Invalidity benefit crackdown ‘punishes genuine sufferers’
Saturday 25th September 2010, 2:29PM BST.
Guernsey Disability Alliance vice-chair Dave Purdy, left, and former Royal Navy CPO Iain Timms. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 1031617)
A FORMER sailor with the Royal Navy who was injured in the course of his duties faces seeing his disability benefit hit.
Iain Timms was one of the youngest people to become a Chief Petty Officer in the Navy, at the age of 29, before getting a medical discharge.
Now, as part of a department crackdown on the estimated 20% of claims that are unnecessary, Social Security is set to increase the benefit by just 1.5% – despite plans to put up old-age pension and unemployment benefits by 2.9%, in keeping with inflation. The move is something he fears will hit him and other genuine users very hard.
Deputy Jane Stephens, who also believes it could cause the remaining 80% to be treated unfairly, has launched an amendment to bring the rise back into line with other inflation-linked payments.
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I suffered a head injury on December 8th 2006, I slipped on wet decking. I am unable to work, although if I had the choice or was able, would dearly love to be able to work, as I have worked all my adult life. My life has totally changed since my accident, I can no longer drive, find it difficult to access the community, simple things like food shopping is a major task and if i didnt go to headway (the assosciation for people with brain injuries) twice a week I dont know how I would get this done. I hate living hand to mouth and having to scrimp and save and eek out every little penny, never having anything to look forward to, a holiday, I now have to buy second hand clothes. I have worked very hard all my life, and its not a matter of not wanting to work now, if I could walk out of the door and into work tomorrow i would, alas my brain isnt up to it. People look at me and say you look great, pity they cant see my brain!!
Life is hard enough as it is dont punish us further by not giving us the increase we so desperately need, the cost of living is just so expensive.
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why are people who are genuinely unable to work due to illness being penalised..it seems ssd are happy to discriminate against genuine people but unable too weed the little herberts out who dont want to work. a disgrace in my opinion….this is as bad as supp benefit classing invalid care as income and penalising carers on benefit…its time ssd sorted themselves out.
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Once again the majority will suffer because the authorities wont take action against the lazy minority.
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i agree with jill, i suffered a stroke, a few years back, major surgery in southampton, and a 9 months slow recovery, i had to leave my job after 20years service ,as i could not cope with the preasure, i work full time but strugle with tiredness, in a very low paid job,the powers that be have know idea about diability, we should as a wealthy island look after disabled people, not persecute them,
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The officers of the Social Security department are explaining this rather dickensian proposal by suggesting that giving disabled people less financial support will help them back to work. It is a simple fact that people with long term illness and disabilities need more support than people with a short term incapacity and this benefit, which is to be axed, went some way towards recognising this.
With food inflation set to reach 10%, this is no time to be cutting welfare support for people in need.
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I totally agree with clj – surely it is not rocket science to be able to weed out the 20% – if SSD know the figure then why have they not tackled this – it is a disgrace. SSD’s job is to manage the huge amount of cash that hard working people pay them and to be able to allocate this accordingly – it has been obvious to most that the benefits system has been ‘worked’ by some individuals in respect of invalidity / unemployment benefit and now seemingly this will come at the expense of those genuinely in need -talk about mismanagement. Disgraceful.
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And at the same time they want to give more money to Overseas Aid. Shouldn’t charity begin at home?
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Why are disabled people being penalised because of a minority of people who appear to have no guilt in claiming benefit and are actually fit for work but too lazy to work? If people are genuinly unable to work due to long term illness/disability then they should receive adequate support, help and assistance. The first step is to understand what disability is and how it affects individual people in their everyday lives. The benefit system should be fare for all those who need it. However, it is commonly known that many people claim benefit who should not have it and do not need it. This is grossly unfair.
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There must be a better way than penalising those that the States already know cannot return to work. How is this going to work if the most needy are left with income reduced? It makes no sense at all!
