The weather is getting cold. That means staying indoors, that means using more electric and gas! Will have to budget for food even.

With it being forecast to snow in the part of England I live in, it brings back memories of this often being a bitter sweet part of the year, because whilst me and the kids always look forward to the festive season, I don't look forward to the heating bills that come with it.

Good day

It's a very windy and rainy day, we are just indoors

Quite anxious about the child poverty policy. I have engaged on different levels few times with it and I'm really looking forward to it . This will be an amazing reminder to make a change if the issues highlighted will be resolved and addressed in this policy.

Good day. New day, new place with my baby.

I wanted to write about UC and "compliance interviews". I'll declare an interest first of all - my job is a Welfare Rights Officer, so I help people all the time with their benefit claims, including UC. And I am on UC myself. So I am used to hearing from clients about their problems with UC and I try to be supportive and sort out their issues.

In the summer UC got in touch and I was asked to provide my ID and bank statements. I knew what this meant - ultimately I was going to be selected for one of these compliance interviews. I was not excited but it did arouse my professional curiosity. I dutifully provided a copy of my driving licence, and two months worth of bank statements through the upload facility on my journal. Only, I forgot about one of my bank accounts, that has nothing in it anyway. I reported this on the journal and a month went by with no response. And then another month - still nothing.

I thought they were leaving me alone until September, when I was told on my journal that I had not complied with the ID requirement and there was a new To Do with an upload facility for the missing bank statements. My failure with the ID was that I had not provided a "check code" from DVLA. I checked back through my journal and I was never asked for this!

So I provided both the ID check code and the missing bank statements. No response from UC again.

Until this week and I was notified they want to speak to me to explain the evidence I had provided. A telephone appt next week during working hours. I contacted them through the journal and got it rearranged to just after I finish work.

It was at this point that I've slowly begun to feel the pressure. What about the bank account with no money in - when I started my claim back in 2019, there was £1000. That's gone - do I need to justify that? My daughter quit school in Jan and then re-joined again in June, which mucked my claim about - will they ask about that? What about my drop in wages (I was acting up in a manger role until the new manager came along) - will I need to explain all of that? I am pretty darn sure I have done nothing wrong. But I was speaking to a colleague at work who went through one of these and they told me they ask you to justify any sources of income and ask about how you spend your money???! I don't do eBay or Vinted or anything like that, but I do my mum's shopping for her - she has dementia and often loses her bank card or cannot remember the numbers. More recently she is housebound as she is incontinent. So often times I am required to pop out to the local shops and get milk, meals, pads at the last minute. I even got her new clothes and bedding over the summer. And I am appointee for her bank account so I tot up the expenditure and reimburse myself. I've never paid any attention to this - I am just helping my mum out. But of course, I've not kept any receipts - sometimes her and my shopping is combined. Often times I am just too exhausted running around in a full time job, as a lone parent and carer for my ill mum. All I do at the end of the day is look how much I spent for my mum and transfer the money over.

This has now got me absolutely overthinking the situation - how on earth can I prove what I have done? I am my worst enemy here - my accounting should be much more professional and from now on it will be, but also I think I am panicking over nothing, I hope.

Tomorrow I will be attending a round table meeting in The House of Lords with Changing Realities in preparation of the government's Child Poverty Strategy to be announced next month.

While preparing for this, I have been thinking about some of the sacrifices to my own life and health that I have made over the past ten years in order to prevent my daughter from the worst effects of living in poverty as possible. I would never regret this as my daughter has entered adult life with care and compassion, she is beautiful and kind to all, working hard to complete her A levels while also working part time at her Church café where she also helps out with children's groups on a voluntary basis each week, which takes up a lot of her spare time. On top of this she also cares for and supports me when needed with mental and physical health conditions. I can see though that having lived over half of her childhood in extreme poverty has and will continue to prevent her from fulfilling her life to the full extent of her abilities, which I do not feel should be the case for any child to have to face.

No matter how far the Child Poverty Strategy goes, there will still be a lot of work to be done in order to reach a point where no child is forced to live in poverty. It is not their choice or the choice of their parents. Life circumstances can change in an instant, forcing any one of us into poverty at any time during our lives. This is when the social security system should be there to soften the blow as quickly and easily as possible.

I am committed and determined to fight for equality for all with a fairer society, where there is a social security system that is fair, easy to navigate and accessible, which offers security not punishment to those who need it.

I miss the sunshine and the heat. At least the house was warm and cosy then.

Everyday the cost of living is rising. Why do we - in a first world country - have to think and stress about basic necessities? I know my child is going to need some good winter stuff to keep him warm.

Currently on leave and all I wish is to be back at work? Seems the leave is highlighting that I, in fact, do not need to rest to avoid overwhelming expense😅😅

Been such a busy month for trying to sort disabilities support out for myself. Now my PIP is sorted I qualify for a wheelchair off the mobility scheme which is a big deal, a massive change, very scary but hopefully it'll help. I had some serious falls recently, one involved needing head CT and chest x-rays (lucky just concussion and bruised ribs but was still scary, took weeks until my head felt normal, by my standards anyway, again). Trying to cheer myself up by getting all prepared and organised for Halloween and Christmas. Been recommended a new trick or treaters map app thingy by a friend, it's meant to make things easier for everyone cos you place your address and what hours you're available for trick or treaters and then their parents can plan safe routes to addresses. Can even plug what treats you're offering so people know if you've got stuff in friends with allergies or such. I like the idea of it but don't trust the giving of my address and personal details to a brand new app that's not known well enough to be peer reviewed too well. Still, plenty to keep my mind n fingers busy next few months. Including crocheting gifts for friends for Xmas, save some pennies, use up some wool I've got left from old projects and give friend something they'd like, hopefully lol.

My kids do understand it's a tough budget this year cos of cost of heating and things needed for the wheelchair (like rain cover, bag, padlock, etc), so limited to £200 each for up to 3 "under tree" gifts, stocking and Xmas eve boxes are surprise items from Santa/me but under tree items can be wish listed. And I've been lucky the things they've asked for I've been able to find discounts for most of them, so that's helpful. And kids said I have to have under tree items too so I'll do that last when I know how much I have left from all Xmas shopping done. Because we've a lot of friends too, and a couple solo elders in our area that we try to anonymously drop off little care packages for.

Today I saw someone post something about back to school packs which have stationary in them. I was happy but same time not happy, like, why haven't we heard about this before? Why so late?

Also there was no details about how someone can get a pack. I have been spending so much on just little things and it’s been adding up.