Broken Britain Charity Single

Via Sonia Poulton


The song: Watch BROKEN BRITAIN Charity Single

Buy it here from 20p: Click AND BUY IT HERE

Sonia says... 
Britain is in the grip of austerity and the vast majority are suffering. This song is to raise awareness for those who are on the sharp end of David Cameron's Coalition.



Artwork by www.garybarker.co.uk

My daughter, Shaye, wrote 'Broken Britain' in December 2012. It was in response to the austerity measures being carried out by David Cameron's Coalition and against some of the most vulnerable people in the UK.

It made sense, therefore, to see that any profits received from the sale of the song should go towards helping people in need.
So it was that we decided on three areas: homelessness, food banks and research and awareness of invisible illnesses, and we began to compile lists of suitable recipients.
In order for the sale to help as many as possible, it is vital that all benefiting charities fulfilled further criteria: they must be independent, small or community-based, they must not have political affiliations and they must not charge people for their service.
I was keen to avoid charities with religious links – mostly in terms of food banks and homelessness – but that has not been possible as it is primarily religious organisations that appear to be helping in these areas.
Here, below is the BEGINNING of our list of charitable concerns. We are adding to it all the time. These are independent bodies whom we consider are doing their level best to conduct themselves ethically and morally.
Obviously we cannot say how much each will get – that is down to how giving people want to be. We plan for this to be the start of many charitable fundraisers.
If you have a charity in mind that fits the above criteria, please let us know.

www.compassioninaction.info

http://www.gearprojects.org/how-we-help/outreach.php

http://investinme.org/

http://www.stpetersbrighton.org/safehaven-and-night-shelter

http://www.shorelinechurch.org.uk/ministries/food-bank/

http://www.fibrobabes.co.uk/default.html

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Sonia is on Facebook and twitter , if you want to contact her about other charities/ promoting the single .
ALSO This is part of wider action : 
WOW Petition asks for a cumulative impact assessment of welfare cuts 
Heres the link you can click to read and sign that 

VIEW and SIGN WOW Petition  <<<CLICK 

Benefits Changes/ Housing related

I wrote this for some friends Date 26 Jul 2011 
Subject: Housing

There are many different issues around the provision of social housing. I will show ONE aspect of operational issues currently in this piece.

Currently Social Housing is provided by “Registered Providers” and it is a highly regulated sector within housing.

Within that, people should be provided with a Decent Home, and a lot of Social Housing stock still doesn’t meet the Decent Homes Standards.

So Providers seek finance when taking on stock. Providers have Lenders feasibility issues and proofs to provide in order to gain finance to provide homes - based usually on a 30 yr business plan. This must build in any Investment and Improvements requirements.

This business plan and finance is not affected directly by Government policy in theory. Loan, Rent, Repay. Very structured.

However, providers understand that typically they have a needs group of tenants that is indeed different than any other sector in housing and high proportions of these tenants may be dependent on Government Assistance with their housing cost – Housing benefit.

To recap “The Lending” is based on the Registered Provider submitting sustainable business plans and income forecasts.

When Government decides to change Housing benefits this start a cascade of concern within Registered Providers and could POSSIBLY end up eventually at the feet of the Lenders.

There is currently a huge void in understanding what the financial impact of proposed government changes will be. Impact Scenarios are being constructed within most Housing Providers.

Some concerns become detailed : Under occupation is now a huge concern. Where do they go to? Are there properties available? Do they move? This is part of a huge set of concerns that the Provider must address.

*Rent shortfalls due to benefits changes will affect services to all tenants. *

So now more than ever Value for money in every aspect of operation is now more important than before.

Most people in Social Housing Provision ,and even a lot of tenants too, do not want the Universal Credit proposals to happen where Housing Benefit is paid to the Tenant. There will be an increased rent income risk caused by this.   

"Clean that blood up"

I hear many stories about ATOS and what they do and dont do.

In this story below, which I recently read, they even 1) tell client to Clean up Blood 2) ask client to call THEIR OWN ambulance.
Any way...

They are still gathering the strength to continue fighting this-
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This is MY account. I went to the papers. I went to my MP. I complained to Atos. I complained to the DWP. No one was interested. One paper even said that they weren't interested in these stories. They were only interested in the stories about the fraudulent cases that have been caught.