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this proposal is rushed, pushed by the panic to save money. the difference between sickness benefit and invalidity benefit has never been questioned for the last 30 / 40 years until cash is short? if SSD are to review all incapacity and disability benefits, this change must wait. dep le lievre on radio gsy today hinted at a new benefit for long term incapacitated people, who will never work again. a good idea. but wait ssd. at present your claw back of invalidity rates looks like ill thought-out penny pinching that will hit all the incapacitated like a blunderbus. why, when jobs are thin on the ground and most employers prefer guest workers anyway, are ssd making sick people poorer??
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I’ve previously debated getting the benny scroungers sorted out once and for all with Dave Jones, and his answer was a plain and simple ‘we can’t tell people how to live their lives, it’s our responsibility to support them’…
unless, it appears, they are disabled/genuinely unable to work.
His (our Government’s) lack of of backbone and unwillingness to sort out the wheat from the chaff is not ‘supporting’ scroungers, it’s ENCOURAGING them.
Has anyone tried walking through Church Square lately? Its so knee deep in yoofs with nothing to do (and apparently, no jobs to go to) that you can barely fight your way through to the High Street, and when you do, god forbid it’s a Thursday, as you then have to face batallions of young teens with push chairs/toddlers gathered in large numbers to chat/text/smoke discuss where they’re going at the weekend/who’s pregnant again and where the best bargains are to be had for a new outfit for the weekend of clubbing and pubbing they have ahead of them THAT WE’RE PAYING FOR.
Perhaps the ordinary, hardworking people and employers of this island should start to be as ‘open and honest’ as those who’s dubious lifestyle choices they are funding, but then, of course, we would all be in court accused of trying to fiddle the system, wouldn’t we….?
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I think everybody in receipt of benefits for more than a few weeks should be investigated. People in genuine need should definitely get help but SSD must weed out the unemployed who are workshy or have cash jobs, incapacitated who play football, dodgy housing benefits etc. etc. Those of us who pay for these benefits need to have confidence that our money is not being mis-spent on idle scroungers. People are getting away with false claims for years at present, the cost is huge and its an incentive to others. Only once the scroungers are bought to book would I be happy to see benefits rise.
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Why can’t SSD sort out the welfare system properly? It’s not rocket science. Trouble is they listen to the sob stories, lies, excuses and threats and give in to the scroungers. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again that genuine cases of invalidity should of course receive benefits which certainly needs to be at a fair and realistic amount.
Lazy so and so’s and breeding machines need to have cash benefit stopped. SSD need to give vouchers for NECESSARY items only. Benefit should not be able to be spent on plasma tv’s, iphones, laptops, taxi’s, nights out, drugs or alcohol. This is not a dig at the poor. It’s a dig at lazy so and so’s who don’t want to work and think the world owes them a living. If all they got were vouchers for food, buses, clothing and shoes and got rent, electricity, gas and doctors bill paid for directly by SSD then they would soon get off their a***s and get jobs just like the rest of us have to for the things we want in life.
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It must be great to be able to go out drinking every Friday & Sat night.. smoke 20 fags a day then spend the rest of your time in front of your 42″ flat screen, only getting up to get another cold bottled beer out the fridge..OMG this island is in such a mess and getting worse..the people that can make the change ‘choose not to’ instead they rely on us to pick up the tab for their bad decision making, now i can look forward to working till im 70, by then it will have gotten worse and the age will be increased to 80 before i can retire after 65 years of hard graft, for a pathetic pension, which i will probably get taxed on again for a second time around… oh the joy of living amongst the wealth and pure lazy of this once lovely little island.. with regards to baby machines, we should adopt the china policy, we will pay for one mistake but not the second, third of fourth, even more of an insult when ‘father unknown’ is on the birth certificate, the young mums would think twice if it was made clear that they would not be assisted after their first child, even more sickening as most of these poor babies were probably conceived in a public toilet, or up against a wall somewhere after a night on the tiles after picking up some drunken layabout (probably already a father of many) who they will never clap eyes on again… Happy Days !!
