When a disabled person has a lifelong disability, or condition that will not change and will not diminish, they should not have to go through Light Touch Reviews at 10 years. If someone cannot self-advocate, they can be taken advantage of and can be manipulated. Medical Consultants give enough evidence through their reports that 10 year Light Touch Reviews, or indeed ANY reviews shouldn't be necessary. Our daughter Holly is Certified Sight Impaired, On the DeafBlind Register, cannot use phones or fill in forms, yet we are still being told she will need a Light Touch Review at the 10-year mark, HOW? Unfortunately, we've already had an horrific PIP assessment when she turned 16 that we do not want to be repeated.
Young people and Adults with special educational needs and a lifelong disability cannot self-advocate, nor can we rely upon the system to protect them any longer. Advocates come and go and social workers are not always available for the most vulnerable people in society, this must be addressed as soon as possible. These people are not shirkers, or workshy, they are genuinely disabled and being told despite evidence to the contrary that they must work, or that they don't qualify. They cannot defend themselves and quite frankly, our government should be doing its level best to protect these people, instead poorly qualified assessors employed by an American company, whose sole aim is to earn profits is in charge of this. We are being let down and it must stop, this interrogation type of assessment whereby an assessor assumes guilt before assessing is not protection, it is intimidation.
Hi guys, getting ready to hand in our petition. Last-ditch effort today ONLY to get this petition up to 300K then that's it, it's vital that we get as many signatures as possible, even at this late stage to send a message to our PM and his Government that children, young people, and adults with lifelong disabilities, longterm illnesses and the terminally ill NEED THEIR SUPPORT.
Getting exasperated with the powers that be!
We're over the 253K everyone! Whoop whoop.
Only 54 more signatures to 253K guys, share the living daylights out of this. Thank you MB
The numbers are continuing to increase. Whilst there is breath in my body I will not give up. It’s crazy reassessing people unnecessarily! People who are lifelong disabled will not suddenly MEND, terminally ill people will not suddenly become well overnight either, #NoMorePIPReassessmentsForPeopleWithLifelongDisabilityOrConditions It is costing taxpayers HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS to reassess people unnecessarily
Today I spoke to Francesca from Selaine Saxby's office, we now have over 252K signatures, more than enough to debate about this in the House of Commons. Wish us luck everyone.
We are pushing on with our Petition. We may end up with 300K signatures by the time it is handed in, but it will have an impact. No one with lifelong disabilities or conditions should have to be reassessed over and over. You do not suddenly become able bodied when you are born with a disability and for people with lifelong disabilities a 10 year Light Touch Award is not helping, it’s merely putting off the inevitable and opening up disabled people to the discrimination of assessors who are not qualified to assess. We have personal experience of this ourselves.
Oh my goodness, so much has happened in the last year, we’ve been ill, we’ve been to hospital, we’ve had falls down stairs and we lost my wonderful Father-in-Law. Things have fallen by the wayside, I have asked several MP’s if they could help us & been turned down by them all, or had no response whatsoever. We need someone to hand in our petition as my wonderful hubby cannot help both myself & our daughter at the same time and London is a hard place for someone who is sight & hearing impaired to be. We hope you haven’t lost someone precious to you and that you didn’t lose your PIP through no fault of your own. MB
200,000 signatures reached
This is Frank's story.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/2357083207689767?view=permalink&id=2952930508105031
Where to start, I literally do not know, I had hoped that our current government with their discrimination, demonisation and persecution of disabled people would have long gone by now, sadly it is not the case and with each passing day we seem to have more to worry about. Scrutiny is not something our govt are used to. Keep sharing everyone.
When genuinely ill and disabled people attend for assessment, are sent home and told they're fit enough for work, they then pass away the following week, or whole families are committing suicide, there's something VERY wrong. we are trying to redress the balance. Ken Loache recently mentioned that a man had been seriously injured and wouldn't get in an ambulance because he had an appointment for work the next day,
In for a penny, in for a pound, I'm just wondering if the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Therese Coffey MP) is aware of just how bad a job her government is doing with PIP, or whether she thinks it's ticking over nicely, oftentimes, unless someone is confronted with something, they have no idea about it. In all honesty, I wasn't convinced that either Esther McVey MP or Amber Rudd MP gave a fig what was happening, how and why people were suffering because of the way PIP assessments were now carried out in England and I do say 'England' specifically, because Scotland have reverted back to the old system of in house Assessors, instead of the private for profit American based companies that we're coming across now, ATOS/IAS/CAPITA/MAXIMA etc. the very fact that they're profit driven means that 'we' get a bad deal. Enough said,
Hello everyone, wow, it's been a while, time flies, I wish I could say it was because I was having fun, unfortunately it wasn't, as many of you are aware, both of my parents are terminally ill, Dad has end stage global heart failure and Mum has Alzheimer's. I've been attempting to secure Lasting Powers of Attorney to protect my parents, primarily because everything that could go wrong has, suffice to say that I'm back to square one, no protection for my parents, care in name only, the carers do turn up, but instead of staying the 2+ hours they're meant to per day, they probably stay for approx 15 minutes max! Stressed is not the word, so, apologies for my not being here, we are at 175,285 Signatures! Whoop! You guys are totally amazing. Thank you! <3
Hello everyone the trolling appears to have ceased, (cross fingers) we are pushing on with the petition in the hope of upping the numbers and handing in very soon. Thank you for your patience and support everyone. MB.
