women with visible and invisible disabilities
On 29 January, Greenwich Council cabinet decided to charge people £1.6 million more for social care, and make £8m cuts to the free rehabilitation which people coming out of hospital are entitled to get, and other support. Here is the South London Press report by James Twomey. Plus below, our Kate Brown‘s speech to the Scrutiny Committee … Read more
For two years, WinVisible has peer-supported disabled single mum Maria (not her real name) in South London, and provided her with information to secure benefits which the family needs: • She used our blog about the Personal Independence Payments (PIP) legal challenge on mobility needs and mental distress, to brief Merton Centre for Independent Living … Read more
We got this message about our self-help information on exemption from face-to-face benefit interviews: “Hi, I’m emailing about the story you have online from June 2017 about the guidelines protecting people with severe mental illness getting a face to face assessment when applying for PIP. I’m from Northern Ireland and have a 20-year severe mental … Read more
Women battling for paper-based assessment have won PIP, including Mrs X. Here is her story and how she won: My horrible PIP experience and 16 letters of complaint! “I am a 65-year old woman who lives in Essex. In 2012 I had a stroke caused by excessively high blood pressure (I had no idea). That … Read more
There is wide concern from the public, MPs and others about how claimants with mental distress are treated in the benefit system. But not everyone is aware that as PIP is tied to working age (16-64), teenagers aged 16 are put under the stress of possible loss of benefit when their DLA is ended in … Read more
Natasha Cox from WinVisible recently spoke out about how care charges have affected her life, in an interview with the Camden New Journal. She is one of the severely disabled people hit by the charges increase which Camden implemented from last October. We were part of a community campaign against this, and supported Carers and … Read more
“I am a 53 year old woman who suffers from PTSD, severe anxiety, depression, panic attacks and insomnia. I also have problems with my eyesight and previously had cancer (my PTSD stems from the cancer and its treatment). I am on ESA ( Support Group) and currently still in receipt of DLA. I am in … Read more
We gathered our experiences of the benefit assessments, to send to the all-party Work and Pensions Select Committee of MPs. They are looking into assessments because so many people who are refused are winning their case at appeal. We say: Assessments for ESA and PIP are set up to deny claimants the disability benefits they need … Read more
In April 2017, the Employment Appeal Tribunal ruled that sleep-in care workers should be paid the same hourly rate for the whole of their time at work. Until then, charities were paying nominal amounts. Mencap paid a flat rate of £22.35 plus one hour’s pay (£6.70) for a nine-hour sleep-in shift. In May 2017, Mencap appealed … Read more
http://camdennewjournal.com/article/keith-armstrong-a-one-man-machine-fighting-for-people-with-disabilities Keith Armstrong, a one-man machine fighting for people with disabilities He inspired campaign that made buses, taxis and most public buildings accessible to wheel-chairs Camden New Journal 21 September, 2017 — By John Gulliver HE was a one-man machine constantly campaigning for better disability rights. Confined to a wheel-chair as a victim of polio from childhood, … Read more