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On the assumption that you are correctly quoting/summarising Dep Jones’ views Scarlett….
IF someone chooses to layabout, exactly why is it my responsibility to support them?!
BTF
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Wouldn’t it be wonderful if these “benny scroungers” and “yoofs” as Scarlett put it be given a new type of Supplementary Benefit … vouchers to spend in certain shops for essentials, exluding the MacKenzie hoodie and the 20 packs of B & H. These people are proud of claiming benefits, being on the “dole” and having the Lord knows how many illegitimate kiddies. Certainly smacks in the face for those good law abiding Guernsey citizens who for whatever reason need to claim from the States to be tarred with the same brush.
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Scarlett, setting aside the birch, stocks body part removals and the catherine wheel, I suspect that you know as well as most people that there is no practical way of stopping, nor discouraging young mums to continue to have children.
You reduce the benefit, you punish the child. You punish the child and society picks up an even bigger tab.
Sickness Benefit
Having had a family who went from proud wage earner and family man to invalid in under 24 hours, I personally can’t think of anything worse to happen to someone. It’s less about the benefit, I get the feeling, it’s the feeling of uselessness and burden that got to him most .
Perceived unemployed lead swingers:
And then the other question is does any one want to employ them? Or are there any jobs available at this low level?
I wouldn’t want SSD’s job, tough as hell
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Neil, wow, that’s pretty much exactly what DJ said about single mothers-!
I don’t think anyone here has said they want to ‘punish’ the children, or anyone for that matter, as you so dramatically imply, I simply want the career choice of ‘single teen mother/lazy layabout on bens’ to be a little less attractive – and easy.
As others have suggested, coupons/vouchers that can only be redeemed for essentials (that doesn’t include mobiles, flat screen TVs, fags and big weekends out on the p*ss) could be a possible way forward..
but that would entail our leaders having to work for THEIR money by making some tough decisions, and heavens, we don’t want them to have to do that, do we…? ;0)
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Scarlett for Chief Minister
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Reading this article it states that the benefit is going up, albeit by less the the OAP or inflation. I and many others on the Island have seen no pay rises for at least 2 years with an erosion of benefits as well. I have sympathy for the genuinely disabled but having to put up with a smaller increase is hardly newsworthy. GIven the “black hole” I would have expected all public benfits to be frozen as a minimum. WE are expecting high earners to contribute more by ending the salary cap on SS contributions so perhaps the quid pro quo could be that those on benefits could accept a total freeze
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How can it be fair to discriminate against someone who is disabled saying that their benefit should be increased by less than inflation. Surely all states benefits should be increased by the same percentage.
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Hi Ginja
Appreciate this isn’t clear from the snippet of the article above, so just to let you know that the smaller increase this year is just a first step. Social Security’s long term intention is to bring Invalidity Benefit down to the same level as Sickness Benefit. That’s a £28 a week decrease.
Whilst I appreciate times are tight for everyone, I think many islanders would feel that a £28 a week cut in benefits for people who have progressive MS, or a severe stroke, or terminal cancer is not something they would be proud to be party to. But those islanders won’t even know about it unless disabled people speak out, hence the story.
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Fascinating debate and good on the phone-in this week.But lets get under the skin of the invalidity debate and look at the facts.
The number of claimants not only includes an estimated 20% who could be encouraged back to work but also an overall increase. “WHY?”
Is it that we are seeing early signs of obesity, boozing and general degradation in lifestyle, greater awareness of mental health issues or doctors becoming more risk averse and signing people off.
It doesnt really matter what the reason is, as long as we know. That way we can focus our taxes on management and reduction. that is the job for the States to tackle.
The States will tell us no doubt that its all too difficult but give me a chance to earn a proportion of the £1.3m that is wasted on the 20% (not sure if that calculation is correct) or put a review process in place and i am sure the number will go down and i will have made a living and provided a more efficient service than SSD.
