Post by Words To Inspire the Soul.

Experience and empathy

When David Cameron became Prime Minister , telling us that the NHS was safe in his hands I and many others expected cuts yes, he is a Tory, but hoped maybe it might not be so bad, after all didn't he have a severely disabled son, Ivan.

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David Cameron had spoken so often about the importance of the NHS in the life of his family and how frequently they needed to call on its services, we thought maybe he understood, and while we were wary and anxious yes, we hoped it would not be as bad under him as we feared.The Prime Minister also had a disabled father....



Our tentative hopes proved so so wrong, and at least 32 die a week after failing the test for ESA, the replacement for Incapacity benefit brought in by Cameron's coalition .

Rather than empathy and understanding, Cameron's experiences appear to have had the opposite effect and job centre advisers admit they are being forced to sign terminally ill people as fit for work. ATOS, the group contracted by the government to deny disability benefits to claimants and find current claimants fit for work and remove their benefits told an incontinent woman to 'wear a nappy' in order to go to work In another case, and these are certainly not isolated , a Mum-of-three was told to find a job by ATOS chiefs and weeks later she died of a brain tumour.

Would Cameron and the minister for work and pensions, Iain Duncan Smith want this treatment for sick and disabled members of their own family ? Probably not, but the point is that they will never have to imagine the effect it has to be treated in this manner and what it is to be in that position.

There is a saying that has some different versions and the origins are shrouded in fable about trying to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, I also know it as the native American version Walking a mile in someone else's moccasins .

I remember with much admiration , an elderly lady who was born in and until recently lived in the same town as I live now. She often spoke to me of having had polio as a child and all that she owed to the support of her clearly wonderful mother. Some years later, when she was working and trying to care for her by then elderly mother who needed support herself, she founded a local branch of the carer's support group The Princess Royal Trust For Carers. She was involved in local politics and highly respected locally, but she never, ever forgot her roots and since we lived in a borough of wide social and economic division , I knew what she meant when she told me that although her group was open to all, there was a huge difference between being disabled in a big house with lots of money in one end of the borough, and being disabled on benefits in a council flat at the other end of it.

We have our Home Secretary Theresa May, of the huge shoe collection and fan of kitten heels and leopard print , who has presided on her watch over a vicious reform of the UK immigration laws, telling us that she has been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Insisting of course that it is business as usual and it makes no difference to her ability to do her job

I agree !! , many diabetics successfully work , and on the other hand, many, especially those diagnosed later in life when they might be having to consider a job change because they are being forced to take any job at all , will find that complications of diabetes such as diabetic retinopathy lessen chances of jobs that demand good eyesight . Some employers will think a job as being a danger to your condition for yourself and for others, and this may further complicate an application. And that as an insulin user, the following jobs (under current legislation) are unavailable to you.

This list does not cover every position, and an employer may use their own discretion, in some cases unfairly. Some of these jobs are exempt from the Disability Discrimination Act of 1995, meaning that employers can refuse an applicant who has diabetes.

Armed forces

• Fire service

• Ambulance service

• Prison service

• Airline pilots and Airline Cabin crew

• Air traffic control

• Offshore work

Theresa May's attitude of business as usual is admirable, however, is she perhaps doing fellow diabetics not in her privileged position a disservice? I'm not for a moment saying she should give up work, but it would be nice to see her start to really fight for and defend the sick and disabled , because a lot of fellow diabetics in the above occupations could well have to stop work and find themselves at the cruel hands of her government, her boss the prime minister and the Department for Work and Pensions .

Somehow, I can't see it happening because as we found with the Prime minister, experience does not necessarily produce empathy.


Employment law taken from Diabetes.co.uk © 2015 Diabetes Digital Media Ltd - the global diabetes community.

Something for the weekend...free or at least cheap ways to enjoy the weekend.

After a week of job hunting it is very important to take some time at the weekend to open your mind to other activities, to catch up with the world and what is going on and get back in circulation, job hunting is in itself a job...looking for a job is a job.

