to think that people who are well enough to volunteer stewarding at Festivals every single weekend are well enough to work?

[TalkinPeace]

Person has never worked due to MH and back pain - both of which are directly linked to morbid obesity.
Tells the MH people they are agarophobic, but seem OK in a field all weekend every weekend

and are thus getting into festivals for free when other people have to pay

the whole lot being funded by benefits.

The person is nice enough but if I put it on my FB feed they will see and realise I'm being judgy.
But am I being unreasonable to be annoyed?

Lancelottie my husband is the same, has AS but prefers work. He needs the structure and rigidity of work. He also has the advantage that his field of work is his special interest, so he gets paid to do what he'd do for free if he had to.

I suggest you unfriend.
You are not their friend.

YANBU

I have a close relative with "commuting claustrophobia" ie they cannot travel to work. They can travel to anywhere else though! I know one shouldn't play illness top trumps, but frankly it makes me sick when I think of another relative with cancer who struggled into work, and this arse sitting on his boat all summer. He also couldn't receive phone calls from work because of "telephone anxiety" (but speaking to anyone else is fine). I honestly despair of some doctors who apparently have agreed with such diagnoses.

I don't know much about different MH conditions, but I'd be wary of assuming that her being a festival marshal means she's well enough to work, unless you've got a full knowledge of all her MH issues and are a psychiatrist.

I've never volunteered as a marshal, but I would imagine that the pressures of being a volunteer marshal are a lot less than the pressures of holding down a job. It's possible that her MH team have recommended that she does this as some sort of therapy to help with her MH issues.

Years ago I'd have advised you to report it, thinking that it would be investigated fairly. However, I understand that benefits are often halted while investigations are undertaken, leaving perfectly legitimate claimants with additional stress, debt and a lack of basics such as food.

Years ago I'd have advised you to report it, thinking that it would be investigated fairly. However, I understand that benefits are often halted while investigations are undertaken, leaving perfectly legitimate claimants with additional stress, debt and a lack of basics such as food.
Given the small number of claimants that are actually believed to be fraudulent, and the high risk of making a genuine claimant's life much harder, I am more inclined to say live and let live.

Lancelottie You don't see posts about meltdowns, rocking in corners, panicking about cancer, being unable to eat because of obsessive anxiety, or being in a mental health unit

The two people I know that concern me who wish to claim high levels of disability benefits due to not being able to work do actually post constantly about their problems. I know that it is their wish (because they have said so) to be declared unfit to work for mental health and back related problems (the same combination as in the OP). I must admit I do sometimes wonder if they are setting the story so as to fit the prognosis. They both also do hobbies that seem inconsistent with the claimed disabilities.

Its a very difficult area - particularly if you dare to question it. And of course meanwhile you see people dealing with other problems - death of parents, ill health or partners, serious diseases or recovering from car accidents resulting in serious injury (one friend suffered a serious brain injury, but got back to work because they were afraid of their home being repossessed by the mortgage company), and still struggling to hold down a job. So this is probably why people question such things.

I can quite easily see how someone with mental health problems could volunteer at a festival and not be able to cope with the stresses of a job.

Me too. Live and let live, OP.

The festival volunteer experience could even be useful preparation for getting paid job in the future.

You're actually envious of someone with MH problems, back pain, and morbid obesity because they get to see festivals when you don't?

I think I've seen it all now...

The volunteering reference is in the thread title.

You may well think your friend is well enough to work, OP. On the other hand, she may be doing this volunteering with the full knowledge of the DWP as a step towards preparing for work that she has been encouraged by them to make. It's tempting to get your knickers in a twist about it, I can see, but it's really not up to you to decide what your friend is and isn't capable of doing to support herself.

An interesting mix of posts.

FWIW this person is a social friend as well as on FB.

There are festivals every single weekend from Easter to October - not big ones but they are there.
The person is leaving tomorrow and coming back Tuesday from the one where they are doing shifts on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
This has been going on for years.

I begrudge this person because I know people who cannot do any work at all - paid or unpaid - due to disabilities, who are getting screwed by this Government
and yet some people who are able to do what they fancy 5 days a week are not willing to even work part time.

I have hidden on FB - will not unfriend because of shared connections.

Well, she clearly lacks good judgement if she puts all that on FB.