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I really do sympathise with the reasons and causes of people`s disabilities as I have been effected by this myself for a year. I was lucky and have fully recovered apart from a few minor problems that I am dealing with. However I live on a small work pension and that pension was frozen at the start of the recession, hasn`t been raised since then, and is not likely to be the next time it`s reviewed. I have claimed no benefits after my accident and can claim no benefits now because I`m not disabled enough. I can`t work because the jobs I am qualified for are now beyond me because I`m not fit enough to do them. My point is that I manage because I have to and I understand the reasons for the cutbacks. The Island`s economy has to recover so that the people who deserve the benefits can get their dues eventually. If that means eating beans on toast and drinking water instead of coffee then that`s what I`ll do. Hero? NO. I`m just a realist.
Life deals bad hands and people have to adapt. Enjoy what you`ve got you could be dead.
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the usual reactionary ranters might like to get in touch with the US tea-party nutters who would like to do away with any form of social security and watch poverty go back to the level of the 1930s. or may be even further back, if the single parents do not mend their moral ways, to the good old victorian family values model of the squalid suffering of the workhouse? over the top? well, just listen to you – foaming at the mouth cos a teenage mum has a pushchair and the audacity to have her hair done. (ps long live the tea-party and the far right – for they will scupper the more moderate republican resurgence).
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The disabled having to put up with a smaller benefit rise should be newsworthy. It is blatant discrimination against one of the most vulnerable groups in our society. If Social security are able to assess that 20% of people on Invalidity Benefit have the potential to go back to work and would do so if there was no automatic increase from sickness to invalidity benefit, then remove the automatic increase. Keep the two benefits separate so that the higher invalidity benefit goes to those that need it.
The best way to get disabled people into work is to provide the necessary access – this is everything from making a work place physically accessible, to providing retraining and supported employment where needed. Financial pressure might get a few people back to work but at the expense of the majority of genuine cases who cannot do so.
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I think the idea of giving vouchers and benefits in kind rather than cash is very sound. Surely even the rabid PC brigade must see the sense of giving out baby milk and nappies rather that cash that gets spent on booze and fags? Or does that impinge on their ‘human rights’ to deprive their kids as well as the rest of us? We need to make living off benefits a less attractive lifestyle choice. It seems sensible to meet people’s legitimate needs whilst restricting public money spent wastefully.
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Neil
Simple solution, true there is not a lot we can do about children that are already born except for benefits being handed out in the form of coupons on which a certain percentage has to be spent on baby items and food another percentage on essentials such as food for adult and heating etc and a very very small % for luxury items.
Watch them all come flooding back to work when they realise they cant afford to palm the baby off on granny and go out boozing on taxpayers monies.
On new children just withdraw support for any new child born to any non-working individual (rich or poor, who’s reason for not working isnt health related).
If support is to be provided, it is solely to pay for or provide childcare so the person can work.
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Ormerman
Why stop at the non-working? You could apply that to those that receive Family Allowance. My last two years’ got me a trip to France – which was nice.
Family Allowance stopped after two children and not provided if joint incomes/responisibilities are over say 50k?
Thought I’d open up the debate :-)
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Lots of very interesting comments on here, and definitely some open to sensible debate.
It really makes my blood boil that Social Security want to increase the Disability Benefit by less than other benefits (ie old age pension and unemployment). This will directly and adversely impact so many islanders who are genuinely Disabled People, and why should those people be penalised? Yes, we all know that there are some people who are swinging the system – I do resent paying for these people to live a lovely life at tax payers expense, but not for a moment do I begrudge a single penny to any genuinely Disabled Person.
I understand that it may not always be easy to identify those who are not genuinely in need of this benefit, but surely it’s not impossible?
What might be of benefit (no pun intended!) is for Social Security to proactively work with employers to get some of the long term sick / Disabled People back into work. We probably all know people who would love to be able to work but there are so many barriers to this – including employers who are put off employing someone with an impairment, especially if this involves mental health. Sorry to be so direct but I’m sure it is a reality.