To keep an interest and awareness of other things that are going on makes you seem interested and aware and so more attractive as an employee, remember the old saying...All work and no play...It is also good for you, everyone needs a break from stress and job hunting is stressful. Another point to remember is that you may well be desperate to get a job but to look desperate actually won’t help you appeal to people you meet or talk to who may be able to help you .

Check out free art shows or local fairs, local ones are often free or local streets have art shows and other specialist fairs

Parks are always free, if the weather is good go to a nice park and enjoy the open air and take a picnic and ball games etc. for children, or a good book for yourself. Even if there is not a park nearby, take a walk into town and see people and if you can, stop for a coffee.

If you do not have a Kindle it is quite likely that you are unable to afford one as they are not cheap, especially when you are unemployed and buying one is not a priority spend. However, you do not need a Kindle to read the many free kindle books that are available as you can download a reading application for your PC, tablet or even phone.

Instead of spending the money it costs to go to see a film , check out the free films and TV programmes that can be found online, have your friends round and don't send out for Pizzas etc., have a bring and share !!

If you have a PC and internet access at home chill out and enjoy the loads of free music you can listen to online like Spotify

Rather than wishing you could afford a spa day check out your toiletries and smellies and creams and indulge yourself with a pampering day at home...it works for men too !!

Speak to your neighbours. , invite them for a cup of tea and get to know them. Mention that you are job hunting, but don’t be a job hunting bore …. Enjoy the weekend!!

Valerie Hedges

Get a life

I have quite often mentioned the importance of continuing to live a life that has more to it than job hunting. True, the job center make it clear that while you are claiming benefits your job is job hunting and when you are meeting deadlines for job applications, and rewriting your basic CV template over and over again to fit each job application as is advised by the Job center and job programmes you may attend such as the Work Programme, it is easy to believe that your only purpose in life is indeed to get a job.

 I mention the matter of rewriting your basic CV and adapting it to each role you apply for because we have moved on a long way from the days of having 'your CV', and just sitting at a computer firing it off .

 I certainly do not need to write an article about how competitive job hunting is these days and will I believe continue to be. I do not think that an improvement in the economy will necessarily make it easier to apply for jobs. There may in the future be fewer people applying if indeed as is claimed , more people are in work and there are more jobs but  I have applied online for jobs where I receive a count of how many have applied and 540 is not unusual.  However, employers have learned how to be so much more sophisticated in their selection of candidates, in order to get the best employee.

While the economy has been so tight, managers have become much more particular. Why be prepared to pay money to train when you can find out from a CV, and a look on LinkedIn and their profile that an applicant already has what you are looking for  and you have hundreds of applicants to choose from who do have what you need ? Applying for a job these days is an exercise in SEO skills and knowing what words to use on your application CV to maximize your chances. Lots of companies use CV screening software, so the trick is to be sure that your CV has the words that the job will be looking for. My background, even though I am no longer fit enough to do it, is in early years work with pre-school children, family support and special educational needs. I won't get a job as a bank manager, however, even though I have not been able to work in childcare for fourteen years, I still get offered this work, but not the admin role I now need. When applying for jobs, be realistic in what you apply for and maximize your application and its chances as best you can by reading the job description to understand what the job is asking.

Meanwhile, Get a life.....I don't deny that it is very difficult indeed to maintain a social life and stay in circulation when you have such a very limited income as you will have being on benefits. Friendships can indeed be lost at the expense of the difference in income and the limitations it puts on you. However, while you are reading this on your computer, you are using one of your greatest assets for keeping in touch, expanding your contacts and visibility, and indeed making contacts and gaining skills that can lead to a job.

It isn’t about life coming to a stop when you have no money to spend after benefits have barely covered even your basic home expenses. Usually they do not, e.g. in the calculation of which benefits are paid, you may be eligible for some help, not much but some, towards your mortgage interest, but if you have mortgage arrears and are paying interest on those too, then what you get will in no way cover the mortgage amount. The same sort of situation will apply if you have chosen or been forced by your utility company to have prepay meters. Those on very low incomes actually end up being forced to pay more of a proportion of their income for basic utilities, because they are frequently stuck on pre pay methods of payment e.g. for mobile phones and gas and electricity. If you have a poor credit rating you cannot get a mobile phone contract and you cannot switch to a deal with a cheaper gas and electricity company if you are paying off arrears on pre pay meters. Life need not come to a stop with a very limited or non-existent disposable income, you just go about making a different sort of entertainment rather than the lifestyle you might have chosen with a good income.

