End The Silence

End the Disability Cuts!
Life for those on disability benefits in Sheffield and Beyond

"Reform of incapacity benefit is one of the key seven challenges facing us in the new term."

The meeting on 27th November was held to discuss the coming changes/reforms in welfare benefits and to raise awareness of the difficulties, health issues and concerns of those, the disabled and chronically ill who receive these benefits and who have no real voice.

Colin Hampton (Co-ordinator Chesterfield Unemployed Workers Centre) spoke on the wider attacks on benefit, the use of compulsion, and the reform of the appeals system. Also on the levels of benefit being insufficient, given that £90 a week is thought to be the minimum level people can exist on. In an independant survey only 2% of benefits claims were found to be fraudulent, yet all claiments are made to feel like criminals.

Many people gave testimonies on the difficulties of claiming disability benefits in today’s Britain, the lack of support for carers, and the social exclusion which greets those on benefits.

Why this meeting was called

Disability benefits in the media

How can we change things/What can we do?
Write to your MP4 MP’s do take notice, particularly of individually written letter and the volume of such letters

Write to the media, put disabled/chronically ill welfare issues on the radar

Take action, lobby/protest outside your mp’s office, govt buildings, media offices,etc.

Join welfare benefit discussion groups Excellent independent site here

http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/