A disabled man has described how he was forced to scavenge for food from supermarket bins, as a result of the government's welfare reforms.

{jcomments on}{EMBOT SUBSCRIPTION=5,6}Clive Baulch was one of about 20 disabled people who presented personal evidence about the impact of the government's austerity programme on their human rights, during a testimony session in London.

A recording of the session - organised by Inclusion London and Disabled People Against Cuts - will be sent to Shuaib Chalklen, the UN's special rapporteur on disability, whose job is to monitor progress around the world towards equal opportunities.

He had been due to visit England to attend the meeting and the launch of a human rights report but had to postpone the trip at short notice.

Baulch told the meeting how he was made redundant in April 2012, three years after he became disabled through a massive stroke.

In November 2012 he had his benefits stopped because he was told he hadn't been "looking for work diligently", even though he had applied for 600 jobs.

Within days he had run out of money. "I was in pretty dire straits. I tried begging. I also tried three in the morning round the back of the supermarkets looking in skips. I spent a lot of my days 'striving'."

He told Disability News Service later that he had taken food from supermarket skips on about five occasions.

He had also tried using a food bank, and added: "There are people migrating around London, going from food bank to food bank, including a lot of people with mental health problems."

He has diabetes, and he described how his health deteriorated and he had to be hospitalised last December.

Just when he had stabilised his blood sugar level, six months later, he had his employment and support allowance removed after being found fit for work, following a work capability assessment carried out by Atos.

Baulch is currently waiting for an appeal against the government's decision to find him fit for work.

It is the second time that a disabled person has spoken publicly of being forced to scavenge for food from supermarket bins.

Earlier this year, a member of the Disabled Activists Network Wales (DAN Cymru) told how disabled people were being taught to scavenge for free food in supermarket skips and dustbins because they could not afford to feed themselves.

News provided by John Pring at www.disabilitynewsservice.com

 

Comments

Write comments...
or post as a guest
Loading comment... The comment will be refreshed after 00:00.

Be the first to comment.

Free PIP, ESA & UC Updates!

Delivered Fortnightly

Over 110,000 claimants and professionals subscribe to the UK's leading source of benefits news.

 
iContact
We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.