Income support / benefits?

[doubleshift]

I know a you lad - 18 just finished college - he lives with his Mum who has lived them into her BFs house in the middle of nowhere in Devon so v.rural. He is completely dependent on the Mum to drive him anywhere. He’s got a zero hours contract and gets a couple of hours work at a local pub if he can get a lift.
He’s stuck - he can’t earn proper money without transport but hasn’t got money to learn to drive and parents don’t help.

can he claim any kind of support to help him start to set himself up as an adult?

What do you think young men do in countries that don’t have universal credit? They catch a bus into town, they persuade someone to teach them to drive, they get a lift, they live on someone’s floor while job hunting, they get a bike. They don’t sit at home waiting for someone to give them money.

I think this charity in Devon can provide free bikes. This lad sounds the perfect recipient.

Where did OP say that he does not contribute to the household?
Why are you so keen to paint this young man in such a bad light?

A happy ending to the thread! And the public purse is not further burdened. I wish him luck in job hunting.

rideoncycling.org/

Ah, they are low cost, not free.

There is a bike charity where I live where you can pay £30 to do a course in bike maintenance and you get a free bike at the end of it (ones that have been seized by police and donated).

I think the best suggestion on the thread was that he should look for live in work. Hospitality would be ideal for him (and he already has experience) especially a large hotel with lots of young live in staff. It would be brilliant for him, work and a social life all in one.

I know the charity, they do give free bikes as well.

Re live in hospitality jobs, the daughter of an acquaintance of mine got a live in hospitality job in Cornwall so worth researching.

One problem this kid might have would be getting to the live in job. Would his parents drive him to a train or bus station and give/lend him the ticket money to get there or will they do literally nothing to help him? The other difficulty is the bad time of year for hospitality jobs. This isn't insurmountable though and lots of kids would have just finished these jobs to go to uni so there will be some vacancies.

This is a fantastic suggestion. 👏 loads of hotels are probably looking out for young people to stay on site to do various hours. Great bonus having no meals to cook!

The scheme I posted about does ebike hire. £50 set up fee plus £20 per week.

When I was 20, I got a job in Sainsbury's, saved up, then did a one-week intensive driving course. Started on Monday, test Friday. My parents couldn't afford to help me in any way.

And yet there are charities who provide free bikes to migrants.

Def tell him about UC @doubleshift . Don't listen to people being against it, this young man seems to need it. Many people who don't need benefits are claiming them: dla, pip when they are wealthy because "it's my right" so why should someone in need be told they shouldn't.

I really don’t understand MN. Half the time an 18 year old is still a kid but that only counts until they become a burden on the state and then they are a fully grown man.

This kid wants to work, he’s got an unfortunate set of circumstances which are not helping him but long term surely it’s better for him to claim benefits for a while so he can better himself and get a full time job?

I also agree with the comment regarding public transport, I don’t even live in a rural area and there’s no way I could rely on it for work because it’s pathetically underfunded. We’ve got loads of kids working with us who are trying to save up for driving lessons/cars but they can’t get to work early for overtime due to lack of trains and buses. Their parents don’t want to be dropping them off at 4am so they all end up scrabbling for overtime on day shifts.

I really hope he has some success OP because he sounds like a decent kid. Most people I know from backgrounds like him do go on to make something of themselves and I’m sure he’ll be the same with the right support.

How did you have a car to use after your test once you passed?

To be fair, a member of my church had a rust bucket that they were going to scrap, so they gave it to me. But it was literally worth about £60 at the time.