£3 busfares will ruin me

Exactly this.

I'll wait...

No, you don't pay my salary, we're entirely self sufficient through rental properties we own where salaries are concerned. Your donation is going to 80% of our users who are abusing our (and every other similar) charity.

Don't you feel so much better with your clever comment now. It's almost like we know what we're doing and can spot people abusing a charity and prevent them from doing so....but we should be more like "you" and hand out whatever we have to every deliberate chancer, who, let me tell you, are always the first in the queue, so there's none left for the people who really need it. Well done.

Hello, I am a habitual, lifelong bus user, who has used bus services in multiple counties.

Why are you buying multiple £2 tickets on the same day? Is that actually the cheapest option? How much do return tickets and all-day tickets (sometimes known as day riders) cost locally?

The cap on bus fares is a cap on the price of a single ticket for a single journey. Locally, it's been common for novice bus users to assume that multiple £2 tickets are the cheapest way to use the bus. This is never true if you're taking more than two journeys a day. Many colleagues at work need to take two buses to get there, and two back, and some were paying £8 a day for it, instead of getting an all day ticket for £4.50!

I can't say I disagree with the position that if you can only afford either food or a nail treatment, the food should be the priority.

Happy to hear why you judge that to be incorrect, though.

It irks me that, if I have donated money to whatever charity it is that you work for, that my money isn't going directly to sleeping bags and food parcels and other things for people in need, but to paying the salary of someone like you, who clearly sits in high judgment over those people.

Have some humility. There but for the grace of God...

I don't. One of my DC has a condition. Another almost certainly does, but is too young to determine as yet.

Irrelevant to the fact that this is what I deal with day in, day out. And I knew from the "I've only got £10 a week for food" that OP would fall into the 80% category I see. I can't explain quite why there are certain phrases that virtually nail on whether someone is genuine need, or chooses to spend their money on treats then whinges they have none left. Zero surprise to see that OP declares herself high maintenance, "the works" with nails and lashes....yet only £10 a week for food.

We issue £50 food vouchers for store shopping. We also issue food parcels (nice stuff, bread, butter, chocolate, cookies, fruit juice, meat if you want it, unlimited fresh veg, sauces...a far cry from the pasta and tinned kidney beans type stuff from the food bank). Daily, people come in, and announce in an entitled and expected manners: "You give out free vouchers for Tesco don't you." And I reply, "Are you in food crisis?". They look at me like the fucking nerve I have to not just hand them £50. "Yeah, I've got ten pounds to last all week." I'll then say "Why is that?" And they never have an answer, just look at me like dirt for the audacity to see that they are taking the piss out of a charity. The funding is very stretched as it is. I know already they don't want the food, they want a free £50 to spend in the bloody toy aisle or sell the voucher on. So I'll say, "I'm not sure how much of the funding we have left, but I do have these food parcels which we can tailor to your household?". And I can tell you now, 80% of people refuse the food and leave. That's society folks.

Someone who needs the food takes the box. And if they take the box, I give them the voucher too.

If someone comes in and says, "Can I speak to someone about some help with food?" They are nearly always genuine. I can't describe it without you seeing it personally, but honestly, work one hour in my charity and you'd be able to call each case with a 99% accuracy the minute someone opens their mouth. Shit? Yes. Wish it wasn't that way? Yes. Doesn't change that's the way it is.

For the UC, we don't know the OP's living situation. It could be renting, it could be living with family and i know UC take others wages into account so it's a weird one. I'd deffo advise OP to raise a UC claim.

On the subject of PIP/DWP, PIP does state you don't need a diagnosis, only proof of how your daily living is affected in the areas they ask about (preparing food, eating/drinking, managing finances, mobility etc). But i also know that many of the assessments are basically almost bullying. I was lucky i didn't have that experience myself and they accepted my evidence but again, that relies on my luck for having a GP, multiple consultants and psychiatrist showing their evidence. Without that, i doubt i would have had a good experience.

OP @Deportationsensation are there any UK charities in relation to what you struggle with health wise? They may be well placed to help with UC or PIP applications. I know you mentioned MH upthread, i believe MIND do this. But also Citizens advice are helpful and can assist you with the applications. Have you previously tried to apply?

I'm guessing you're not in the shit situation of having a rare medical condition? I do and nobody believes it actually causes symptoms and they refuse to believe that I have the issues I say I do

You are all drastically missing the point.

Disability or not. If you have no money, you'll get UC. On a part time wage, she's getting her rent paid by UC too. Why does her doctor recognise zero wrong with her, when I see thousands of people a year who have doctors letters and medical evidence.

I work for a charity who deals with vulnerable and low income people, and these days, I repeat as I said at the very start of this post, the majority of people look at you like you're insane when you suggest they should prioritise actual food over lashes/updating iPhones/nails.

Always with the indignant: "so because I'm poor you think I don't deserve anything nice, yeah??"

No. i can't believe I need to say this to a fucking adult but this is how entitled people are I'm saying that if you can't prioritise putting food in your mouth over getting multiple beauty treatments, then you need to accept that is the issue. It's not that you have no money. You just want to spend beyond your means on luxury items then pretend you had no agency over that choice, or are entitled/deserve it.

I would say 20% of the people we help are actually, genuinely struggling, and it's worth everything to help those 20%, even though it means bearing the 80% of people described above.

For various reasons I'm acutely aware of The NHS Doom Loop.

