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?

The police 'get away with it'

Many many organisations do!

There's a lot of discrimination against people with morbid obesity
She might find it very hard to get paid work hence the volunteering & claiming benefits

deriant How can you do 30 hours work placement if you are ill?
Well, quite, but it's there under the new benefit rules.

It's at the advisers discretion, so hopefully some common sense is applied, but once they decide the person has to do it it becomes mandatory.

Anyonefortennis.

Sleeping in a tent? Why would that be a problem?
Not heard of airbeds?

As i said, I have not (that) long returned from download. I am a wheelchair user with agoraphobia. I'm not the person in the op though

Oh and when you cant move, its quite common to suddenly find yourself four stone heavier if you dont adjust your eating. Or comfort eat.

esiotrot - True, but irrelevant. Disability benefits are for people who are disabled.

This is about the op and her friend tho.... Not your Disibility

This person has a bad back. Can't work in part due to this bad back. How would camping on an air bed help it!?

Er, morbid obesity does now seem to be classed as a Disibility

I go camping all the time. I love it. I also have a 'bad back' having broken it in a fall when I was 14. I also use a walking frame to get around.

The ignorance and sneering at disabilities on this thread is soul destroying.

Your post read like camping would be impossible because of their 'bad back'
I was merely stating that it is possible to camp

No morbid obesity is not classed as a disability. When people are exceptionally obese so they can't walk, then obviously their weight makes them disabled. But that is not the case here.

Yes. Sounds like it's also possible to work

I don't understand this idea that if you are deemed unfit for work and claim disability benefit you must stay at home and not do anything enjoyable or interesting with your life whatsoever. There is a huge difference between volunteering on weekends and holding down a paid job. It's not unusual at all for someone signed off with MH issues to do a couple of days a week as a volunteer and is perfectly above board. As a volunteer everything is on your terms so if you don't feel up to it one weekend that's OK, if you need to go home early or have an 'off' day where you're not very productive that's fine because you're not contractually obliged to be there and you don't have to rely on the position to earn a living. It takes the pressure off. Why does it upset you so much that your friend has found a voluntary position that they seem to enjoy? You talk about them 'listing the bands he wants to see' on FB as though this is somehow indicative of malingering. People with MH issues can still enjoy music you know. It may be one of the few things in life your friend is able to enjoy. Should DLA claimants not be allowed to enjoy themselves or must they always look miserable and pained so that the taxpayer feels they are getting their monies worth? I don't know why you are friends with this person if you feel so bitter and resentful towards them.

yorkshasapudding - I do think many people do want someone off ill with MH never to have any fun. It comes partly from a lack of understanding of MH issues, and partly because so many people do struggle to go to work with serious illnesses, including MH issues.

Does anyone here have any idea what it is like for a 'genuine' disabled person to read these kind of threads?

They make me want to cry. They feed into the atmosphere that make me ashamed and try to hide my disabilities. And I don't even claim any benefits. I can't imagine what the added stigma that brings feels like. Well I can, but I try to block it out while frantically checking DJ's life insurance is up to date.

I wonder if they asked op friend if camping out on an air bed in our unpredictable british weather is possible when assessing for DLA/pip etc?

My kids use wheelchairs and they camp. Shock horror!

You can always write to the DWP and suggest it as a relevant question for the medical assessment, Anyone.

I'm sure they'll be very grateful for your expertise.

With the level of understanding and compassion being shown here I suspect Anyone works for the DWP.

Wtf has the weather got to do with it? Disabled people dont dissolve when it rains.

PausingFlatly - The DWP are already severely tightening up criteria anyway. Getting PIP when you have MH problems, is very difficult.

Nah hedgehogs, the dwp are much more understanding!