Many claim that the internet, especially social bookmarking sites such as Facebook are dangerous and only used by people who cannot function in society and have normal relationships, people who spend their time looking for little green men.  True, it is important to be able to relate to people on a face to face level, Facebook does not allow for reading those clues in expressions and body language that are so vital to communications, but the internet is a great source of being able to make contacts, especially for the disabled and those on a limited income. There are, apart from Facebook and LinkedIn, forums and groups for every interest under the sun, and of course masses of information to help your job search such as free CV templates as well as job boards. There are hundreds of sites about living on a budget and debt management, again many with forums so that you do not feel so isolated, as if you are the only one with the problem. The problem is when the internet completely replaces your personal face to face relationships. Many years ago I remember a song 'People’. Frequently known by a line from the lyrics, people who need people', the song was recorded by many but especially associated with Barbara Streisand....

People,
People who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world
Were children needing other children
And yet letting our grown-up pride
Hide all the need inside
Acting more like children than children
Lovers
Are very special people
They're the luckiest people in the world
With one person,
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you're whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

With one person
One very special person
A feeling deep in your soul
Says you are half now you're whole
No more hunger and thirst
But first be a person who needs people
People, people who need people
Are the luckiest people in the world.

As I mentioned earlier, the internet cannot replace that essential experience for functioning in society and at work or amongst our communities and present or future friends, the ability to 'read' a person, body language and expressions and tone of voice.

Not surprisingly, I am unable to afford a kindle E-book reader, and in any case, it is very difficult to keep up with the merits of the models available. When the Kindle first came out, it was indeed a wonderful idea, to be able to download books and store them on a small light gadget to carry around in your handbag, by the time I am able to afford one it will make a cup of tea while you read the book you have downloaded!! But there are online applications from kindle and other systems that enable you to download and read free books online with lots of sites where you can find free books.

Free courses of study are more difficult to find than they were and eligibility for a free place on many courses is more heavily restricted than previously. It is now not unusual that the criteria for a free place is that you must not already have what is considered to be a level 2 qualification, even if the subject of the qualification you have is not relevant to your future career plans. An example of this is that I am considered to have a level 2 qualification as I am NNEB nursery nurse qualified, although I now have health issues which prevent my doing that work, it is difficult for me to get free places on courses such as IT.

The first luxury I had to give up when my income dropped was cable television but there are several sites where you can watch free TV, in the format of online videos and episodes of series ,many being great favourites from years ago as well as free movies.

The age old hobby of pen friends gets rather expensive these days due to the cost of stamps, but the modern and cheaper version is to Google free epals, and make online friends from around the world to share experiences with. There is of course always Facebook, and while chatting to Facebook friends you may quite likely never meet, put find a job and similar terms in the search box

Free music videos can be enjoyed by signing up to YouTube, and most of these can be shared on Facebook, so that you can enjoy music discussions with your Facebook friends. On YouTube you will also find videos on everything including looking for a job, IT skills, nature, documentary type videos, the list of subjects goes on, and again you can share and discuss your finds with interested contacts that you find online, or your friends who might live some way away and it is not easy for you to get to see them. You can even save the cost of stamps and send online birthday and other occasion cards for free!!

Keeping up a life of contacts and interests even with, especially when you have little money and have lost many aspects of your life is vital and also helps a lot towards making contacts and accessing the hidden (unadvertised) job market.

Valerie Hedges 

                                                                              

Gaining up to date relevant qualifications for the job

Gaining up to date  relevant qualifications for the job that you want, or updating skills you already have, e.g. IT skills is one of the best routes to success for the older person who wants to show an employer that they have kept up  with the modern work force, and can learn new skills.