Hello everyone, I've been trolled and harrassed by a particularly persistent person who infiltrated our group on facebook, she had multiple accounts and has made libelous statements about the group and myself personally, the group is strong, it will survive. 38 degrees have turned off comments. Thank you 38 degrees <3 Facebook has blocked this person too, I am now contacting the police to allow them to deal with this person. Thank you for your understanding. MB
150,000 signatures reached
Sharing, this is what a PIP Assessment reduces you to and why they are anything but honest!
Abosolutly disgusted, despite having loads of medical evidence, support from a professional and all of the aids I have I have received a copy of my report (before decision has been made) and the assessor has lied and scored me 0 😡 assessor said I was hugging my knees to my chest which shows good grip, I can’t get my knees to my chest, I’m 17st fgs 😡 and because I drive my automatic car once a week I have good grip and can cut my own food up and safely cook a meal o and because I own a mobile phone even if I do not use it often this shows good dexterity and grip 😡 she even said that because the physio gave me crutches it shows I have good grip and because I changed the crutches for smart crutches that puts all weight on my forearm rather than wrists and shoulders I have good grip 😡 lying and piss taking assholes 😡
I set out with all good intentions to post every single day, then things crop up with our daughter and my parents, lack of care, improper care, you name it, Thank you everyone, for sticking with us, this is so important. Biggest hugs Maia (Mand) whichever you prefer.
Brexit is not about sovereignty, it’s not about us being better than anyone else, nor is it about rebuilding the country, it’s about an elite group of people who think that they are better than everyone else, not only do they have enough money to ride out Brexit to the point that it will not affect them, but they will drop our country from a very great height into a bottomless pit without exception we will undoubtably suffer, whilst these Neanderthals enjoy the full Brexit experience, the joys of NOT paying any taxes when the rest of the country are crushed by them, the only thing to stop this idiocy is staying in the EU.
No one should have to be made to feel less than another person, no one who is genuinely ill or disabled should have to go through the quagmire that is PIP assessments. There is no excuse for the lackadaisical approach that DWP and associated PRIVATE for PROFIT companies call ‘assessments’ in fact, I’d go as far as saying it is an absolute travesty, the Human Rights of all disabled people in the UK swing in the balance,
Hi everyone, our life has been turned upside down, life in general is hard, I think I’ve already said that my father, was Mum’s carer (Mum has Alzheimer’s) until December 2017 when Dad was diagnosed with Global Heart Failure and given one year to live. We’re incredibly lucky, he’s still here, but very poorly, Mum and Dad both have dire care, in fact the word care shouldn’t be used in the same sentence, so, this week, I found out that the care being given to my parents (who live at the other end of the country) is less than dire. Formal complaints in the offing. This week, we also had to complete an Education Health and Care Plan, attend an awards ceremony at HJ’s college, everything she was nominated for, she won :-) fabulous.
Lots of work in the offing, regarding the sheer mess that surrounds adult care for my parents and our daughter, as well as advocating for PIP too.
Hi everyone, we're at 131,489 Signatures now, whoop whoop, unfortunately 3 weeks turned into nearly 10 weeks, but feeling much better now, Just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who's shared, signed etc. we've gone up by a whole 15K signatures in the last week!
Hi everyone, quick update, I had a small op about 3 weeks ago, the op itself went fine, had a myxoid cyst removed, benign which was good news, unfortunately due to the way I lay after the op (I had to elevate my hand for 48 hours) I've done something to hurt my back, I already experience severe pain daily, but this was off the scale, ended up in A & E last weekend but just wanted you guys to know I've been out of action for about 3 weeks, unable to do anything at all, hubby already helps me with everything, does the cooking etc. but having the pain step up was so much worse. So, getting better, still not back to 'my' normal yet though, so please do not be offended if I don't reply, it's not you! I've missed out on so much, not being able to visit my terminally Dad and my Mum, who has Alzheimer's. having to cancel the visit. Practically Holly's whole 18th birthday :-( that really saddened me. Onwards and upwards guys.
