Itrytoplease

Benefits are not awarded for a certain condition. There are two separate varieties of disability benefits, those awarded because your condition prevents you from taking a paid job and those awarded because of how your condition affects your ability to live independently.

 

I'm sure that there are those with well managed bipolar who maintain their paid work and don't need any help with the basics of food, washing and the like. Equally there are those who are so badly affected that there is no question that they are no longer capable of taking a job and they need assistance several times a day, or even in patient treatment for long periods for their condition.

 

I don't have bipolar, but I do struggle with depression secondary to a whole load of degenerative medical issues that are worsening with time and I understand that what is apparent to others may not be what is actually happening in your life.

 

When you ring up for the forms you will only have 3 weeks to get them filled in and returned, so my advice would be to get your doctors on board with supplying letters of evidence before you ring up, along with booking an appointment with the CAB or similar to help you fill in the forms.

 

The forms want to know in the most detailed way possible exactly how your condition affects you. They don't want to know, for instance, that it hurts to stand, they want to know that getting from lying to sitting pulls in one place and causes pain in that joint, then getting from sitting to standing hurts here (to use a physical description relevant to me, rather than you). The detail is what makes the difference in a claim, between someone just writing words and someone who can actually describe in detail what happens.

 

Ignore the size of box that is available for each answer- write an essay for each question if that's what explains your symptoms fully, you can always continue on another piece of paper.

 

Give it them with both barrels- they won't know the worst of how it is unless you explain it to them. Remember that they aren't interested in the name of your condition, they're interested in how it affects you on a daily basis, so tell them, in detail how and why it stops you from being able to do things.

 

Get help- I would only advise someone to fill in the forms by themselves if they had a history of filling them out completely. I know what things they are looking for and have got first DLA then ESA and PIP for a whole selection of friends.

 

Don't expect the DWP to actually contact any medical professional to ask for evidence- they say they will but none of the ones I've ever put down have been contacted in the last 20 years. Get the evidence from your doctors and include it, then they can have no case to say that they didn't have sufficient evidence.

 

Make sure that EVERY detail contained in your forms is correct before they are sent in. Anything that contradicts other statements WILL be used against you at assessment or appeal.

 

Take photocopies of everything that is sent in, along with names and dates of anybody you speak to, and take someone appropriate along with you to any appointments, so that it will never come down to a 'he said, she said' situation. Consider finding a way to record any meetings, if that is legal for them. Check with the DWP regulations to determine what is necessary in terms of equipment to satisfy their regulations.

 

The PIP forms are now an awful lot better than the DLA forms were for people with mental health issues. Take the time to go into your difficulties in enough detail to paint an assessor a proper picture of what is happening, including all of the other people who support you, open your mail, help you manage your finances, help you to get out and about when you're not well, help you to keep food in the fridge and feed yourself with nutritious food and help you with basic things like scheduling and carrying out housework, laundry and self-care.

 

All together, take this as a large project to be managed and commit yourself to it like you would to anything else that holds your financial independence in its grip.

 

Good luck

Great advice here, I would point out that the three weeks begins from the DATE ON THE LETTER, not when you receive it ( my letter took 10 days to reach me, so I had 10 days less to fill it in). Good luck

This is in deed a sign of the times, but what happens to the old folks that have no idea about computers or on line banking ? and are used to buying/paying in cash. I'm lucky to an extent as i was/am a technophobe - love all this tech stuff and have a good knowledge of computers. at 66 I don't think there's many of us.

Yippee yet another inconvenience, but still another kebab shop to open or mini mart

Or better yet it could be a Bookies, i'm sure we need another one in Darnall

Good decision. I imagine the staff were incredibly under-worked and realistically there shouldn't be a random Yorkshire Bank in Darnall of all places.......

 

Surprised it's taken so long for this to happen.

sounds like you used to live here, and now ashamed of the fact.

or is it a case of " pull the ladder up i'm OK jack

Maybe it's coincidental but I've yet to go in that branch and not queue.

 

Has it really gotten that quiet?

It's very rare that I've been in there and haven't had to queue.

TSB if it's the one opposite the pub - yes it's still there.

Yorkshire Bank Darnall to CLOSE as of the 12th June. due to a decline in usage.

True, False or old wife's tale - you tell me. " At a conference in the states for experts in vitamins, members were asked on the way in - " does taking extra vitamins HELP prolong your life" the results were inconclusive, with most saying they were unsure. On the way out they were asked "do you take extra vitamins" the result was 100% YES.

Trackers on your cars

Try it yourself and see.

See my post No4

I put that as a Question as I have been out on my mobility scooter today, and It didn't seem that bad. NOW!

I'm expecting 3 parcels, have been for days, but I was thinking to myself yesterday - "No way would you get me delivering post in this weather", so I'm not surprised.

Sheffield South East Delivery Office (S12 & S13) - Deliveries suspended.

https://personal.help.royalmail.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12556/~/service-update

That explains a lot, but is it really that bad?

Thanks, I'll write it down (then prob. forgot where I put it)

The tribunal should provide you with a written decision notice and this should also be sent to the DWP. The DWP must then change its decision and pay you the arrears for what they owe you. There is sometimes a short delay in this happening but it shouldn't be more than a week or so. I suggest you contact the PIP office on 0800 917 2222 and check they are processing the new decision.

https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/30422/tribunal-overturned-pip-decision-what-happens-next

---------- Post added 02-03-2018 at 19:47 ----------

OP. Was the advice above any good, or was it completely wrong, Only by feedback can we learn what the rules are. and help others

their web site sells them.

