really sorry your feeling this way ff. i think you should take up the suggestion of new deal for lone parents and get the info sent to you there must be a website someone?
however as i understand the curent benefits system you get penalised for studying over gcse level which would be NVQ2 i think. so bare this in mind.
my biggest tip and i cannot emphasize this enough is to get back into some form of education. just getting out builds your confidence- you meet with other people maybe make new friends and have something to aim for - it doesnt have to be to do with a career - do a drawing class or pottery. there are lots of courses available and if your on benefits they are reduced or even free.
this is what did. i left school with nothing more than an art gcse. i got married had a child v. young mortgage went tits up and then found i was expecting twins. the lifesaver for me was a local college offering a free creche for those on benefits or low incomes. i went on a course which was interpersonal and learning techniques and my only reason for doing this was to get away from the kids. sounds horrid but staying at home, skint, with diagnosed depression one more child than i had planned for and no support was too much. so off i went to dump my kids just to get away. thats when i got the bug. i learned from that course about "access courses" A - level equivalents. i got a part time job and studied at the same time, doing a couple of gcse's in the evening which i paid for. next thing you know i am doing the absolute unthinkable just 18 months earlier - applying for university. 4 years later ( took a year out) i had a degree and by working part time i had a job history. i worked packing those disney posters in tubes making my own money for 2p ( i shit you not)2p a tube. i worked at a local supermarket, and i worked then part - time for my landlord - a housing Association. that turned into full time work, i got more relevent community work qualifications and here i am years later.
and all becuse i needed to get out of the house before i was committed. i tell tenants i come into contact will that story a lot and it makes then thnk "if she can do it, then why not me?" because i am nothing special learning doesnt come easy to me it was hard work and i did it for the achievement i desperatley wanted that photo of me in a hat and gown - whilst everone else was planning their careers and what high earning job they were going to get. whilst all my peers were off the student union. i got the bus 10 miles home to 3 kids - young kids, did the housewifey bit, went to work and studied. all for the hope and the photo.
please take up the opportunies of cheapo education just to up your confidence if not to learn anything in particular. just getting out and having something to aim for helps your self esteem and gives you a new image of yourself and changes that bottomless pit which is depression which you never think your going to get out of.
xxxxbest wishes, love and prayersxxxxxx
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