Party, Housing, hunger, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, loose women, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, poverty, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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 increases its spending on fighting PIP and ESA appeals.

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.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/4273-9-september-update?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=benefits-and-work&utm_content=9+September+2020+newsletter

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!

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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

School uniforms. A cost to high for many to pay.

Dear readers it’s Thursday yet again. I hope that you are as well as you can be and also hope that you are safe.

I’m rather annoyed with myself because it appears that the pleurisy is back. Yesterday I went for tests and hopefully I will know what antibiotic will be successful in getting rid of the damned thing.

I’m writing this in the midst of a migraine so I apologise for any spelling mistakes etc.

This week has been a particularly bad week for me. Like so many parents I’ve been worrying about my daughters return to school and buying her uniform.

Thousands of families are also worrying about this though. So many people have become unemployed as a result of the pandemic.

I also suspect that thousands of parents have been ill with Covid 19 like I have as well.

My frustration lies with the schools. They know that their pupils parents will be struggling yet they still demand that all pupils wear a school uniform.

I have no argument with the idea of school uniform though. My argument is with the extortionate cost of school uniform.

Back in the day when my older children were at secondary school I was able to purchase their uniform items quite cheaply at Asda or suchlike. I could also buy a school patch to put on the supermarket uniform.

I’m sure that many of you remember being able to do this.

Sadly it’s not the same now. Schools and uniform shops have cottoned on to the idea that there’s money to be made from this.

It was then that embroidered school logos on specific school uniform pieces bought at specific uniform shops would be accepted.

I know at my daughters school everything bar the school shirts have to have this embroidered logo on them.

I was surprised that the girls had to have a specifically embroidered skirt with a choice of two designs. The boys can wear any type of black school pants, bought from any shop and they don’t have to be embroidered either.

I see this as blatent discrimination, but the school is an academy so they do exactly what they want to do.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is this. I believe that all schools should take into account the cost of uniform and the massive loss of employment and income due to the pandemic.

From my experience it was far easier when my daughter was in primary school. They did a uniform swap there. It’s far more difficult to do this in secondary school though.

Like I’ve already mentioned in my previous blog, I’m also worried about pupil, teacher and classroom assistant safety.

Why can’t schools return to the old way of doing things? It was less discriminatory and a whole lot cheaper.

They won’t though because there’s money to be had from this.

Personally I think that this cost is too much for many of us to bear. I can imagine that thousands of parents will be going without food, trying to patch up old uniform pieces up or taking loans out from dubious money lenders.

Thousands of parents will be trying to manage on meagre Universal Credit payments, some will be sanctioned and living on a reduced income, many will be homeless and living in temporary accommodation, many will be awaiting the decisions of their ESA and PIP medicals and appeals.

No parent or carer should have to go through this though, it’s morally wrong. An embroidered logo doesn’t enable a child to learn more or to achieve higher grades does it.

Surely our children deserve a better quality of life.

Like I said earlier I’m not against school uniforms but I am against the high cost of them.

We are living in unprecedented times, no one could have predicted the suffering caused by the pandemic.

I do know that organisations such as schools should be more understanding and they should offer cheaper uniform alternatives for pupils but they certainly aren’t rushing to do this are they.

It’s much harder to find second hand secondary school uniforms that fit than it is for primary school uniform.

Good luck to all parents and carers trying to get ready for their children ready for the return to school. Maybe one day it will become easier.

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Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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

Too soon to re open schools? I have concerns.

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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Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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

Surviving is an act of civil disobedience. My Covid 19 journey and recovery.

Dear readers I hope that you are OK and well as is possible. I apologise for rambling on about my covid 19 experience but it’s been my reality for what seems like a long time now.

I had contracted bacterial pneumonia after starting with my covid symptoms and I’m now on my third lot of antibiotics because it just wasn’t shifting.

Last week I ended up having to go back to the covid clinic near me. It’s a strange place to have to go to and you have to attend by car which rules out anyone that doesn’t drive. Luckily I could ask my friend to take me.

After following all the instructions I eventually managed to see a doctor. She was very nice and she was very patient with me because I really didn’t feel well at all.
After examining me she told me that my lungs were still crackling, especially my right lung.
She prescribed some different antibiotics and they hopefully appear to be working.

Whilst the covid 19 clinic system does work its not without its faults.