100,000 signatures reached
P.S. How inspired and amazed were you by Laura Pidcock MP? I certainly was, we need more Laura’s that’s for sure and she’s a Durham lass! Well, she’s a Durham NW MP lol, which technically makes her a Durham lass, from one Durham lass to another (I know technically she isn’t) You rock!
Tonight, I’m doing something really novel, I’m hoping that pain doesn’t waken me and the rest of our house in the middle of the night, as it has for the last few weeks every single night, so I’m updating now in the hope that I’m not awake at 3am again, wish me luck lol :-) Love you guys as I do, I need sleep more haha. 91,565 bite me :-) lol. How amazing are you guys?? Totes amaze balls Thank you, thank you, thank you! You know what to do!
I've just realised that I explained about the op, but not the pain. I'm not sure why I'm in pain, I need to see a doctor, asap. I've been unable to travel though, two days after my op my back started to hurt and it's a doozie. Getting progressively worse each day. So, bear with me guys, I think lack of sleep and the pain is making my brain foggy.
I now realise how much pain I've been in over the last few weeks, I haven't updated you guys, I'm so sorry, I had a routine op on my finger a few weeks ago, something called a myxoid cyst removed. It has been very painful, took three whole years to see a rheumatologist, who also diagnosed me with Osteoarthritis and Fibromyalgia at the same time. It hurts to sit, lie, stand and I'm taking painkillers, but they're doing little to help, so, apologies everyone, I thought I'd updated this just last night and obviously didn't. I was very impressed by Laura Pidcock's speech regarding assessments, more so perhaps because I'm ever so slightly biased, living in Devon, but my home city being Durham. Keep it up everyone, we're growing in numbers, nearly 2.5K members in our facebook group now and so near the end. Keep signing and sharing with everyone, on facebook, twitter, email, in your groups. Hugs everyone. MB xx
We cannot allow a government who are oblivious to what is happening (because they don't so much as scratch the surface) to continue treating people so abhorrently, people who are lifelong disabled should not need to be reassessed! EVER.
Hi guys, I've been dealing with a lot at home recently, both of my parents are very poorly, I'm fighting our local authority to make sure that our daughter transitions to adult services properly, there seem to be no end of meetings, no end of paperwork etc. you name it, I just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has signed or shared our petition. We are now at 86,512 Signatures and we are eternally grateful.
83,631 Signatures, whoop whoop, just wanted to say a HUGE thank you, the sheer volume of paperwork generated by a young disabled person is mind-blowing, you would think that you'd only have to make sure one person has 'all' the information, but you don't because they are forever losing it, or just not bothering to access it, or alternatively their system can't access it etc. Thank you, everyone, keep sharing and signing, we are getting there :-) <3 <3 <3
82,537 Signatures Guys, you amaze and astound me. I am in awe. Thank you, we are not just doing this for our own daughter, we're doing it for everyone, someone must care, someone MUST take responsibility for the shambles that claims to be our country at the moment. They've had 10 years to sort it and all it's done is make 'them' richer. who suffers? The lifelong disabled, the ill, the elderly and the infirm. Not good enough. #StopReassessmentOfLifelongDisabled.
Hi everyone, my humble apologies, I've been collecting signatures and been literally snowed under with paperwork for our daughter from our local authority. I will keep abreast of this from now on, you may even see my hubby, Andy too :-) lol. Keep sharing, signing, retweeting. We're over 82K now!!!
Hi everyone, I'm not sure how we're supposed to react to Amber Rudd, I honestly think that she knows there are hundreds of thousands of people out there who have life long disabilities and should never again need to be reassessed. Single out a portion of those people, those over 66 quite frankly beggars belief. It's good that those over 66 no longer have to be reassessed, but what about all those disabled and chronically ill people UNDER 66?? Share, sign, tweet, and share again guys. Let's show our government what hypocrites they really are. Show their discrimination too. TY Maia.
Hi guys, looking at the group with renewed energy, we are at 79,007 Yessssss that's right, 007 haha <3
Hello again guys, spent the day firefighting for our daughter again, lots of paperwork and endless reading. 78,366 Signatures :-) Absolutely awesome. Thank you. Keep sharing and signing :-)
Hi guys, apologies for the lack of updates, we've had a few 'really' bad days, it's been a struggle as HJ is transferring from Children's to Adult's Services and everything that could, did go wrong. We have a wonderful lady who is liaising for us with our local authority now though and things are looking brighter, we have a flan thanks to this lady. Phew, sometimes guys, it just gets overwhelming, especially when you're planning the future of a young person and you don't know if you're going to be there to support them/for how long etc. Thank you guys, our new twitter is #StopReassessmentOfLifelongDisabled it will take you to our new twitter group, join us, make a noise, share, retweet etc. SIGN.
