Sue Ryder
The pressure group is running a week of events at the end of March; charities including Sue Ryder (pictured), PDSA and Sense have already withdrawn from the programme
A wave of protests pressuring charities to withdraw from the government’s "mandatory work activity" scheme has been organised for the end of March by the pressure group Boycott Workfare.
The group is campaigning for the end of compulsory work placements for unemployed people, which can require them to work for up to 30 hours unpaid or risk losing their benefits.
The list of charities that Boycott Workfare wants to withdraw from the scheme includes Barnardo’s, the RSPCA, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, the disability charity the Papworth Trust and the conservation volunteering organisation TCV.
A week of action, from 18 to 24 March, will involve sit-ins, protests and letters delivered to shop managers protesting against the activity, the group said.
Several high-profile charities have withdrawn from the scheme this month, including Sue Ryder, the PDSA and Sense.
Sue Ryder said in a statement that it was withdrawing "with a heavy heart" because "recent online lobbying using strong and emotive language and making misleading claims about our volunteering practices" threatened to damage its work, and because it needed to protect staff and supporters "from any further distress".
In a statement, the Department for Work and Pensions, which runs the mandatory work activity, said: "It is deeply regrettable that a small number of people have targeted charities and subjected them to intimidation and abuse in an effort to disrupt the operation of this scheme.
"In so doing, they deny many people the opportunities and help they need to get back into work."
Boycott Workfare said in a statement: "It is deeply encouraging that a large number of people have contacted charities and made the perfectly reasonable request that they withdraw from this scheme, which does not help people into employment.
"We're grateful to those charities that have left the scheme."
Third Sector
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Salvation Army have responded to criticisms by banning people from their facebook page and deleting comments, risking the row going international as the charity have lots of facebook pages.
The Salvation Army claim to help the poor. They know themselves only too well the suffering that being stripped of benefits, and facing possible homelessness can bring to people’s lives. Yet they are quite happy to exploits a benefits regime that makes the poor destitute if it helps keep down their wage bill. On a local level only of course.
Tell them what you think on twitter: @salvationarmyuk
The Salvation Army claim to help the poor. They know themselves only too well the suffering that being stripped of benefits, and facing possible homelessness can bring to people’s lives. Yet they are quite happy to exploits a benefits regime that makes the poor destitute if it helps keep down their wage bill. On a local level only of course.
Tell them what you think on twitter: @salvationarmyuk
