Amnesty International

Refugees at home

Refugee Action

All with accurate information on why asylum seekers flee their home countries and how to support them.

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well and keeping warm, it has not been a good week with everything going on with the asylum system and all these new laws that the Home Secretary wants to implement.

Despite what media owned by billionaire tax avoiders say, most people welcome asylum seekers into the UK. We must keep sharing facts to educate.

Had a 1 hour appt via phone with Universal Credit today.

The advisor asking what can she do to support my autistic 19 yr old daughter into a full time job or find a 2nd job or gain confidence by attending college as well as keep her part time job .

All the messages I have left on the UC journal stating my daughter's difficulties due to autism, the fit notes from the GP, doesn't seem to stop the passive aggressive attitude of UC advisors who seem determined to force my daughter into full time work by box ticking DWP workers.

There was an offer of an Access to Work grant. I am so ground down by this UC system, I asked her to send on info via email. The call finished at 16 minutes. I will be called again in December and January for a decision of whether to accept the Access to work support.

I'm biting my tongue not to tell the advisor to where to stick their "support".... Their support and my daughter's needs are very different.

It would be easier to give up on hoping for any financial support from the DWP. But why should we? It's our entitlement.

Going back into work his a good thing but there is a massive gap in UC, should gives a grace period for our first wages and for children as well.

This could help the poverty gap

Good day, it was a very very cold day today but my baby enjoys the cold so I took her out.

I’m glad I was able to say my piece in the universal credit meeting. I would have actually spoken but I didn’t get the chance as everyone had a lot to say. I had to type in the chat instead. I feel that maybe there needs to be another meeting about it as not everyone got to finish.

The way that universal credit treats people at job centres and also the way the education system is. The education system for universal credit says you can’t engage in full time education but they don’t look at people’s circumstances. It’s not that I think all students should be able to claim it but those in horrible circumstances should be able to. As such, people who have suffered trauma and abuse, maybe they had been homeless and will lose their housing if they go to university. It just seems like the system is designed to make people fail and stay stagnant.

The treatment of sanctions often informs my view of Universal Credit which then makes me interact with the system with both fear and caution.

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.

Hello Steven,

Thank you for asking your question.

My opinions / views are based on personal experience when I applied for UC.

After having lost my job of 30 years, I had no choice but to apply for benefits. During my application I stressed the points that my sudden unfair dismissal left my health in a challenging situation and I aim to recover and seek employment. I was not heard but judged and labelled as someone who wants to rely on state benefits.

The attitude of the UC staff was appalling. This caused me significant amounts of anxiety, stress and depression. I would feel physically sick when I had to open my journal and read the messages. There was no dignity or any kind of understanding that I was a tax payer for 30 years and only wanted to recover from the unfair dismissal trauma and ill health so that I could find a new job.

Thank you

My perception on Universal Credit is shaped by my own engagement with it; and I believe the narrative of 'everyone being on benefits is lazy' is an awful undertone which is projected through media. I have rarely come across people who are understanding of my struggles until joining Changing Realities. I feel like most people don't care enough about people's individual circumstances and that is also true of UC advisors. The system has been set up to give the bare minimum and the lack of respect unfortunately comes along with that. People are trying their absolute best to keep their family unit together, and the world would be a much better place if we could all take a moment to appreciate one another, rather than judging people.