The ILF is about quality of life – and you can help save it

140427paulapetersILF

Paula Peters is a friend of Vox Political who campaigns on behalf of the disabled (she has disabilities herself). Here, she writes about the value of the Independent Living Fund, which is scheduled to be closed by the Conservative-led Coalition government next year.

If you are disabled, you will appreciate what Paula has to say; if you are not, please try to imagine what it must be like to cope with debilitating conditions that can turn even getting out of bed into a feat of endurance. That person, one day, could be you. That’s why it is important to keep this fund open.

“I got up this morning, brushed my teeth, showered, ate breakfast, got dressed, checked my e mails, went to work, had lunch with colleagues, met with friends on the way home from work, popped in on my mum to see she was alright before coming home to do a couple of hours work on my open university degree before bed. I was able to do all this because the money from the Independent Living Fund that helps pay my personal assistant to support me to do the things I can’t manage to do directly because I have a condition that means my hands do not work and I get around using a wheelchair” – ILF receipent.

The money from the ILF helps pay for a personal assistant and enables disabled people who need support to have a quality of life do the same things everyone else can do. Live.

The government says, “ILF receipents will be reassessed by their local authority, and will be funded by the local authority”. The money given to the local authority to meet a disabled persons support needs will not be ring-fenced. The local authority can spend that money meant for disabled people and their support needs on other resources. Disabled people who need the support fear LESS or NO support at all and then being placed into residential care, far from friends and family.

Imagine this: Your local authority has cut your support needs, you would have to rely on the local pop in service, carers you do not know keep you clean, warm up a meal in a microwave, at a time convenient for the carer, but not at a convenient time for you. If you need night care you would then be forced to wear incontinence pads or even worse, be catheterised.

You would then be able to shower only once a week, have no social life, have to perhaps use a hoist and then be excluded from everyday activities outside, forced to give up the pets you rely on for company, no garden, forced into isolation, having to sack the personal assistant you relied on for many years, with no redundancy payment to give them.

Now you are thinking you do not want to go on anymore. It’s “how do I go on like this with little support”, and you are now isolated at home, cut off from society and from friends and family – and the lack of support means no independence, no social life, can’t work, no quality of life; it would make anyone feel down and even depressed. It’s awful to contemplate, isn’t it?

Disabled people want rights, rights to live independently in the community, to have our support needs met, so we can have a quality of life, and do the same things everyone else does. Live.

Society forgets that we are human beings – people. We are mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, neighbours, friends, colleagues; but society sees the impairment, not the person we happen to be. We are judged, discriminated against and called a drain to society. Well, we are not!

People can be born with an impairment, or at some point in their lives be struck down with a devastating illness, hit by a car, lose mobility, need to use a wheelchair to get around, have a breakdown, could lose a job and need to claim benefits to live. The social security system was put in place to protect those who needed the support, who may be too ill to work. If it happened to you, you would need the support every day to carry out the simplest of tasks. Life is unexpected, it’s cruel, and it’s tough, it can change in a flicker of an eyelash and it can happen to YOU!

Life is really hard as a disabled person every day. Trying to manage life with all the same worries as non-disabled people, money, keeping a job, family issues, health issues… How to get around using public transport. It’s bloody tough.

“The Independent living fund gave people with severe impairments the support needed to live life as we chose, so we could work, go shopping, feel part of society, a human being. A non disabled person is not used to thinking about how they would go to to the toilet, get in and out of the house, get to work, but we need to plan all those things in advance and ensure we have the support to do them.” – ILF receipent.

Our demand is to keep the ILF open, open it up to new claimants and open independent living to all disabled people so we can keep our independence and, with support, have a quality of life. And live.

All I ask of you is for your help. Help us save the Independent Living Fund from closing on 30 June 2015. As disabled people, we want rights. Rights to live as independently as possible, having a quality of life, despite what we face everyday with our various impairments and illnesses.

Why? Because we’re worth it! We are human beings, and we want to be treated as such, not as stock as the government and large swathes of society think we are. We are worth it! Help us keep the independent living fund open and help us with the fight for our rights so we can have a quality of life, living in society as best we can.

(C) paula peters 2014

You can help by joining the ‘Save The Independent Living Fund Postcard Campaign’.

Simply visit https://www.facebook.com/ILFpostcard?fref=ts, click on the ‘About’ link and follow the instructions.

