Fundraising Plug

[luckylove]

A friend of mine has recently been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia after years of pain. She is in constant pain and can't even manage to get to the shops. Since the numpties at the DWP have rejected her disability claim she won't be able to get any help for several months. She's trying to raise funds for a mobility scooter.

Here is the website. Please take the time to read it and, if possible, donate. Any donation would be a help. Donations go via the paypal account for Gypsy Path, the jewellery website she has worked for when well enough in the past.

http://www.helpmegetmobile.org.uk/

I can vouch, as can plenty of others on LJ, that this lady is 100% genuine and would not be trying to raise funds this way if she had any other option.

Please help.

Comments

[kiffkin.livejournal.com]

Your friend may already know this, but just in case: it's apparently standard practice for the DWP to turn down claims for DLA (which I'm assuming she's talking about) and to only even look at claims on appeal. This was told to me by a nice person at the DWP who also recommended getting help from CAB with the nightmare of a form (I've had a copy (well, several copies) of the form for a couple of years and I still can't face the trauma of going through the DLA process).

She also said that even though I am absolutely entitled to the money, am already on Income Support, have had many sick notes, had hospital pokeage, am on referral for specialist treatment, and been verified as too disabled to work by a DWP doctor, as far as the DLA bods are concerned I (and everyone else) am automatically assumed to be a fraudster. Apparently only and all genuine cases appeal, and by not appealling it only proves ones guilt. Oh, and she agrees that the system is completely shite.

tl;dr: talk to Citizen's Advice, they may be able to help.

[luckylove.livejournal.com]

If I remember correctly, she's in the process of appealing but it all takes so much time.
I applied once and was turned down. Several of my friends told me that this was standard but like you I can't face the trauma of reapplying.
Good luck if you ever decide to reapply.

[kiffkin.livejournal.com]

Thanks, though I haven't even been able to face the initial application, never mind the constant door-battering the appeal's going to require.

[luckylove.livejournal.com]

Yes.

[opheliablue.livejournal.com]

That's ...arggh anyway, I don't know if it would help in her case and I understand what you're saying about reapplying. If it is DLA you're talking about, that's the one benefit that I got the Citizens Advice Bureau to go through with me. I didn't even know about it before I went to them, it took a very long time to fill in, but they were great because they had checklists of all the things that you're 'meant' to put in. I don't think I could've done it without their help - it got accepted and it's been the only one so far that I've actually never had any mess ups with, unlike incapacity benefit.

[opheliablue.livejournal.com]

the citizen's advice bureau really helped me get DLA - the application's a nightmare, I know - but I spent 2 hours with someone who basically filled it in for me because I didn't really know what to say exacty and I couldn't face it. Maybe I was just lucky, but they might be able to help you?