AIBU to be miffed about Chester Zoo?

[Stillinshock123]

I need a space to rant but then I welcome feedback and general common-sense.

Chester zoo have posted about £1 deal for those on benefits such as UC, DLA and PIP.

Now, I understand that for some this may be the only opportunity to attend the Zoo given their already ridiculously high prices.

However AIBU to be upset that yet again working families (full time not claiming parts of UC) don’t seem to benefit from much?

We attend the zoo only once a year because of how expensive it is.. so that’s a luxury. So no thanks, no support or discounts.

I emailed them about this, and they replied saying that it’s part of a charity scheme to give back to families who otherwise can’t afford it. But then.. why shouldn’t it be first come first serve?

Yeah no bother.

We claim DLA so qualify for the occasional discount, as we would have for the zoo. We don’t use them, because we have no need to.

If I personally send you our reduced price ticket for the Tower of London, will you stop being envious of poor(er) people?

No, I think that anyone who doesn’t qualify for means tested benefits, doesn’t qualify for them for a reason, and should be grateful for that.

I’m not suggesting you don’t have any financial issues. I’m saying they literally cannot be as significant as anyone who qualified for a means tested benefit, or you’d qualify too.

They’re just the facts, you don’t have to like them.

From a personal perspective, I am delighted that those with disabilities or disabled relatives get help and think they should get more. I am comparing those with no disabilities and low income jobs, who are in receipt of benefit top ups, to those with low income jobs who don’t qualify for benefits.

From what I can see on this thread, there are many people who take plenty (as they are entitled to take) but are caught in a bubble where they don’t appreciate what they are receiving or understand (or care) that there are many people who aren’t getting any help due to outdated government criteria which hasn’t taken into account the rises in the cost of living and lack of income growth. The joy in which many people have come on this thread to say how delighted they are with their nearly free tickets shows a callousness that if shown the other way would have been met by squeals of outrage. Whilst some posters did this with real happiness, some did it with a maliciousness of which they should feel ashamed.

Anyway, at the end of all this (I need to get on with Christmas), I haven’t changed my mind that these things are handed out to a too narrow group of people, many of whom take it for granted, and that there are a growing number of people who are struggling. Thank you for the robust debate though. Like you, I wish that an income earned through work was enough to give a decent standard of living.

Except they could be if you were both single parents but the one earning less and claiming benefits also receives child maintenance and the one earning more is getting no maintenance. Also in the short term absolutely could be if one family rents and the other owns because we are only happy to pay mortgages for landlords but it would be morally wrong to pay them for owners.

I think all some of the posters are looking for is an acknowledgment that it’s not as black and white as benefits = struggling and in need of help vs no benefits = can only have issues due to budgeting failures and should cut their cloth.

It surely can be true that it’s fantastic these schemes exist, that they can’t possibly account for every variable going to be perfectly fair and that it’s really hard for people to see they can’t benefit from them when they are also really struggling. It isn’t something with a fix really but I’m surprised so few people are willing to just acknowledge “yes that sucks a bit for people who fall just outside the benefits net”.

On a separate note there are lots of things available to do for free that anyone can take advantage of. We are off to London next week and going to the Natural history museum, Science Museum, V&A, London Museum at the Docklands, sky gardens, mithraeum, conservatory at the Barbican and the Tate modern which are all free/donation based. Railway museum in York, Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh and Discovery Museum in Newcastle are all worth a visit and all free. I’m sure other people have loads of suggestions close to them anyone could use for a free/super cheap day out.

I absolutely can acknowledge that but unfortunately the benefits system is that black and white, so I’m not sure how much acknowledgment helps someone afford a day out. It won’t put money in their bank.

We could widen the benefits “net” but then the feel I get from MN at the moment is that actually the consensus is to pay less out, not more.

I actually think where a scheme could go wrong is acknowledging DLA/PIP as a stand alone benefit “worthy” of discounted tickets etc. We get DLA, both work and have a reasonably high household income. We don’t use those discounts because we don’t need to, others won’t be so honest.

I think they’d be better off only considering DLA/PIP when in receipt of a means tested benefit, because many of us who claim disability benefit don’t qualify for anything mean tested and therefore in my view, shouldn’t get the discounts.

I can see your point about the DLA/PIP thing. It does not mean someone has little money, but it is a recognition of disability and how difficult life can be. Like a few PP said, a cheap ticket means that if their autistic child get overwhelmed and they have to cut the visit short, then it is not such a huge financial hit than if they paid full price for tickets.

A hackspace local to me has half price membership for people on DLA/PIP (also UC and pension), as they want to attract a wide variety of members and make the space feel more inclusive.

As an adult who can't quite often everything at an attraction,I refuse to pay the full price. Why should I when I won't have the same experience as my friends?

Yeah absolutely, last time we took my son to Chester Zoo, he played in the car park and entrance, had a look at the elephants and then asked to go to the beach (?!).

Absolute waste of ticket money.

But I can also see that people would begrudge buying us tickets that we can buy ourselves, regardless of how long we stayed. People begrudge us the DLA, nevermind any discounts.

Yep.

I would never pay full price for things like Chester zoo mainly because I can't afford it but also because as a wheelchair user, my son doesn't have full access to the playgrounds, bats (using Chester zoo as an example, there is usually something) etc as a child who isn't a wheelchair user.