So, come on States of Guernsey, spend some money usefully for once and find a way to work with employers to get people back into work – educate the employers who are nervous of employing people with a sickness record or disability, and encourage them to at least try it. There are probably employers who don’t know about the grant available for employing those who have been in long term unemployment and this financial incentive should be more widely promoted. If everyone worked together to help get people back into employment it would save the island some cash there but most importantly, give people back a sense of dignity and self worth in being able to work and earn a salary.
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Neil – oooh can of worms! I have always thought that child allowance should have a limit and that a sensible cap should be two. Why should the States and consequently the tax payer have to support those who choose to have unlimitless children? The increasing reality is that those with larger than average families tend to be on benefits whereas the working parents tend to have to limit their family size to 2 or 3 max as they have to pay for everything from childcare to dentists. The money the States would save should be quite substantial – and be reallocated accordingly.
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I could of sponsored a Tiger but decided if I worked those extra hours I could carry on sponsoring a family of four perfectly healthy individuals!
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Hopeful
Good post.I reckon it would help considerably if each of the many States departments were obliged to offer at least one suitable position to a registered disabled person
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re/hopefull
theres is a lady who came from ssd for a talk at headway, she promised everything that night, so i thought iwould go and see her, complete and utter waste of time, i managed to find work, low paid but work, but somtimes i think why do i bother, i have to pay a lot of bills for checkups since my brain injury, but every day strugglle with tired ness,as anyone knows who has had the misfutune of a stroke,
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Most of what I needed to say has already been said re. young mums, lazy individuals who have no intention of working, those unable to work because of scrambled brains due to drug misuse -what a shame!! I would never wish my disability on anyone, which is MS and is progressive. Why should those genuine invalidity cases be penalised to support the wasters? Perhaps a lot of the non-locals claiming benefits should just be sent back from whence they came or maybe the overpaid States members should take a drop in salary and pension to help the Island’s funds?
I consider myself a genuine case and so does my GP. I sometimes think that some GP’s just keep signing sick notes to get the play actors and malingerers out of their surgery!
I wish I could work but who wants to employ a lady of a certain age that has MS?
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Hi Geezerboy
I’m sorry to hear that you had such a negative experience when you went in to SSD.
I think it partly reinforces my view that all employers should be open minded and educate themselves as to the benefits of employing Disabled People, those returning from long term unemployment etc – and most importantly, recognising that those people have a valuable contribution to make to their organisations and should be treated as equals and not just stuck into low paid jobs.
I really hope you’re able to find something that you enjoy, and is rewarding in more ways than one. Good luck (and I don’t mean that ironically!).
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as someone who has had 2 potentially fatal illnesses over the past 12 months I am very appreciative of any amount that I get through SSD. The only problem i have is the “scroungers” , all you have to do is spend a few hours sat in the waiting area to listen to the conversations , more importantly all the drug dealing that goes on while they are waiting for payment , what i mean is the orders being placed for drugs on their mobiles and conversations such as ” yeah, get it ready for me , i wanna get off my face tonight and will have money in an hour or so” NO disrection at all, wish it could be policed by plain clothes officers
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re/hopefull,
im still looking after 8 years for a better job with just a little extra cash, i have not had a day off sick in 8 years since i managed to get a job, but when this woman who came to headway stood up and said what she can do for people like me, its a real kick in the teeth, when they are empty promises , bit of a publicity stunt,
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There are some comments on here that appear to suggest that to be on benefits is inevitably a lifestyle choice and that all benefit claimants are workshy, spending their benefits on booze and fags. That is mainfestly unfair and grossly offensive to the vast majority of benefit claimants who are in genuine need and who comprise some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in our island society. Lets face it: choosing to live on £100 odd a week is hardly an easy thing to do, especially in a very expensive island like Guernsey .
