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| melita |
on Thu 10 Feb 05, 3:00 PM to melita's blog.
We got roughly three hours sleep all scrunched up on the sofa with just a thin sheet thrown over us. Master worked until around 5 o'clock this morning stripping all the debris off the ceilings and walls. We were woken by someone from the fire brigade who came to check we were ok.
Then it was time to start thinking of getting cash together to replace some of our lost stuff. i discovered i could get a community care grant from the DSS, all i needed was proof that there had actually been a fire and the extent of the damage caused. Easy i thought, all i have to do is go to the fire station and ask for an incident report.
Easy? Yeah right!
Apparently incident reports are for insurance purposes only and i would have to pay 70 pounds for a copy! No matter how much i tried to explain my circumstances they wouldn't budge. So i went to the DSS and told them the outcome. They said "no written proof, no cash".
Now if i was a druggie, an alky or an asylum seeker then i'm sure i'd get whatever i wanted from them but because i have a genuine need i can do without.......the system stinks!!!
Then came the dreaded call to my landlord. i was terrified of how he would take the news but was pleasantly surprised at his reaction. He took it all on board and quickly decided on the things he was gonna do to put things right. Total re-plaster, artexed ceiling, new pvc window, new carpets.....the lot. Then on top of that he rung the DSS for me and was told that they would accept a statement of the damage caused in an official letter from him. So he's gonna give them an extensive list to help me get as much from them as i can.
This is all gonna take some time to process of course so in the meantime we just have to muddle along as best we can. We have had a couple of offers of help....many, many thanks go to corriander and Tarragon for their kind offer of an inflatible mattress and a few other bits and bobs....to mai for her support last night when i was almost at breakdown point plus her offer to chase up some new toys for us....to LG and bethany for their offer of bedding and clothes....and of course to my kids who have all been so mature about all this, especially my eldest who's sense of humour is enough to keep me smiling....and to all that have replied offering their support and kind words....thank you all xxx
Edited Thu 10 Feb 05, 3:34 PM by melita
| 10 Feb 05, 4:19 PM abby1983 UK(KA), 7 yrs |
Don't give up on the Community Care Grant. It is a long, lengthy process and it took me from June till October to get mine. They kept telling me i didn't fit their criteria but i WAS their criteria. Homeless, pregnant and nothing for my new house. Get some proper support behind you for it. i had tenancy support and they would go to all the interviews etc and represented me.
If all else fails turn to drugs and drink then you'll get everything you need quicker than you can ask for it Don't give up hope and hope things get sorted for you. xxx | ||
| 10 Feb 05, 4:36 PM goodghirl UK, 8 yrs |
If there's anything you need please just ask for help Im sure if someone here has something spare they wont mind passing it on. I don't know what age your little ones are but I have loads of toys if it can be any help let me know. Hugs and Good Vibes gg x Do it trembling if you must, but do it. | ||
| 10 Feb 05, 5:43 PM SnowdropExplodes UK(TN), 7 yrs |
Now, while I have nothing but sympathy for your situation, I have to take issue with the implication that asylum seekers do not "have a genuine need". Substitute "refugee" for "asylum seeker" and see how that reads. No matter whether you think them "bogus" or genuine, on arriving in this country they generally have almost nothing. Maybe I am the exception in this, but I find there to be nothing more admirable in a society than that it will willingly extend a hand and offer shelter to those in need, regardless of origin. Apologies for the Political Broadcast nature of this... | ||
| 10 Feb 05, 7:10 PM melita UK(ST), 8 yrs |
i see what you're saying and agree with you...to a point. See the point i was trying to make was not that asylum seekers do not have genuine needs but simply that maybe we, as a country, should concentrate on helping our own a little more. shaheena {A} | ||
| 11 Feb 05, 12:28 AM SnowdropExplodes UK(TN), 7 yrs |
I am sorry to take you up on this, but that is exactly the sort of line spouted by the BNP. I have no objection to doing more to help our own, but it should not be at the cost of hanging others out to dry. When you lumped asylum seekers in with alcoholics and drug-users, you did imply that the needs of asylum seekers were no more pressing than those groups. To my mind, a person in need is a person in need, and should be aided as far as possible regardless of distinctions. Sadly, the System ain't built that way. The question is, if we as a country should be doing more to help our own, we should vote for an increase in taxation to pay for it. For 26 years (as long as I have been alive) voters have been saying that they would rather pocket the cash and take their chances, and thereby stiff anybody who happens to have a genuine need. And now I really will put away my soapbox and stop talking politics, because this is not the time or the place for it. | ||
| 11 Feb 05, 11:43 AM melita UK(ST), 8 yrs |
Time to take this one to private memo me thinks...... shaheena {A} |