Sometimes saving a person’s quality of life can be as easy as buying a stamp.

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17 Comments

  1. sdbast April 27, 2014 at 3:51 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on sdbast.

  2. chunkyfunkymunky April 27, 2014 at 3:52 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on chunkyfunkymunky.

  3. beastrabban April 27, 2014 at 4:20 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on Beastrabban’s Weblog.

  4. Not all people use facebook ,some only use twitter or wordpress for safety reasons . So sorry I can do little else for Paula but reply via your link Mike. I couldn’t find another way to connect with Paula Peters. Would you care to being my message carrier

    • Mike Sivier April 27, 2014 at 4:33 pm - Reply

      I’m sure she’ll see it if you post a comment here.

  5. MrChekaMan April 27, 2014 at 4:57 pm - Reply

    This government really hates disabled people.

  6. Andrew Peacock April 27, 2014 at 5:19 pm - Reply

    had camerons own son survived his disabilities would this UN-ELECTED TORY A***HOLE HAVE DONE WHAT HES DOING TO THE DISABLED TODAY? METHINKS HES JUST ATTACKING US BECAUSE HIS OWN DISABLED SON DIED AND WE LIVE, AND I GUESS HES ANNOYED OVER THAT. AS IF HE IS RICH SO HIS SON DESERVED TO LIVE AND IT’S US WHO SHOULD HAVE DIED.

    • Mike Sivier April 27, 2014 at 7:07 pm - Reply

      That’s a pretty strong view! Trouble is, Cameron can hardly say you don’t have a point.

      • MrChekaMan April 28, 2014 at 2:12 am - Reply

        Whilst I’m sorry that Cameron’s son died, that is no excuse to kill as many other disabled people as he can through taking their benefits away.

  7. jaypot2012 April 27, 2014 at 6:01 pm - Reply

    What are Labour going to do about this I wonder?
    This fund is vital for a lot of disabled people, they need it to live, as Paula says.
    It does only take a second to become disabled – although I have been disabled for a number of years the worst thing that happened to me was an operation to fuse my right ankle, in May 2012.
    After the surgeon sewed 2 of the 3 arteries into the wounds and I was left in such awful, awful pain, it ended up with me having a dead foot for 2 1/2 days! I eventually ended up needing a below the knee amputation just 8 months later. Everything was tried and in the whole of the 8 months I couldn’t use my leg at all. Even though it’s over a year later and I have my prosthetic, I still cannot walk far, I have days that I cannot use the prosthetic and am wheelchair bound or out using my scooter. I suffer pain constantly, I get terrible phantom pain as well as phantom feeling.
    The surgeon? He’s never apologised, won’t even look at it so I’m suing the bastard through the the Health Board.
    My life has changed completely – I am not a youngster or a young person, I am 55 and no, I can’t run with a prosthetic, or do any of the things younger amputees would have been able to do – as I keep getting told by “well meaning” people.
    To add to pain I also need a complete knee replacement on the same leg – which is just a tiny stump. Oh joy!
    So I am living proof that you can become disabled at the drop of a hat!
    Keep the ILF – let people be just that, people!

  8. jaypot2012 April 27, 2014 at 6:02 pm - Reply

    Reblogged this on Jay's Journal and commented:
    Are Labour going to stop this?

  9. michael lee April 27, 2014 at 6:02 pm - Reply

    The Independent Living Fund closing on 30 June 2015 will be after the Tories are thrown out of government.and if applied should be revoked by any Caring new Government

  10. amnesiaclinic April 28, 2014 at 11:27 am - Reply

    I support this wholeheartedly and would like to take part in the postcard project but do not use facebook either. Please could we have the details, Paula and I will take it to my community to support as well.

    Love
    x

    • Mike Sivier April 28, 2014 at 11:50 am - Reply

      A follow-up article with more details is forthcoming.

  11. amnesiaclinic April 28, 2014 at 11:29 am - Reply

    Reblogged this on amnesiaclinic and commented:
    There have been so many cuts affecting the disabled that this is one that should be stopped. Please share and support Paula and the campaign.

    Thanks.
    xx

  12. […] response to Paula Peters’ article on the threatened closure of the ILF has been very strong – so strong, in fact, that she has […]

  13. stewilko April 29, 2014 at 11:41 am - Reply

    Reblogged this on stewilko's Blog.

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