So ALL recipients of invalidity benefit will have to put up with a smaller increase in their payments purely because of “an estimated 20%” of claimants that are deemed “unnecessary”? This smacks of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. Firstly, how have GSSD estimated the degree of unnecessary payments? Where has this 20% figure come from? Secondly, it does appear obvious that this approach will adversely impact the 80% who have legitmate claims. This is a measure which will simply damage the household finances of some of the most hard-up in the island. This will make poverty and inequality worse; it is a thoroughly regressive idea and should be resisted.
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Am relieved to confirm that Deputy Jane Stephens’ amendment to increase invalidity benefit by the full 2.9% was passed in the States by 32 votes to 13.
This just goes to show how important it is that disabled people speak out. I’m sure many deputies would have thought the 1.5% proposal was just a minor bit of Social Security housekeeping if we hadn’t brought the full implications to their attention. Well done everyone, your voice was heard!
Looking at the comments on this thread, it’s clear there are also a number of enlightened non-disabled people speaking out too. Thank you for your support, I know it means a lot to those disabled people who would love to work, but can’t.
PS: A number of the comments made here were reproduced on the back of the flyer that the Guernsey Disability Alliance handed to deputies on the way into the Assembly, under the heading “What the People Say”. It was fantastic to be able to see a number of the deputies reading them as we watched from the visitors’ gallery…
PPS: If anyone is inspired to join the Alliance (this has been just one of many examples of discrimination against disabled islanders that we are trying to redress), please mail me through our website at http://www.disabilityalliance.org.gg. You don’t have to be a disabled person yourself, you could want to help in some way. Important that I point out that the stuff you see in the Press is only a small part of what we do. Most of our time is spent working behind the scenes WITH States depts (including Social Security) and businesses, to raise awareness of the issues faced by their disabled customers.
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Once again i am fuming, the states gives out these benefits to the bone idol who some have never worked in there lives i know some, the states want to save money why are they not looking at these people its not rocket science, the benefit thieves as i call them lay in bed all day then go out on the drink round town and some even get taxis paid for them, most are laughing there heads off and yes the states know it is going on but just let it carry on and target the hard working purson.
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Well done Shelaine; campaign conducted with much dignity and grace.
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I think all those on here who are so jealous of those on benefits,should give up their jobs and go on the dole and see what its like.Think they would soon change their minds,and there are plenty of jobless people who would willingly swap places with them.
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congrats shelaine green and the alliance in smoking out and putting out this poorly thought out attempt to save a few quid and genuinely, unfairly disadvantage those who cannot work and may never be able to. but beware! ssd will be back – this was just setting the scene. deputy green soon?
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Watching Mr Timms on TV he certainly doesn`t seem very disabled to me not to be able to get some sort of job. I know the job market is tough at the moment but there are many in the same boat who aren`t claiming disability benefits. I appreciate he had an accident in a plane crash but he has the use of his limbs and seems to have his faculties about him when discussing things so why has he no job? Could he get a job if it wasn`t for the economic climate today but can`t be bothered while on disability and other benefits? Questions need to be asked and answers given. I have asked the question, any answers?
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Geezerboy, Well done on getting a job and good luck in finding a better one but just what is your point? Are you still claiming benefits and are not satisfied with your payments? I had to retire and I live on a pension and although it is over £100 per week I get no benefits and would not ask for any. If I needed to I would find a job even if it`s a lowly job and now there is a minimum wage there is no excuse for scrounging off the tax payers. A forty hour week will now get you £240 before tax and insurance so no need for benefits. For those sponging, get a job and take our jobs back from the outsiders.
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Hi Nocon
Very happy to answer your question. So much about disability is swathed in myth, misunderstanding and fear. Good to have the opportunity to talk it through.
I don’t propose to discuss Iain Timms specifically. No-one should have to go through having their medical condition dissected by others on an online forum.
So I’ll answer your question in terms of brain injury in general instead.
The short answer: Next time you apply for a job, try writing “I have a brain injury” in the box that asks about medical conditions. And then see whether you get called for an interview…
The long answer: Disability is about so much more than wheelchairs and white sticks. One of the hardest things about having a brain injury is that it’s hidden – you can’t see the scars inside someone’s head.