Sadly not, but he lived a very unhealthy lifestyle. He had been a rough sleeper for many years and despite now having somewhere to live he still spent most of his time outdoors. He was very cantankerous and ignored all medical advice. He was what is known as a "character"

That is sad. I don't know why an elevated leg helps with healing, but it does, I googled pics of a "necrotic leg ulcer" and they looked bad, but not half as bad as my mothers, how they saved her leg I'll never know, but I do know this pain relief was the catalyst of getting things going.

The FZ2000 is a cracking camera.

Just bought it, it's got more whistle and bells than some DSLR's. It will take me some time to get really into it, but i'm doing ok so far.

Thanks, It's nice to Finnish off a walk with a pint or a cup of tea.

Regardless of the circumstances, the local authority had a statutory duty to provide care. There is no get-out clause, the duty remains whatever the circumstances. I've worked with people with a wide range of needs all my life and had to deal with all sorts of stuff. There was one guy whose necrotic leg ulcer needed dressing everyday, and which was done to an accompanying volley of vile verbal abuse. I didn't refuse to do it, I just had to think about what had brought him to that point in his life and be grateful those things hadn't happened to me, whilst reminding him that he shouldn't swear at people and that I was helping him. There is no excuse for leaving people to die.

Off subject, but did the person get better regarding the ulcers? I ask because my mother suffered from the same, so much so they wanted to take her leg off. she was told to keep the leg elevated but it was so bad she couldn't move/lift it, However a care worker brought her some pain relieving patches (used in treating cancer she said) and she was then able to keep her leg elevated and recovered in a few months.

Fuji S1 if a bridge camera is any good to you, Great optics great zoom, and to my mind cheap at around £260.00. A second hand one is a lot cheaper.

---------- Post added 24-02-2018 at 19:13 ----------

I know it's not compact, but for what you get the extra size makes it worth while.

Google isn't much help with this question, What days/times does the cafe open in the park please.

SEO ? SRA ? to make this readable to non tech's these need explaining. To design someones web site gives that person an open book to insert a back door or malware etc. it's a bit like sending begging letters or spam, only instead of gaining pounds you have the chance of hundreds of thousands in one hit. There must be some sort of regulatory body that controls this type of thing but it eludes me, never heard of this before which makes me think is there something wrong with your web site, ie is it set up correctly.

Irrespective of having or not having a mental illness, Irrespective of the alleged abuse she said, Irrespective of who cancelled her care, the fact remains 1 - She was left on her own with no support. 2 - The council has a duty of care, no matter what! She was let down.

This is an interesting question; I'd love to know more about your reasoning for considering shifting to meat and dairy that is totally grass fed? (Are you going on a palaeo diet?)

 

I will make a few points in relation to the topic though:

- Foggage is the long grass grown after a cut for hay/silage has taken place; it's usually higher in roughage (stalkier) than the younger grass and can be use to overwinter animals. However, it isn't generally used as such in the UK (aside from sheep) because of the following factors:

a) Foggage is not as nutritionally dense as alternatively grass-based over-wintering - i.e. silage/haylage/hay; this makes maintaining body condition in the animals more difficult

b) There is often a need for supplementary feeding to allow the cattle to tolerate the colder and windier temperatures (there's very little economic wiggle room for this)

c) Maintaining a reliable, liquid water supply can also be difficult during particularly cold winters

d) Having animals (particularly heavy cattle) on very wet soils is incredibly bad for them. It causes a compaction layer which increases runoff and flood risk; it also increases foot and hoof diseases; it also decreases the productivity of the field in producing a reliable grass crop. These are the main reasons why I would always oppose a totally grass-fed system, in reality.

e) The amount of wastage in foggage fields is high, because the animals trample or squash a lot of the grass in the wetter conditions; the only way around this is to utilise 'row' grazing to graze one strip of a field at a time (again, this requires additional cost and manpower)

 

The reality of the situation in the UK is that we are far better than the US and the majority of our beef and lamb is grass-fed (although not necessarily always 'in field' and 'in total' - often supplemented with grains and/or beet), with very few concentrated animal feeding operations (some dairy is straying towards this).

 

A lot of the 'hype' around grass-fed comes out of the American systems; in reality, we are still far more traditional (and better) in our approach here in the UK. I understand that vitamin and mineral concentrations are typically higher in grass-fed cattle, as well as omega-3 and CLA concentrations (although with people typically trimming all of the fat for super-lean meat, this is a bit of a moot point), but these nutritional benefits can be obtained from a) eating grass-finished meat (a large proportion of UK beef and lamb is) and b) eating a varied, balanced diet. A further reality is that we wouldn't be able to feed the world's growing population if all of our ruminants were exclusively grass-fed.

 

Having said that, the closest thing to a certification that I know of (although I could talk to you all day about the positives and negatives of certification schemes) is the 'Pasture for Life' scheme. See https://www.pastureforlife.org/ [but be aware that there is inherent bias in the information on their website!].

 

My personal preference is to try and eat locally-reared meat, without stipulating that they need to be totally grass-fed. The average cow spends c. 200 days per year on grass anyway in the UK, higher in organic systems. Soil Association stipulate at least 60% grass-based feed. Ensuring that cattle or sheep are 'finished' well is more important to me than them being exclusively grass-fed, and I appreciate that the pressure on our soil systems from extensive grazing needs to be reduced, not increased. As such, my preference leans more towards http://www.freerangedairy.org/make-the-pasture-promise/

 

For pursuing local food, a good starting point could be this list: http://www.wildsheffield.com/node/3946

Hope that helps...

What a GREAT answer/semi answer to the question, informative and concise, I learnt something today. Thanks for taking the time to enlighten me if not all of us.

Not in this country apparently, can't use the word Christmas, and can't put the word EASTER on chocolate eggs.