76,773 Signatures guys, awe-inspiring, on our way to 77K, Apologies for what might seem lack of info at the moment, or gaps guys, we're dealing with a whole lot at home right now, fighting to make sure that our daughter is protected now and in the future. Thank you for your understanding, Normality will resume soon hopefully.
75,402 Signatures, on our way to 100K guys, Thank you so much, please keep sharing and signing. not long until we break into 80K guys, please remember you can sign the petition, share it with your friends, family, in groups via Facebook and Twitter as well as email your contacts, also, we have our own group on Facebook now too - Thank you everyone and finally, you can send the petition to your MP too. MB :-)
74,829, you've got twofa, two posts for one :-) As my lovely arthritic hip woke me and the pain won't quit, I thought I'd post and tell you guys just how awesome you are ALL of you and how thankful we (the Bell clan) are as a family to every single one of you. Keep at it guys, keep sharing, posting, signing, retweeting. EVERYBODY's AWESOME! (Cue Minions) hehe. sorry, couldn't resist.
Hi everyone, 74,552 Signatures and a Facebook group with over 2,000 all hoping for the same outcome. Apologies for not updating the page, the last few days have hectic in the extreme, Holly is moving from Children's Services to Adult Services (which you do when you approach 18) Unfortunately as with everything else, it's a mess, hence my being unable to update the Petition. Thank you everyone, keep sharing and retweeting, signing etc. We are getting there!
72,680 Signatures Guys! We will soon be at 73K, apologies for not posting yesterday, I have osteoarthritis in my hands and Fibromyalgia, my hands decided they’d had enough and no amount of painkillers made any difference. I just wanted to say a huge thank you and to ask everyone to keep sharing on Facebook, Twitter etc.
70,353 Signatures! Totally awestruck by you guys and your generosity! A thousand thank you’s! Please keep signing and sharing guys and don’t forget to share our Facebook group information too please.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2357083207689767/members/
Couldn't believe this when I read it, because it's simply believe beggaring, but the DWP have been asked under a Freedom of Information request to publish secret reports on ATOS and Capita PIP Failings
68,473 Signatures, not long until we break into 70K guys, please remember you can sign the petition, share it with your friends, family, in groups via Facebook and Twitter as well as email your contacts, also, we have our own group on Facebook now too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/2357083207689767/members/ Thank you everyone and finally, you can send the petition to your MP too. MB :-)
Hi guys, sharing a link with you, first, we're at 65,102 Signatures <3 Whoop whoop and I've started a group on Facebook, specifically for this petition.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2357083207689767/members/ Hopefully this link will work lol. Keep signing and sharing guys, our numbers are increasing day by day, now we have a place to get even bigger.
60,115 (if I could somersault, I would) as I can't and would find dancing incredibly hard also, a hand dance will have to do lol. Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU guys, you are awesomely AWESOME!!!
Guys, I am so happy, I've just refreshed our Campaign page to see what the rolling count is, it just broke 58,000!!!! Whoop, whoop de dooo, Oh and Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is coming back for another series of Star Trek lol :-) Colour me happy :-) hehe That just made my day! Oh and The Boy Who would be King is set in Glastonbury and Stonehenge! I LOVE these places :-) happy happy happy. lol
I forgot to say, 57,123 Signatures guys!!!! Whoop whoop lol <3
Please comment guys, tell us your stories too! We want the PM to know just how bad things are out there!
I just wanted to say that I'm amazed and astounded by your support. the signatures are literally flying in! If I could hug each and every single one of you, I would! Thank you guys! From the bottom of my heart! We are at 54,014 Signatures! Whoop, whoop de doooh!
53, 317 Signatures <3 We are in awe, we believe that someone with a Lifelong disability or condition should not have to prove OVER and OVER that they STILL have that condition, if medical professionals have already proven it by diagnosing, by supplying supporting evidence in the way of reports, why is our government still asking unqualified assessors to assess, why are they asking an American company to employ people? I can only imagine that they are attempting to grind people down until they lose the will to fight and give up. I never give up and I never give in EVER. Holly knows this, we show her how much we care by fighting for her. She wants you guys to know how much she cares too. This is so important to us.
