When one of us is threatened – we are all at risk

This was sent in via email. We dont know where it originated so if anyone finds out please let us know so we can give them full credit.

 

First They came ……

 

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.*

What food might this contain?’ the mouse wondered – - – he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning: There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!’

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, ‘Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.’

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, ‘

Show the government that you care about Social Care

Are you disabled, in ill health, a carer or know someone who is?

CarerWatch members are extremely concerned about the impact of the Welfare Reform Act on Social Care. Not just on those people affected now,  but those that will be in the future.  It is vital we take every opportunity to raise our voices about these issues to government.

See below for details received of a new campaign – Britain Cares

Received from Scope -

I wanted to let you in on a new campaign, Britain Cares – see website here

We all know how much support is being savagely taken away at the moment, but we think coming up there is a major opportunity to help get something positive to happen.

We believe that there is the potential for a big political moment to get the Government to address the growing crisis in social care for disabled people, with the Care and Support Bill coming into Parliament in May (one of only two major Bills) and the Government’s Spending Review brought forward to this June. We need to make a big push in April and May building up to June.

It could make a direct difference to the lives of more than 100,000 disabled people in this country through providing social care – but this campaign is also really about trying to galvanize wider public support for the rights of disabled people.

We want to take it to the Government and show them actually they’re wrong, many people in this country (disabled and non-disabled) believe in good, fair support for disabled people to live their lives.

At the same time, this campaign is about trying to show there are lots of people in Britain with shared values of fairness and freedom, and we want to live up to those values by making sure disabled people can live their lives like everyone else.

We want to challenge the Government by showing them.

There are two main ways to get involved:

- Upload a photo saying “I care!” or “We care!” at  www.britaincares.co.uk  where you can email it to your MP with a message

- If you have experience of the importance of social care yourself, please share your story with your MP – we urgently need to get them to understand more about the importance of social care against the backdrop of all the other cuts – further details to be found here

Please do have a look, it’s live online now and with a first big moment around 30 April,  to coincide with two All-Party Parliamentary Groups who will be coming out with their report on social care for working age disabled people.

If you’re interested and could help share/support in any way once it’s up and running, that would be enormously appreciated.

It’s not just a Scope campaign – other charities, organisations and others are getting behind it too, we want to make this as broad a church as possible.

You can contact Joe Hall at Scope for any more information or materials: joe.hall@scope.org.uk

Carers UK: Research reveals over 2 million quit work to care

Press release from Carers UK

Government and employers must step-up support for families as survey reveals shocking impact of caring on workforce.

A staggering 2.3 million adults have given up work to care for an elderly parent, disabled or seriously ill loved ones, Carers UK and business forum Employers for Carers (EfC) today reveal.

A Carers UK/YouGov Poll shows just over 1 in 5 UK adults have seen their work negatively impacted as a result of caring (22%), including 2.3 million1 who have quit work and almost 3 million2 who have reduced working hours.

The impact was highest amongst 45-54 year olds, where more than 1 in 4 reported that caring had taken a toll on their work (27%).

Carers UK has pointed to the impact on family finances of giving up work or cutting working hours – including the risk of financial hardship and

DAY 3 – John, Paul and Evonne’s Independent Living Fund story

Ahead of the court case in London on March 13th 2013, several disabled people are sharing their stories of how the Independent Living Fund has such a positive impact on their lives.

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John, Paul and Evonne’s story

Through support from the Independent Living Fund my step son John is able to enjoy a much more independent way of life, than would otherwise be possible. He can at the moment, go out & access his local community and feel part of society and valued as a person. He is a young man of 30 who wants to continue to live at home and have the best possible chance of some Independence in his life. His mother has been able to set up her own small florist’s market business because the support John receives through the ILF means she does not have to support him full time.

The support John receives now through the ILF is working for him and for our family.

John stays with me now every weekend from 3pm on Friday to 9pm on Monday, which allows Evonne to work the market and to go to the wholesalers too. I also go over several evenings and mornings to bath and shower John. Because of the ILF John gets to

What the Independent Living Fund means to Justine

Day 2 of people telling their own stories about how vital the Independent Living Fund is to their lives.

Further details on DPAC site here  with added resources so you can take action to support this campaign.

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Justine’s story

My name is Justine Jones; I am 26 years old and I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. I used to be a confident art student at a top art school in London with great expectations of becoming a successful artist. I was looking forward to my life and all the possibilities and opportunities that lay ahead. Then my life changed when my disease took hold. For that year the disease rampaged through my body destroying my joints. My health deteriorated drastically. I lost all my mobility, I couldn’t walk or get out of bed because of pain or discomfort of my swollen joints, and I couldn’t even do the simplest of tasks anymore.

My family weren’t able to cope and I was given basic care from social services which consisted of 1 hour for the morning call to get me up, bath me, take me to the toilet, dress me and feed me. The lunch time call was 30 minutes; to make me lunch, help me to eat and take me to the toilet.

Even though I had this care in place my problems got worse; I lost so much weight combined with spending every day in bed put me at higher risk of developing bed sores. I spent all day everyday in my room, each day blurring into the next making me feel depressed, isolated and alone. I was just

What the Closure of the Independent Living Fund means to disabled people

Received from DPAC and Inclusion London

In the count-down to the ILF court case on 13th March we will be publishing on a daily basis individual stories from disabled people affected by the closure of this essential source of independent living support.