To obtain an appointment at the clinics you have to phone 111 and then go through a couple of phone calls with their telephone operatives.

The first person that I spoke to wanted an ambulance to attend but luckily after speaking to a paramedic I was then directed to the covid clinic.

If you don’t have access to a telephone or you don’t have credit you can’t do this.

I then spoke to someone from the covid clinic who then informed me that they would be phoning me back with an appointment time.

They did phone me back after a hour to give me an appointment in twenty minutes time.
Luckily my friend lives nearby and could do this.

If you don’t have access to a car you can’t attend.
My recommendation if you don’t have a car to attend a covid 19 clinic would be to go to hospital if you feel really ill. Don’t mess around I wish that I had done this in the first place.

Upon attending you have to buzz in at the door. You are then answered and told to go and wait in the car for a phone call from them to go to the door to be seen.

I waited, received the phone call and was let in by a lovely nurse wearing full PPE. She asked me to put one of their masks on which I did.

I was then ushered into a room to wait for the doctor. Once she arrived she examined me and told me that my lungs were crackling, my heart was racing and my temperature as up again.

I explained to her what had happened and she told me to go and wait in the car for another phone call to discuss my treatment etc.

I then went to wait in the car and was prescribed a different course of antibiotics. She told me that if I become worse to either attend again or go to the hospital. Whilst this service is brilliant it’s not the easiest to access if you don’t drive. I doubt that a taxi driver would want to put themselves at risk from catching it and who can blame them.

It’s been a very long journey for me and thousands of others. Our stories are being largely ignored.

Recovering from covid 19 symptoms is extremely hard and it’s a very long journey.

I’ve been asked by lovely people if I was better after a few days of becoming ill. Of course I wasn’t but there is a distinct lack of education regarding covid 19 recovery and the complications that often occur.

Whilst everyone is saying that you must get a test these tests are very unreliable. So many people are getting false negative results.

Please don’t rely on these tests. If you have symptoms then self isolate yourself and everyone that lives with you. This is extremely important, it can save life’s.

Yesterday 324 people died as a result of contracting covid 19 and still the government is relaxing the quarantine restrictions.

The only reason that they’re doing this is to enable their friends to make money.
They worship at the feet or commerce and profit and care nothing about the risk to life.

Like my friend Keith Ordinary Guy says ‘Survival is an act of civil disobedience’.


When I say that they don’t care if we survive they really don’t. As long as some people remain for them to profit from their happy.
The irony is that alot of people that would have voted for them have died or are extremely ill.
You’d think that they’d care about this wouldn’t you.

I’ve been ill for that long that I’ve lost count of the days.
I’ve gone from a fairly active person, always out walking and doing something to being stuck at home reliant upon the kindness of friends and the delivery of a weekly food parcel.

Whilst food parcel food is keeping me going it is by no means really good for you and full of vitamins.
Maybe this is why I keep rebounding. Who knows?

I really don’t want this blog to turn into my weekly moan, but so many people are going through the same as I am.
I’ve tried to carry on and be productive. Yesterday I cut a few weeds down in the garden and today I’m exhausted.

It is what it is and I have to accept that.
My thoughts and prayers are with everyone dying and suffering from covid 19 and their families.
Please can we all continue to talk about them, to remember their names and not forget them.

The reason why so many people are dying is because the government has totally and knowingly neglected to protect the public.

Their social distancing rules are extremely unclear and hard to follow.

Remember that they’re still practicing herd immunity by stealth in plain sight.


I can bet that you’ve all seen the queues for IKEA reopening the other day.

When I went to Asda to get my prescription dispensed I was the only person wearing a mask.

It’s sickening to see so many people gathering together like this wearing no face masks etc.
Maybe they think that they’re invincible and aren’t going to catch it.
It’s now become not of they catch it but when they catch it.

So many people are going to become very ill or die as a result of this. It worries me deeply.

Remember that the government is relaxing the rules not because its for our own good but because they want to profit from us.

Each and every person has a price over their heads and the government loves to exploit this.


Whilst the government has left a trail of death, distruction and failure behind them let us leave a trail of love, kindness and solidarity.

They can’t keep their power for forever and we must remember this.

Please keep safe, I think about you all each and every day.

Love to you all xxx.