I honestly don't think anyone in my immediate closest social circle does. I think its indicative of anyone who is reasonably well off and educated being detatched from this experience during their working life time. Its only when they get older or encounter through having to care for someone else it that they realise just how bad it is and how essential those bus services are.

this is so spot on - so well written!

You are MORE LIKELY to get a diagnosis if you are articulate and educated and white.

Thats completely fucked up. And because we know this is a reality (data supports it) we also know theres a whole bunch of people who can't navigate the system and get the help and support they need BOTH health and financial.

The cost to society from this is actually huge. It means that people have real barriers to work (and getting OFF benefits) and it means they are more likely to resort to criminal activity.

Meanwhile theres a whole bunch of people who are judging someone who thinks that £10 a week more might make a huge difference to their life JUST to get to work.

Never as part of this does anyone ever consider how things like money management are actually a problem to certain people BECAUSE of their health or mental health issues either. And you can't get access to this help and support for similar reasons (how do you afford the phone call or the bus fare to see someone?)

Someone who DOES have a recognised health condition and IS on benefits falls under the same issue. People have made this thread about the OP because she once bought hair extentions but for me are actually missing the point about just how essential those buses are.

Someone who can't afford the bus this week and misses their medical appointment? Their condition gets worse and ends up costing the NHS more because they don't get prompt enough interventions. Someone who needs support with independent living and access to social services for genuine reason - this services are increasing centralised and inaccessible. This means theres a greater risk of falling into homelessness.

All cos of the bus.

Honestly the bus is a life line for so many. Particularly those in the hardest of circumstance. Combined with an aging population who may no longer be able to drive and the climate related issues, cheap bus fares really should be a key priority. Not an afterthought. They are a service used by the most in need.

Unfortunately I know this all too well. After 35 years someone finally decided that just maybe there was more going on. I've been told I may never get a proper diagnosis.

A huge problem is the box ticking. If you don't tick the exact boxes in the exact way, you are screwed. It doesn't mean you don't have a problem.

To get certain things you need a diagnosis. To get a diagnosis you often need a referral. That can go one of two ways - you either get one or you don't. The problem being that if you have a doctor who is shite for some reasons and won't believe you (and we know that women in particular are known for being dismissed and not believed by doctors and this is recognised as an genuine issue which the medical profession needs to address), you have no power of revisiting this, because of the way our GP system is set up by local areas so you pretty much can't change your GP (I actually have - it took me years and I had unusual circumstances and was lucky the GP I now have did so. They were not obliged to).

If you DO get a referral then it goes a number of ways. Firstly you probably have a very lengthy wait depending on what it is. If its anything related to mental health or neurodiversity then you are shit out of luck for waiting lists. If its physical, you have to go through the process of assessment - you can be on a waiting list, see a specialist and they say 'oh its not this, but it could be this however you'll have to go back on a waiting list for that'. Thus you get passed from department to department and no one seems to give a shit if you can be passed off (Lets not forget the cost of getting to all these health appointments by bus). Its very easy to fall through the cracks of being passed around by a bunch of people who don't see you are their problem to fix and in fact are happy if they can offload you to someone else.

During all of this, which can take years and years, you are screwed. The DWP are inhuman and unsympathetic to this. You can't apply for anything because you haven't got a diagnosis.

If you havent experienced this fiasco or don't know someone in this situation it sounds implausible and just making excuses. The reality is the NHS Doom Loop exists and its horrific to anyone caught up in it.

Sadly with how underfunded our NHS has chronically been, being diagnosed for many conditions is ridiculously hard. I received a diagnosis last year after 20 years of back and forth! And this is further complicated when it comes to anything MH related in particular.

www.turn2us.org.uk

Are you actually diagnosed with a condition?
I don't understand why you say your GP doesn't listen.
I posted upthread my ideas which may help. If you're able to give a little more information then posters may suggest other ideas
I live on lifelong disability benefits and do understand the difficulties of meeting your needs

And please don't ignore turn 2 us! There are so many possibilities.

If you've ever had a (for example) a Saturday job in retail when younger there is a charity that supports retail workers past and present.

I know

But how do you even get that when your health reasons aren't accepted by your GP? You need evidence. And depending on the OPs situation, they may not fit the criteria.

Lots of PPs have been helpful OP.

Here's my contribution.

Look on turn 2 us and see if there are any small grants you could apply for. It's seems to me (based on the info given in this thread) that if you were able to get a tiny cash injections to buy one month's bus pass you'd be better off.

You see the cash injection allows you to buy the bus pass for one month then you save what you would have spent on bus fares each day of commuting to buy the next bus pass and so on and so forth.

How much is a bus pass/travel pass in your area? Do you have anyone that could help with the first month? Maybe as a gift/one off?

Given you've been suicidal in the past please speak to others there must be something that can be done to help you. Either therapy or supporting your income.

@TigerRag limited work capability is also for people who can only work part time due to health reasons, you don't need to be in receipt of PIP to get this

Anyone who is aware of the gaps in NHS care and how fucking dreadful the DWP are, has something of an appreciation of this.

Tbh, I think there still is an arguement here that the £2 should have been maintained everywhere - its been maintained in Manchester and London. And I really don't think the cap shoud have gone up by 50%!

Bit difficult when the OP states "I work in part time due to health reasons that aren’t recognised by my GP, the DWP. No one has taken me seriously."