AIBU to be miffed about Chester Zoo?

@HappyChristmaswooho so you can avoid all the disabled kids? Nice. Don't worry, im sure they would rather avoid c u next Tuesdays like you as well, tbh!

But that highlights the problem. You might have £500 left for non-essentials a month. Your cousin might have £30 and someone else (not on benefits) might have £100. If you spend £100 on zoo tickets, you still have £400. If your cousin spends £2, he has £28 left. The other person, who has to spend £100, has no disposable income left. And it isn’t just the zoo, it is repeated over and over with different deals and offers. The lower middle income group are being squeezed out and that is bound to cause resentment. Very few people want to be the cash cow.

How do we make it fairer?

Did you get annoyed when they had the Lanterns & Light event for hospice children for free as well. It’s not the children’s fault if parents have never worked. Taking them on affordable days out gives them incentives to make a better life for themselves.

It also might inspire some of those children to work in animal conversation. If they don’t have these experiences they have no aspirations to do anything with their lives. Be greatful you don’t have to rely on charity. There’s single working parents who claim UC because they don’t earn enough to live on.

@Thatweegirl I know right, so lucky having disabled kids when it gives your £1 access to the zoo! So lucky! Absolute t w a t s

@Greysofa enjoy working while I look after my severely disabled son. Swap places?? Thought not. Have a word with yourself. We will enjoy the zoo, thanks btw 😃

I didn't realise we are jealous of kids getting sweets regularly because their parents claim UC?

You are right - apologies. I thought I'd used mine there, but it was West Midlands safari park.

Yeah!! I love it when my disabled child saves me money on zoo trips.

Makes it all worth it!

🙄

I mean this honestly and without sounding nasty. My son is disabled and he receives DLA. Until you are in this situation you have no idea (I mean that) how hard life is for disabled people. My little boy is last in line for literally everything. He never wins a race, never the front of the line, always caught first in games and so on and on and on . Life for a disabled child (on my son’s case physical) is really hard and full of disappointment. They really bloody deserve any perk they can get. You must work hard and I get that sucks (we do too) but you child can use their arms and legs, go on a bike ride, go to the swings or any of the many other things your child can get enjoyment out of. Don’t begrudge a disabled child a cheap look round a zoo.

I think an important note to take here is disabled people dont have a choice in being disabled or not. And those who aren't disabled but have found themselves in financial hard ship with young kids, well is this not great for families and CHILDREN who may not get to go otherwise. People who simply play the system, yes be angry with them bilut its hard to play the system these days (I think) so will be few and far between

Most of the people that receive UC do work.

Most of the people in this country who don’t work are SAHP either because their DPs earn enough for them to do so or because their kids are disabled.

I work FT. I do all of the home stuff that you do too.
I would love to earn enough that I don’t qualify for UC.

I think you're probably right. One section lists ESA as one of the eligibility criteria, separate from universal credit. It's academic in our case though.

It's something that a few disability charities have asked venues to make clear. Especially with the likes of London Zoo who do check specifically for the income based detail so that people don't travel and then discover they're not actually eligible.

This is not true. Chester Zoo has never joined Clubcard points.

Twycross, Blackpool, Longleat and Exmoor are, but the big ones like Chester and London aren't

YABU you can afford to pay full price to visit once a year. The charity will subsidise those who do visit. Why do you think a charity should pay for your family if you have a comfortable lifestyle? Plus it’s not much fun visiting the zoo this time of year. It’s in the north so usually pissing it down.

We’re eligible because our child is disabled- can’t imagine begrudging someone of such an offer for this reason! Oh, and by the way we’re a working family.

Would you really stand in front of families with disabled children and say its not fair they get this opportunity....wow the spirit of Christmas just evaporates 🤢😔 Awful post

I think you're probably right. One section lists ESA as one of the eligibility criteria, separate from universal credit. It's academic in our case though.

Will do thank you. Never checked tbh but ds loves the outdoors so if it helps then great!

museummum.com/universal-credit-days-out/

I think it was posted earlier, but this is a good link. There are quite a few places that include DLA.

I bet they didn't. They probably didn't even have a membership. People say nonsense like this all the time.

This is for children who receive DLA too.

Who funds this scheme? Who/what is making it possible to get a ticket for £1?

Or people on UC either tbh.

I can't get worked up about disabled people on PIP or DLA getting a cheap pass to the zoo. Anyone who shops at Tesco's can use their club card points for Chester Zoo btw.

This will be our first trip out as a family this year. We haven’t been able to afford a holiday together, and now have a joint DMP because of how much we’ve been struggling. Minimal Christmas presents.

But yeah, everyone on UC are jobless layabouts. Thanks for the roasting, OP. Sorry my life is shitter than yours.

When you work and spend your life juggling childcare and all the home things along with a job, it’s quite hard to hear that choose not to work and are given money. In my line of work I’ve had the odd parent begging me to write a supportive letter to say they are unable to work because they have a young child. But meanwhile, my children are in childcare that I’ve paid for to be at work.

My views have nothing to do with people unable to work for reasons such as caring for a disabled child or being disabled themselves. My own DC receives higher rate DLA but this is for her additional expenses and is used in that way.