When it comes to employment, full functioning of your brain is actually much more important than full functioning of your body. Restricted mobility or impaired vision can be overcome with the right equipment and support. Think Stephen Hawking.
Your brain is more important because it is your command centre, controlling everything about you – your movement, your thinking, your planning, your personality, your memories, your feelings.
How many employers, no matter how basic the job, would employ someone who couldn’t remember something they were told an hour ago, couldn’t concentrate for more than a two minutes at a time, had difficulty understanding rapid or complex speech, found it hard to organise, plan, analyse or make decisions, couldn’t tolerate even minor change from routine, and on top of all that, had no awareness at all that they had any of these difficulties?
I’m not saying everyone who has a brain injury is affected like this, far from it. Most people make a good recovery and do go back to work. Think Richard Hammond.
But others live with various forms of hidden impairment all their lives. They try to get jobs but can’t hold on to them for any length of time. The constant cycle of job applications, brief periods of work and then inevitable rejection affects their mental health. If they are lucky, they end up being supported by the benefits and social care systems. If they are unlucky their lives can slowly unravel – there is a strong link between brain injury and homelessness, for example.
For more on all aspects of brain injury, see http://www.headway.org.uk.
To contact Headway Guernsey, go to http://www.thisisguernsey.com/headwayguernsey
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RE/NOCON, I AM NOT ON BENIFIT, AND NEITHER IN MY WORKING LIFE HAVE I BEEN ON THE DOLE, BUT THE JOB I DO IS VERY LOW PAID, AND AS I AM STILL RECOVERING FROM A STROKE, WHICH INVOLVED 10 HOUR SURGERY IN SOUTHAMPTON, I GET VERY TIRED AFTER A DAYS WORK,THIS WILL GET SLIGHTLY BETTER OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS, THE TROUBLE IS KNOW ONE CAN SEE THE BRAIN, SO TO PEOPLE WHO DON T KNOW YOU THEY THINK YOU ARE OK, THE SAME GOES FOR MR. TIMMS , I WOULD NOT WISH MY DISSABILITY ON ANYONE
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very well written shelaine, covered everything i wish i could have written,x
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Thank God for people like Shelaine Green.
One thought – what would happen if everyone reading these posts and who is lucky enough to be employed, spoke to their employer to see whether or not they would be willing to consider taking on someone who has been out of work for some time due to either brain injury or other impairment?
Yes, some might not want to know. But others probably would, and all it takes is one question.
Try it. I have, and am lucky enough to work for an enlightened employer and it just goes to show that there are some who are willing to be that open minded, and with great results.
I’m not a Disabled Person so don’t speak on this issue from direct personal experience – I’d just love to see more people being given the opportunity to get back to work.
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re[ hopefull
well said mate,
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My partner at present has been off work for the past 10weeks and counting due to a serious case of cluster headaches.(Look it up!!)
We went to SSD for help and were told that we earn too much and at the most will get a couple of pound a week, (my partner earns most of our income) but he doesn’t recieve sick pay. His Doctors bills at present are more than we can afford to pay at the moment due to him being off work, and we are still not sure when he will be well enough to go back to work.
My wage does not cover all of the outgoings and because of this we are now in a lot of debt. When my partner said to the person working at SSD he should just pack it all in (meaning his job) and sign on because we would be better off (sarcastically),the person aggreed.
It seems in todays society that you receive more assistance for sitting around on your backside, then the people that work hard and pay towards the running of the island
This is not aimed at people who geuinaly need help but to the people who cannot be bothered to work but would rather just do nothing all day and sponge of the states, and the hard working people of Guernsey!
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Interesting point above from Loulou. IF you believe that this is unfair in terms of what you have as a joint income then you might consider contacting Deputy Jane Stephens who is States appointed Champion of Disabled People.
Anyway, I have one question, What is a Disability?
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