 However, in recent years it has become increasingly difficult to find free courses, and to be eligible for them. College's which used to offer free studying to those on benefits or pensioners now charge a fee, which might be low but people on benefits just cannot afford it, or if you already have a level 2 standard qualification in any subject, then you cannot get free training for many courses, even if it is a subject that you would benefit from having a qualification in.

To illustrate this, I have O level English, and an NNEB (Nursery Nursing qualification,) but I do not have the basic skill core subject of GCSE or O level Maths, and have often found that colleges offering an equivalent maths course are unable to offer me a free place, as I have the equivalent of level 2 qualifications, even if it is in a career subject that I can no longer work in, i.e. childcare.

However, there are opportunities for free courses on-line... The Open University used to be able to offer free degrees to those on benefits but this is no longer the case and has been forced by the government to completely change its fees, restructuring it into line with general university fees. This was a big blow to the open university and its students because it showed a complete disrespect by this government for the ethos and history of the Open University, established under Labour party administration for the very purpose of enabling people to get a degree who otherwise would not, or for various reasons had previously been unable to study at university level, such as myself. I recommend Vision2learn, with whom I have previously studied Equality and Diversity and am just about to study business studies and admin.  

With the Open University, it used to be that if you were unemployed, then your course was free. This is no longer the case and Open University students are now forced to apply for student loans, which would become repayable on the student earning £21,000 per year. However, I do not know how this would affect someone in my position, who would love to have a degree, but for whom the government could easily refuse a student loan on the grounds that a degree is hardly essential to a woman of fifty five who is likely at her medical assessment to be told by the department of work and pensions to get a job in spite of having arthritis, partial sight and a heart condition among the most notable of her health conditions, or she will be put on the work programme , and have to work in a £1 shop for nothing. I have a feeling that you don't any longer get sent to Tesco's to stack shelves since Tesco's opted out of the scheme at risk of some very bad publicity from benefit claimants.

Since very sick people are  being told that they are  to do any job and if that be cleaning etc. and the physical effort kills them, then so be it, then to be honest even I have to admit I hardly could be said to need a degree...

I never thought I would see again the circumstances that surrounded my educational options in the seventies, when my dreams of university were literally beaten out of me physically by my mother. My crime being to jump out of my class, now at the time I saw this as being child abuse but being honest in hindsight, I wouldn't say it is a wonderful thing but it does give understanding. I do wonder now that I am older and wiser and have more understanding of the financial and class based limitations people face, did perhaps my mother know exactly what my options were in a way that I did not? I'm never one to knock ambition, To the contrary I could have a degree in that, but facing facts,, it often is not our own personal aims and ambitions that shape our options, but our financial circumstances, and the government, as my mother discovered in 1937, when she was the first in her family to pass the eleven plus, but there was no grammar school place for her, as her mother could not afford the uniform. I consider this to have been a very cruel system as she was set up to fail and as a family, we still suffer from her experience today, but I can see this sort of situation becoming increasingly common in the years ahead...

If you do wish to study at University level, it is worth going to the website of the Open University and reading the fees information, where you get an idea of what help and options might be available, but it is now largely limited to applying for a student loan .

On the subject of my O level Maths, or rather the lack of it!! knowing that maths was not my first love or a subject I found easy, I sat the subject at CSE (Certificate of secondary education) level, the problem being that I twice failed to get the grade 1, which was considered  to at least be the equivalent of an O level pass, albeit not a top grade. The difficulty was that it was not easy in any CSE (Certificate of secondary education) subject to get a grade 1, even in subjects in which I was good, e.g. Social Studies, where again I got a grade 2.  I was encouraged by my teachers to sit O level maths which they considered I had a greater chance of passing, but I refused, not having the confidence... nor a mastery of Trigonometry!!

Having experienced a two tier system of qualifications, I would vote every time, if given the chance to keep the GCSE system, providing that is, the issue is addressed of students being given the impression that it is impossible to fail, and that low grades were no longer considered to be a pass.

Valerie Hedges