Hi, I’m on ESA because of a chronic health condition and I’ve been put on the Work Programme to support me into work. The results from the first two years of this new scheme show that the Work Programme is not doing as well as the government hoped at helping disabled people into work.
I want to help policy makers understand what’s going wrong. I’m conducting research to see if other people are having the same kinds of experience with it as I’m having.
I’ll be putting a proper tick box survey online in the next few weeks with the charity Mind. But in the meantime, could you help me gather as many people’s experiences as possible to get first impressions?
If you’re on ESA and have been referred to the Work Programme, either by choice or by compulsion, please could you write in (as much or as little as you like) about whether it has worked for you? The Work Programme is separate from Jobcentre Plus and there are different organisations running it depending on where you live, with names like Ingeus, Serco, A4E etc.
Please write to me at workprogstories@gmail.com Or of course,
leave comments below
For example you could think about:
Has it helped you identify and move towards a form of work that you could manage within your health/impairment limitations?
Do you feel your support needs are being addressed? Is the programme of activities accessible to you?
Have you been able to meet the conditions laid out by your adviser to avoid sanctions?
What has been the impact on your health and wellbeing of taking part in the Work Programme so far?
You don’t have to answer everything. I want to hear all stories, good and bad.
Thank you very much. I want the government to hear it from the ground. Our lives and our aspirations are too precious to allow a multi-million pound scheme like this to go wrong.
Catherine
workprogstories@gmail.com
For example you could think about:
Has it helped you identify and move towards a form of work that you could manage within your health/impairment limitations?
Do you feel your support needs are being addressed? Is the programme of activities accessible to you?
Have you been able to meet the conditions laid out by your adviser to avoid sanctions?
What has been the impact on your health and wellbeing of taking part in the Work Programme so far?
You don’t have to answer everything. I want to hear all stories, good and bad.
Thank you very much. I want the government to hear it from the ground. Our lives and our aspirations are too precious to allow a multi-million pound scheme like this to go wrong.
Catherine
workprogstories@gmail.com