This follows the powerful testimonies recorded by journalist Kate Belgrave and published by the Guardian:

Please circulate the links to the stories and use the tools in the campaigns pack to promote the Independent Living Fund campaign as widely as possible.

All details can be found here

Our first story is from Mary Laver

My love affair with the Independent Living Fund (ILF) started over 25 years ago, – I was just 40 and I am now 65, – when it came into my life, a life that I was existing not living.

Within 12 months of becoming crippled with Rheumatoid Arthritis at the age of 40 I was unable to

WOWPETITION pushes towards 25,000 signatories

As the changes surrounding many welfare benefits come closer to being implemented, more and more people are starting to realise the devastating effect that there will be on their lives.

Also, those not affected at the beginning now understand too that the safety net they may need in the future is being stripped away.

From benefit cuts, care criteria tightened, charges increased, abolition of Independent Living Fund, loss of Legal aid, proposed bedroom tax and so the list goes on.

Grassroot groups are increasing in memberships, voices are being raised louder. Their strength growing, as are the campaigns.

CarerWatch will carry on supporting them and help raise awareness where and when we can.

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One such group is WOWPetition – you can read about some of their team here

They have submitted a petition to the governments website.

Full details here  

or click the logo below to register your support.

CLICK TO SIGN

 

and then share as wide as possible asking your own networks to do the same.

 

Shameless onslaught on carers

 

 

CarerWatch members are outraged having learned of the latest details in a briefing paper recently released by DWP, Personal Independence Payment and Carer’s Allowance, that will affect many carers. Details as confirmed by Esther McVey, Minister for Disabled People -

“Latest estimates project there will be a net reduction of 9,000 recipients of CA (where benefit is in payment) by the end of 2018 as a consequence of reassessment for PIP”

As the above will be the result of a person needing care having lost their Disability Living Allowance, the impact on family’s incomes will be immense. This double blow will especially hit hard those families on the poverty line.

Add to this the introduction of bedroom tax, cuts to local services; we feel this shameless onslaught from the government has shown a total disregard for the services provided by carers. Services estimated to be £119billion per annum

Our society would not function without the care currently provided by unpaid carers and the consistent refusal by Governments to improve Carers lives has ripple effects throughout Social Services and the NHS. Precious few people receive the actual support they need and so many carers are just not receiving vital services and support.

These cuts contradict findings in the Breakthrough Britain report, undertaken by The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which was established as an independent think-tank by the Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP, now the present Secretary of State for Works and Pensions.

It said –

“The low level of Carer’s Allowance discourages people from providing care to family members. It is one of the lowest forms of benefit available but it there is a high level of expectation in terms of work, in return”

Removing Carers Allowance from 9000 (projected no.) people will result in less families being able to provide care.

Therefore, we call on Iain Duncan Smith, Secretary of State for Works and Pensions, to look past his fantasy and wishful thinking for these welfare reforms, and look at the reality of what these cuts and reforms are actually doing to many people with disabilities/ill health and their carers.

 

“What’s Right and Wrong in Health and Social Care for the Elderly?”

The House of Lords Select Committee on Public Service and Demographic Change will tomorrow ( Tues 6th Nov ) take evidence from experts, doctors and the care regulator on the current state of health and social care for older people. The Committee will look at whether changes are needed to meet increasing demand from an ageing population, given current pressures on public spending.

The evidence session will start at 9:45am on Tuesday 6 November in Committee Room 2 of the House of Lords.

You will be able to watch live here

The witnesses giving evidence will be:

• Caroline Abrahams, Director of External Affairs, Age UK
• Professor Chris Ham CBE, Chief Executive, The King’s Fund
• Philip King, Director of Regulatory Development, Care Quality Commission
• Steve McIntosh, Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Carers UK
• Dr Martin McShane, Director, Domain 2, National Commissioning Board ‘Improving the quality of life for people with long term conditions’, NHS Commissioning Board
• Professor David Oliver, Consultant Physician, The Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, Department of Health National Clinical Director for Older People’s Services (England) and Professor of Medicine for Older People, City University, London.

full details can be found here

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If anyone wants to participate on twitter – please use hash tag

#carecrisis

 

Do you have experience of home care – BBC Inside Out would like to hear from you

We received this request from Andy Smythe. Can you help?

I’m a producer for the BBC Inside Out programme in the Northeast and Cumbria and I’m currently looking at the issue of care at home for the elderly.

Most councils are making cuts to their social care budgets and there are concerns that it could affect the quality of services.  I’d like to talk to people from the Northeast & Cumbria, in confidence if they prefer, who have experience of care in the home.

Do you or a relative receive a care package from a private company?  If so is the quality of care good, or could it be better?

Are you someone who works for a private company providing this type of care?  Is the nature of the job changing?

Without accurate accounts from real people we can’t give a truthful picture, so I’d
very much like anyone who feels strongly about this issue to get in touch.

My email address is andy.smythe@bbc.co.uk

Many thanks for reading this,

Andy.

Andy Smythe
Producer/Director
BBC Inside Out