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I run this blog and campaign on next to no money at all, especially since I’ve been ill.

For anyone wanting to donate there’s a donate button at the top and side of this blog. For anyone needing my PayPal ad it’s seercharlotte@gmail.com

A huge thank you to everyone that has supported the blog and myself. I really can’t thank you enough xx.

Ashton Under lyne, baby, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, confidence, Cookery, coronavirus, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, DLA, DPAC, Elderly, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, 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, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, 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

Covid 19 Cummings and Track And Trace. What does this mean to us?

Dear readers it’s Thursday again and here’s this week’s blog instalment.

Two days ago I managed to go downstairs for the first time in ages and spent a few hours with my daughter. It absolutely exhausted me but I did it.
I just want my life back I’ve got so much that needs to be done and I can’t do it.

Post Covid 19 fatigue is awful it completely takes over your body but I believe that it does go eventually.
So many people are suffering from this fatigue and I doubt that they’ll be fit to return to work when the government demands it.

So many people think that you get better straight away after having covid 19 related symptoms. Hardly anyone does though.

Developing bacterial pneumonia was very scary for me and my daughter.
I couldn’t breathe, every small move hurt and made me out of breath.
Apparently lots of people develop this after having COVID19 and thousands have died.


Meanwhile Cummings is allowed to spread the virus And have absolutely no repercussions for himself.

The repercussions of his actions however will continue for a long time though.
People will have caught Covid 19 off him. All it takes is for him to touch something, to walk down a street etc.. 
Some people will now copy his behaviour thinking that it’s ok for them to do the same.

So yes I’m very angry at him and his lame excuses and I’m even angrier at the people defending him.
They know that he shouldn’t have done this but they carry on supporting him because they don’t care if we die.
We are all surplus to requirements, expendable.
They don’t grieve if we die. They just don’t care.


There will be a  second wave coming because this country and especially our prime minister haven’t done anything really to  protect  us against this virus.
Meanwhile  the government wants to ease the Covid 19 restrictions whilst once again doing nothing to protect us.

I see their #HerdImmunity plans are continuing to me its pretty obvious.

Yesterday the government announced their track and trace solution. It sounds brilliant doesn’t it but dig below the surface and you’ll see that it isn’t.
The system hasn’t been completed yet, it’s not fit to launch, theres no reassurance that our data will be safe.

It’s also worrying that the government is only pushing three or so so called symptoms of covid 19.

The symptoms  vary, not everyone has a cough, not everyone loose their sense of smell or taste.
Regardless of this almost everyone that catches it cannot recover quickly.


Unless you are extremely unwell a hospital wont admit you. You have to go home and manage it yourself.


You can only test positive for covid 19 within around 5 days of contracting it. This ensures that the amount of positive test results are massively underrated.
Lots of us caught it before the government was testing everyone.

The tests are also unreliable. Don’t think that you’ve tested negative that your safe from contracting the virus your not.

You can catch it from any public area straight after having a negative test result.
So even with the so called track and trace system people will still be spreading it unknowingly.
The only way to stop this virus is to have a proper lockdown.

I’ve read  countless posts online  saying that if you eat healthily  you’ll recover quicker.

You can’t go out to shop whilst infected or recovering. You become reliant upon online shops and food parcels.

Your income is vastly reduced also so buying the basics and making do is a priority. 

Being  physically able to cook a big meal is another problem.
The fatigue is unreal and your muscles ache all the time. But we do our best with what we’ve got.

It’s all we can do. It’s bloody scary yet so many aren’t taking it seriously at all. 

This is most likely because of the government’s complete lack of direction about anything.

Their priority is to get people back into work regardless of the risks. They worship at the feet of money amd commerce, the publics safety means nothing to them.

The government also wants schools to go back yet it still isn’t safe.
The government doesn’t want to listen about safety. They’re willing to sacrifice our teachers and our children in the process.

So what do we do now?
We still need to follow the social distancing rules despite what the government says.

Covid 19 is life changing and not in a good way.

Please keep safe folks I worry about you all. I’m going to continue to fight against this virus and hopefully get better soon.

Love to you all xxx.

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I run this blog and my campaign on next to nothing. There’s a donate link at the top and side of my blog. Every penny helps. Thank you.

A huge thank you to everyone that supports my blog and campaign.
Thank you all so much xxx