This is MY account. It happened to ME. It is not propaganda. It is not a piece of fiction.

I was working in Central London in a very well paid job that I’d had for about a year. I was struck down with a spontaneous genetic degenerative disease that I had no idea I had. I continued working though liver and kidney failure for the best part of a year. Every time I had liver failure, I went to hospital and returned immediately to work less 20% use of my liver. I did this three times and now have 40% total use of my liver.

After a year, and an accumulation of another two autoimmune diseases (arthritis being one) I was fired from my job. I was forced to apply for ESA, which I did.

I had someone fill in their forms as I said what to put and 13 weeks later I was told to come in for an assessment. The first one, I asked them not to put any pressure on my liver or kidneys when they wanted to do their exam because they were both very inflamed and I had severe cirrhosis of the liver. When the ‘doctor’ did the exam, she put pressure on me and I vomited on the floor. Unfortunately, when I vomit, I wet myself. I didn’t have a change of clothes so as I was going home I had to travel through London with vomit covered and pee covered clothes.

The second time I had to go, my kidneys were almost completely failing. I’d only been out of hospital a few days and my husband and I travelled through London to Atos again. Whilst waiting, I went to the bathroom and whilst in the bathroom a lot of blood was filling up the toilet. I stood up and the blood didn’t stop. My damaged kidneys were giving up. I fell onto the floor, dizzy through blood loss and I rang my husband (in the waiting room). He came in, took one look at me and shouted to the reception to call an ambulance.

The receptionist came in, shook her head and flushed the loo and told me to clear up the blood. She then told me that under absolute no circumstances could I rebook my appointment with their assessor and if I chose to leave in an ambulance then my ESA would be stopped as I would be marked down as a non-attendance. My husband pleaded with her and asked if there was anyone we could see now and she said no.

We sat in the waiting room for another half an hour blood soaking through my trousers and onto their chair. I was assessed by an assessor who seemed to be concerned more with the chair I was sat on than the fact I was bleeding and went through the questions. Another half an hour later, we finished and we asked her to ring an ambulance. 'I’m not a bloody receptionist' was her reply.

We went back through to reception where they refused to call an ambulance so we did, and I was taken to hospital.

They said that I was in the same condition as the previous assessment 3 months previous. They assessed me for the WRA group again.

When I got home and was feeling better I wrote a letter of complaint, which never responded to.

About 18 months after that, I wrote to the DWP and told them that I felt my condition had worsened enough to warrant a move to the Support Group. I added all of the evidence. They sent another ESA50. (That’s another thing. My husband and I have filled out over 10 of these. 5 sent by recorded delivery yet they claim they never got them. Hmmm...)

I told them under no circumstances was I attending their offices again, they can come to me if they feel that I need to be assessed again. They reassessed me again and put me into the Support Group six months ago. No ESA50s have arrived since but I am dreading the receipt of another one. Same fight, another day.

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Indeed same fight different day, 
This is how it is. 

A poem: INSOMNIA

But in that slated land between sleep and wake will there be 

an incubus i wonder, and force me to step back,

The rhymes and chimes of insomnia , are they forever lost in

 others who sleeps dreams? 

Is it such that by losing sleep i gain another world? or is it 

destructive, such as i cannot repair?

For if it is destructive what does it destroy but the waked 

consciousness of interaction to come.

Or within that does it sharpen the instant response, the 

targets, the speech, the precision of determination?

And does it therefore make a stronger one, who will through out

it all still speak?

Richard the THIRD Fit for work?

So the above is the STATE of the ridicule currently aimed at the Prime Minister from Many quarters, even in the House of Commons. 

Even more could be done , effectively, once WOWPetition reaches 100k signatures. 

Please sign here : Click Here Direct to epetition

Reality of MH sometimes

With Permission : ANON. 

Thanks for asking me to write a blog on my zero points decision - I haven't the confidence to do it. From childhood I've

battled with mental illness. I don't know how to write anymore. My life has been tortured with it - the whole fucking thing. Prescribed

drugs -  I had to go into hospital to withdraw from. 

Now I feel guilty because CBT was trying to make me feel better and I just don't. I want them to leave me alone, drug-free

with my husband, daughter and animals. I am a carer for them and that is my job now. They just won't leave me alone.

Sorry Jules - stressed to hell.