52,519 guys, whoop whoop, so many more signatures. We are thrilled beyond measure guys. Keep it up, keep signing and sharing on either Facebook, Twitter or even share via email, this is a very important message that we're sending to our government. People who are disabled for Life, do not need reassessing over and over again. That's more about our government than us. Too many people too often are turned down for PIP when they are genuinely disabled or have a Lifelong debilitating condition. Thank you guys!!
50,000 signatures reached
45,512 Signatures <3 <3 <3 Received this email from a person who has signed Holly's petition.
People are being treated so badly, losing money for no reason at all, the only ones who win are the government.
I firmly believe the government is getting richer by conning people on Universal credit. We loose money each time our finances overlap in a month we lost £997 in benefits, because of this , They said it was due to the feed. The system is a disgrace and when I reported this to my MP he did nothing... He's meant to be my representative. This system is not fit for purpose. I'm assuming that this person meant 'fees' but if so, why should we have to foot the fees for anything?
44,034 Signatures! Absolutely phenomenal guys! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, it's 3 am, I couldn't sleep, I have a condition called symphysis pubis dysfunction, which basically means the ligaments that are supposed to support my pelvis are long, straggly and weak instead of fat, short and strong. (at any other time in my life, I'd wish the opposite for my body lol) but this means that my pelvis is unsupported, so the bones move around a lot, mega painful. Then if you add osteoarthritis and fibromyalgia to that mix too, well you guys who know the pain of these conditions will understand, my wonky hips woke me, too painful to lie down, too painful to sit etc. but as I'd already woken hubby several times. I'm downstairs now so that he can get some sleep without me bothering him :-) Wow, you guys are so awesome. Thank you. We're going into day five and I predict we'll be at 50,000 before we know it. <3
31,857!!! Whoop, whoop de do!! Did you know that you can request an assessor of the same gender as the person being assessed and they cannot refuse? I didn't, this is new information to me and valuable. Had I known, I would have insisted that our daughter was seen by a female assessor, not the overbearing, obnoxious, Dickensian guy we were sent instead. There are some people that this type of assessment is not suited to, this guy was in the wrong job!
When our daughter was assessed, there was more than enough documentation in the way of evidence, i.e. reports from medical professionals. The PIP assessor didn't even bother to contact our doctors, so word of warning guys, get reports printed off by your GP, have them ready and make copies so that you have them for the future. You may have to pay for these, but it should only cost a few pounds.
Did you guys know that if you can't manage to get to an assessment centre, you can make a request to be seen in your own home? Also, please do not be intimidated by these people, if they talk too fast, or you don't comprehend what they say, you're within your rights to ask them to slow down, give you enough time to think and then answer the question.
21,106 signatures!!! If you can imagine 'the' most excited child on Christmas Day, you will be somewhere near how happy we, the Bell clan are as a family right now at your AMAZINGLY AWESOME response to Holly's petition! It's only been a few days. You guys are the BEST! Did I say thank you yet?? Thank you!!! Please keep signing and sharing, this isn't just about Holly, it's about ALL of you guys, every person who's been assessed by a person who made you feel less than you are. We are not LESS, we are an UNSTOPPABLE force :-) <3 <3 <3
20,000 signatures reached
A lovely friend of ours (Thank you Helen) just called to thank us for doing this, her son has similar disabilities to Holly, it shouldn't be this hard, for anyone! We're not just doing this for Holly, we're doing it for everyone who has a lifelong disability that is being ignored.
You guys are AWESOME!!! Thank you! We reached the 13,000 Mark! Yay! We are humbled, we realise that there are so many people out there who really do care, not everyone knows how this affects families, the disabled, or their carers. THANK YOU! Holly still can't believe it!
I'm reading your messages guys and I'm heartbroken that so many people are being hurt by this cruel government that employs a company from a foreign country (USA) who employs people who are not qualified to assess, or have no moral compass when assessing. My heart aches.
11,205 Signatures!!! You guys are restoring my faith in Human Nature, in the UK, our government is deeply flawed, they are wealthy and don't know what it means to rely on Personal Independent Payments or Universal Credit etc. Keep going guys, sign and share. You are blowing my mind xxx
10,000 signatures reached
Yay and whoop whoop de dooo! We are almost at 10,000, we are so very grateful, amazed and astouned, literally, our daughter is so happy that people have taken this petition to their hearts, she feels like she has an army of people rooting for her and so do we :-) <3 <3 <3
5,000 signatures reached
1,000 signatures reached
Oh my goodness, 507 signatures! You guys are absolutely a mazing!!!! One very happy daughter! <3 <3 <3
500 signatures reached
100 signatures reached
50 signatures reached
25 signatures reached
10 signatures reached
TM 38 Degrees | 2014
Registered Company No. 06642193
TM 38 Degrees | 2014
Registered Company No. 06642193
