{"id":11940,"date":"2017-03-30T17:11:02","date_gmt":"2017-03-30T16:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11940"},"modified":"2017-03-31T11:22:22","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T10:22:22","slug":"worst-experience-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11940","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Worst experience of my life\u00e2\u20ac\u2122"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Unite Community members took to the streets outside job centres across Britain in droves today (March 30) as part of Unite Community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s third annual national demo against benefits sanctions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sanctions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in which claimants have their benefits cut for the smallest perceived infraction \u00e2\u20ac\u201c have physically and emotionally damaged untold numbers of the most vulnerable in society.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A sanction can last anywhere from between a month up to as long as three years, and in many cases, the consequences have been fatal.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite community member Andy Mitchell was sanctioned three years ago but the experience still haunts him \u00e2\u20ac\u201c he developed severe depression and anxiety after having his benefits cut, which he still receives treatment for.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was the worst experience of my life,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he told UNITElive.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After being made redundant from a job at a university, he started claiming job seeker\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s allowance. The job centre asked him to take on a full-time training course to receive his benefits.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey told me I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to look for work during the course,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was a pretty full on course \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I was leaving home at seven in the morning and not returning till about seven in the evening.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After two weeks, Andy went to the job centre to sign on. But this time, a different adviser told him that the course he was on wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t approved by the DWP so he should have been searching for work on top of doing the course. Andy was then sanctioned.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI was sanctioned during Christmas so it felt like was being sanctioned twice \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I lost my electricity, I ran out of food. I had terrible diarrhoea. People don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t tell you that you when you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t eat, when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re starving, you get diarrhoea.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At some point Andy didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have enough money to buy toilet roll.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI just couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cope with it. I was living in my own dirt for weeks. The worst was on Christmas Day. I was just sitting at home alone with no food, no heat, nothing, just waiting to for it to get dark so I could go to sleep. And I saw through the window all these families enjoying their Christmas. I had a total breakdown.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Harrowing experience <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Andy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s harrowing experience precipitated not only severe depression and anxiety but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also caused him to develop an eating disorder.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat fear of not having anything to eat means I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop myself from eating now. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve gained loads of weight which has also created issues for my physical health.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Later, after being forced by the Job Centre to work for free for a charity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the Centre told him he must have a bad work ethic if he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been previously sanctioned \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Andy tried committing suicide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bTo be treated like this after I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve worked two full decades \u00e2\u20ac\u201c my entire adult life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I just couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t cope. I went home one day and emptied all my pill bottles. I spent a few days in hospital. It took me a couple years to admit to myself that I had actually tried to kill myself.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you think Andy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s story is an isolated incident, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re wrong. Just last month, a group of leading mental health practitioners warned the government<\/a> that if benefits sanctions don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t end, the UK faces a mental health crisis of unimaginable proportions.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, at Unite Community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s demo in London, members gathered outside the Department of Work Pensions and read out the names of people who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve died after being found \u00e2\u20ac\u0098fit to work\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, which means they lose their disability benefit, or have been sanctioned \u00e2\u20ac\u201c many of them have committed suicide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite national Community coordinator Liane Groves called for an immediate end to benefits sanctions and a complete overhaul of the punitive benefits system.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe government makes claims that benefits sanctions help get people back into work but we utterly refute that,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe believe that when you put people in crisis the last thing they can do is actively seek work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

People are angry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople are really angry at a government which will give corporations massive tax breaks while at the same time cutting benefits for the poorest people in the country. The government needs to do a complete U-turn.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBenefits claimants need help \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be punished for being unemployed.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Beyond taking political action against benefits sanctions, Unite Community offers practical help, Liane noted.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe train up members to provide welfare advice. This peer-to-peer advice and support has been very empowering for our members who often feel totally alone when they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re navigating the benefits system after losing a job and falling through the cracks.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe also help support food banks; we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve started clothing banks and toy banks. Basically we provide practical support for people who are their lowest point.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to Andy, Unite Community certainly helped him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThese last three years have been the worst in my life yes, but in a sense they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also been good because I found Unite community,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been incredibly empowering. I found a family that supports me.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can follow Andy on Twitter @IAmaJSAClaimant<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Find out more about Unite Community and how you can join here.<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Unite Community members took to the streets outside job centres across Britain in droves today (March 30) as part of Unite Community\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s third annual national demo against benefits sanctions.   Sanctions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in which claimants have their benefits cut for the smallest perceived infraction \u00e2\u20ac\u201c have physically and emotionally damaged untold numbers of the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11942,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[491],"wps_subtitle":"Unite says no to sanctions","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11940"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11940"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11941,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11940\/revisions\/11941"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}