Well the date is 11th May 2011, and I awoke with the usual stiffness, pain, and numbness…

Today was “The Hardest Hit” March along the embankment and past the House of Commons, and I just had to be there as the issues involved will affect me greatly.
May be not immediately but at some point I will need support from DLA and I already need support in the form of Incapacity Benefit.

I will also have the fight for benefits when my IB is changed to ESA.. And with the new descriptors bought in this year it is literally 50/50 that I am found fit for work (full time) and have to claim JSA .
When on JSA and I manage to get a job I will lose all the advantages that come with getting a job while on Incapacity Benefit.. ie Disability Element of Tax Credit, which means I could take a job at less than 30 hours per week and still get help.

There is a probability that even though I do approx 10 hrs a week at CAB , that I will be forced to stop that volunteering to do a required training course or work placement. I would then lose 2 years worth of experience and training. Curiously I am volunteering to make myself more employable.

Yes we should protect the most vulnerable, however there are many that fall in the middle ground and have long term fluctuating conditions. The Work Capability Assessment currently does not take these conditions into account, nor does it take into account “Real Life” when applying the descriptors.

These are both being looked at by Professor Harrington for the Review of ESA and the WCA.(see links below)
With DLA changing under Universal Credit to Personal Independence Payment , and with stricter criteria and only two rates for care and mobility .. . Fewer people will qualify for the benefit, and also lose any passporting to other benefits

With pressures on Local Authorities to cut budgets , this March was also about protecting Adult Social Services help, changes to the social fund and any other issues that affect people with a disadvantage through disability or chronic illness.


The March

I arrived at Cleopatra’s Needle to meet up with some people from National CAB Social Policy Campaigns Team. Many groups had chosen this as a meet up point .
We walked slowly to the start point and all the way the policing was very "light touch".




We headed towards the rally where Jane Asher , and Liam Byrne (Shadow Work and Pensions Minister) among others were addressing the (almost) 8000 people who could make it .





There was great interest by News teams in the unique and diverse people attending the March.



This lady had put a cardboard box on her motorised wheelchair to highlight the fact that loss of the Mobility Allowance to people in care homes would mean her living trapped in her home.



She had a lot of interest from the Press and Campaigning Teams who were queuing up to talk to her and take images of her talking through a flap in the front of the box.



As the March slowly progressed the enforced pace made my legs lock up and tire after a very short distance.. you must have been there .. where all your concentration is on the act of walking , and not on conversation etc...

CAB Campaigns people below



The March continues with me having extreme difficulty ...










The Braille above actually says "Shafted"

Yayyy the end of the March ... it was really only a short distance , but i struggled after a very short distance..



Well was it worth it ... yes it was .. as it has raised the issue to a wider audience and will fire up people who could not make the March into taking action that they are capable of doing . Expressing concerns to an MP is an easy way to highlight your dissatisfaction
See The Hardest Hit and contact your MP through the link on there .
Make contact with Jamie on Here and tell your story .. Anecdotal evidence is very powerful and shows real life situations !!

I ache all over today , but am glad i voiced my opinion together with nearly 8000 other people.

No images of me in my NRAS T-shirt but they are on the way as i asked CAB to take some . They are winging their way to me now by snail mail.


Relevant Links

Prof. Harrington Review of the WCA and the Government's response

Disability Alliance reply to the Harrington Report

Disability Alliance -Forthcoming Changes

Welfare Reform

Social Fund Consultation(closed)

DLA reform and change to PIP

I hope you enjoyed this little blog , i will add "Me" pics when they arrive .
These changes are far reaching and it will be next to impossible for any future Government to change back.. so make your voice heard in any way you can !!!!!

Remember the Conservative party sound bite : "Work for those who can , Security for those who cannot"

Rich :)

Hi Rich

What a brilliant post. Good on you for attending the March. It was a very good turn out. Let's hope it does some good. It doesn't affect me personally as I am retiring in a few weeks time and can get around still but there are an awful lot of people who can't and working with adults with learning and physical disabilities as well as some with mental health problems and challenging behaviour I foresee terrible problems. I know that some of my clients will be deemed fit for work because they can "hold a pen, pick a pound coin up off the floor etc" Hello!! this is the real world. I dread to think what is going to happen. Thank God we have people like you who are protesting and making a stand. I wish you all the luck in the world and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. Keep up the good work

Sheila x

Thanks all ,
was a good day and very good natured .. a feeling of all being "in the same boat"

Just been told that i did make it to channel 4 yesterday for about two seconds .. and not very flattering :)hehe

RichC On Channel 4

hehe.




I am 32 seconds in . I really must get my belly down .. somehow :)

Rich :)

Thanks Julie :)
dont you mean 2 seconds since that was what it was :)

Rich :)

Thanks Suzanne :)

Yes it was a powerful feeling and there was great camaraderie .. the link is above the picture where it says "RichC on channel 4" .. , im in the montage before you press play (in the top left) and in the vid i am about 31 secs in .. but do not blink ...LOL

Was bad this morning but not too bad this afternoon :) thanks

Rich X

What a great Blog. Thank you for being part of this, and I do hope you are sufferring a little less today.
MandyM

Thanks for this blog Rich. I will try to watch the link to channel 4 news.

A doctor on the one show on bbc1 did some mini work assessments last week. Two out of three people who had been assessed as fit to work were classed by her as not fit to work. It said they were doing more on this subject in the future.

They asked people to email with their comments on the esa assessments.

Bevxx

Hope you are recovering from the march, you did well to do it.

Haha ... oh no i'm getting everywhere .. and yes that is me talking to a CAB Social Policy Campaign's Officer :)
Thanks for that .. and i have decided i hate myself on camera :O
hehe
Rich

Hi Rich

I feel so proud that you went along and supported the 'march' on behalf of NRAS and all its members. Thank you so much

Lyn x

Edit: P.S. Really brilliant pictures Rich. Next time you must come along to our 'get together' and we will nominate you official photographer!

Rich



VERY WELL DONE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH