Out Of The Frying Pan Into The Fire

How do?

I find it quite bizarre what has happened since I quit my voluntary work. My original plan was to start looking for either different voluntary work, look for work and go to the jobcentre and look at what options they had even if it meant going on the Pathways to Nowhere.

I went over to see Linda the volunteer organiser at the uni as she had not seen me for a while and I said that I had enough and I was leaving and I wanted to do something else. I went and had a talk to her and explained some things to her and things she did not know. She said that they were not taking on any staff which was the same as what my supervisor had said. Linda then said she would ask at a higher level and make some enquiries about me. She said I was welcome to drop in any time as I was not banned from the campus or anything.

I was not expecting to hear anything different to what I had heard before but then a week or so later I got an email from the Deputy Director asking if I could go in and see him.

I met up with Linda again and we sat in the reception area waiting to meet the Deputy Director. At this point I was shaking with anxiety and I did not know what to expect. Linda was with me and reassured me that there was nothing to worry about and I was not in trouble.

We went in and met the Deputy Director and Linda said it would better if I explained my situation and why I had left. I said I originally came from a work placement via the DEA at the jobcentre & Rehab UK. I then said that when the six weeks placement finished, Rehab UK didn't come up with any other options but I liked it where I was. I asked the line manager at the time if I could carry on as a volunteer so I could build up my confidence and perhaps get some more experience in the workplace.

I originally had this loopy idea that If I could built up as much experience as I could then it would give me some chance of finding a job at some point in the future.

The Deputy Director had not realised that I was a volunteer and just thought I worked there and I was a guy who worked there who came round every day. He was very straight with me and explained that the voluntary work would have had to stop as it had gone on for too long. He said that there were no jobs at this time but one of the things they do is take on agency staff.

What came up which has come up before was the fact that I am on IB and that if I came off it what was there to lose and would I be worse off. He then said he needed some time to have a think and would contact me at the end of the week.

At the end of the week I got an email asking if I could go and see him again with Linda. I went in with Linda and sat down and he said he had spoken to the employment agency and he then gave me a piece of paper showing details of a job which was basically my old voluntary job but working for an employment agency with fixed hours. He said that there was an element of risk working for an employment agency as the work may not be permanent.

He said did I want to have a think about it and compare the figures to what I got on IB. It didn't matter because I had already made my mind up as I had been comparing figures for a while using wage & tax credit calculators. Here was a chance to get off IB, do a job I already know what to do and get paid. I was prepared to take the risk.

The next day I had to go to the employment agency in town and fill in some forms. I was quite embarrassed when I was asked about when I last worked. I said the last time I worked was in 1998 and since that I have been going between doctor and hospital appointments to sort my brain out and my thinking, struggling with periods of depression, going on jobcentre schemes and doing a bit of voluntary work. After getting all the forms done she then phoned the Deputy Director and then she said she had a start date for me, wow!.

Three weeks after leaving my voluntary work I am now back again at the same place doing my old job pretty much doing the same as before with fixed hours and now getting paid for it.

One of the things I found most exciting was to ring up the DWP office and say that I have some exciting news is that I now have a job. Bye Bye Incapacity Benefit!

The DWP said because I am in a Pathways to Work area I should be entitled to a £250 work grant and £40 a week Return to Work Credit for a year. The brown envelopes have been coming thick and fast, first with my P45 and then the application form for RTWC.

I am waiting to find out if I still get DLA next month. I have also applied for Working Tax Credits.

One thing that has come out of all this is that someone originally gave me a chance even though it was as a volunteer and then I have had quite a bit of help along the way.

Perhaps people would feel better if the jobcentre did not just farm people off to schemes to park them on and if there were more people who were willing to just give disabled people a chance.

I can't see how workfare schemes are going to work because people are going to resent it from the start being forced to work and working for less then the minimum wage. I went to voluntary work because I wanted to do it and then I tried to build on it.

If only the people who keep banging on about welfare reform listen especially those who want time limited benefits and stop treating people as benefit scrounging scum. We are not scum but we are real people with real problems, sometimes you just need that little extra boost from somewhere just to help you on your way. Sorry about my rant buts that's how I feel.

On to Day One

Ta Ta