I can see why you are annoyed.
A friend of a friend had an accident, is on crutches and now six months on has had his disabilty money taken away and has been told he is fit for work. He is not fit for work. He cannot drive, and cannot walk more than a few yards. The buses run every few hours.
They cannot pay the rent even though the wife is doing two NMW jobs.

Yabu. So he gets no credit for giving up his weekends to volunteer.
I think you need to mind your own business and worry about yourself. People can't win. They don't do anything. It's.....look they're taking from the state and not even putting anything back. If they do a little bit..it's well if they're well enough to work. They're well enough to volunteer. I bet he thinks he's doing good and here's you putting him down.
Also how do you know he is not under going therapy for his agrophobia. He could hAvd a strong support network there.
Also as a volunteer he is not obliged to be there were as at work. He would be, and what about appointment times ect. You can't compare weekend un obligatory work, to an obligatory 40 hour week.

Amendment on line 8 "it's.....If they're well enough to volunteer then they're well enough to work.

So basically, you resent your "Friend" for trying to improve her situation.

She is volunteering and learning a wealth of skills such as helping her confidence and self esteem, improving upon her mental health condition, social inclusion/interatction and also getting out and about in the fresh air and exercising which will improve her physical health. She is also doing things that will help her at a later date get a job when she's ready. This type of thing would look great on a CV, whilst years of nothing would look terrible.

Yet you seem to think this is a bad thing?

Getting involved in these types of things are invaluable for people suffering from both mental health and physical conditions.

Do you expect her to stay indoors every single day ruminating on her situation and never improving at all?

I strongly suspect that they are not the only person "unable to work" who has the energy to party all weekend ....

now this has my Daily Mail/lazy journo/whatshisname Wright sensors going off.

or perhaps a Tory that has become detached from the herd and wound up lost here.

Amazing the "reading in" going on here.

The person is not trying to improve their life skills
They are going to festivals.
They have no intention of seeking work : I've challenged them face to face and they prefer to stay on benefits.

And TBH if you are accepted as a steward at a festival the shifts are not voluntary - as if you screw one of them around they will all stop using you.

I do not work 40 hours a week : I would not expect this person to.
But they have shown themselves capable of doing 24 hours a week.

Why is the limited disabilities budget being spent there rather than on children or the more severely disabled?

A lot of posts I agree with above, re the mh not being a simple yes no decision as to whether able to work. My hubby is currently struggling with serious mh issues, he had time off sick from his employment then they sacked him. The grief he got from them has left him a nervous wreck about dealing with people he doesn't know and has been assessed as qualifying for esa. He is looking to volunteer for a while as pp said to see how he manages (and to 'give something back') before attempting to take on a job he might not be able to cope with thus letting the employer down. He'd much rather be working and contributing to the household bills and he torments himself he is unable to but I could see him volunteering at festival albeit not every weekend

Also Fwiw a friend works in a paid role at festivals and concerts and while she posts pics it's usual a quick snap en route to the 1 loo break she gets so certainly isn't a free ticket

Also

Why is the limited disabilities budget being spent there rather than on children or the more severely disabled?

mh can be severely disabling, it doctors and occupational health judging who qualifies based on more than just age or how disabled someone "appears" not you or I (or any other layperson)

I agree, wtf. Why do some posters think that, as lay people, they can pass meaningful judgement on how 'well' people are?

"I strongly suspect that they are not the only person "unable to work" who has the energy to party all weekend ...."

I'm not saying YABU, they may well be taking the piss and far more capable than either they pretend or than they believe themselves to be.

But as others have said, MH is so difficult to gauge and to explain. As a volunteer, little pressure is put on you. No one expects too much of you. You are working for free after all. It's possible that after putting on a friendly face and working for no pay for a couple of days a week in a very low pressure environment the person needs all week to recover, not just physically but mentally. that may sound ridiculous if you don't have experience of mental health, but it is an illness, not a choice.

If it's stress related though then I think volunteering is much more less likely to get you stressed, which may then bring on other symptoms.

I know for me, I do various volunteer roles and I do them as best as I can, but if I need to leave early because school has phoned to pick up isck dc, or I can't do it due to other commitments one week, I feel fine about it.
However if I'm doing something paid, I feel bed about that sort of thing even if I'm only doing it casually as a favour.

I don't think it's any of your business. I wouldn't want to volunteer at festivals every weekend: this person does. Fine.

I am sure this fucking government will catch up with them at some point and find a reason to starve them out, so in the meantime, chill your beans and don't be so bitter.