Working Families’ Project for Carers and Parents of Disabled Children who Work o

[Guest guest]

December 2010

Waving not drowning, Working Families’ Project for Carers and Parents of Disabled Children who Work or Wish to Work

· Welcome to Waving not drowning’s November & December e-bulletin.

Best wishes for Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year and any other winter festival you and your family celebrate. I hope this bulletin doesn’t find you snowed in.

There is now a Waving not drowning Facebook group. If you’re already on Facebook, join the group and add your comments and questions about combining paid work and caring. If you want to join Facebook go to www.facebook.com. Signing up is very straight forward.

You can help raise money for Working Families by staying in the warm and doing Christmas shopping at http://buy.at/workingfamilies . Stores include Amazon, M & S, Play and Game. Just click on the above link, find the online store and continue shopping as usual. Working Families receives a small amount of commission for every purchase.

· Although lone parents with children aged seven and over are going to be required to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance rather than Income Support if they are able to work, some lone parents will continue to receive Income Support if:

o They have a child in receipt of the middle or highest rate care component of Disability Living Allowance;

o Receive Carer’s Allowance, or;

o Are ing

22 November – 22 December 2010 is Disability History Month. Information and resources at http://www.ukdisabilityhistorymonth.com .

Prince ’s wedding day, Friday 29 April 2011, will be a public holiday. Whether you actually get an extra day off work can depend on the terms of your contract. See http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3197 .

Between 2006 and 2008, the number of people working from home increased by 291,000 - accounting for more than half of employment growth during this period.

You can see the white paper detailing plans for reforming the benefits system and bringing in a ‘universal credit’ at http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/legislation-and-key-documents/universal-credit/ .

In this winter weather, the Family Fund wants to remind families with severely disabled children who are thinking of applying to send in their forms because it takes time to process applications. See www.familyfund.org.uk .

The government has announcement of a more rapid increase in the rise in state pension age and they have put the new figures on the Direct Gov website at http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/SpendingReview/DG_192159

· This month’s winner of the Waving not drowning Draw was ticket number 000002. You too could win up to £50 in the Waving not drowning Draw, a fun way you can support the Waving not drowning project. Just complete and return the attached form to buy monthly tickets at £2 each by direct debit.

o One third of the profits will go to lucky prize winners each month.

o The more tickets sold the greater the prize money. The rest of the profits go to help the Waving not drowning project including

o Staffing a helpline advising carers and parents of disabled children

o Publishing a free newsletter for carers and parents of disabled children

o Campaigning for a better deal for carers and parents of disabled children in the workplace

Working Families’ booklet Getting into Work is still available to download from Working Families’ website, www.workingfamilies.org.uk. Please let me know if you experience any difficulties. Hard copies are out of print at the moment.

Please forward this e-bulletin to any friends or colleagues who would be interested. They can contact me at janet.mearns@... to get on the distribution list for the e-bulletin and for the free Waving not drowning newsletter.

There’s lots of information about parents’ and carers’ rights in the workplace on Working Families’ website, www.workingfamilies.org.uk . If the website doesn’t answer your questions you can ring me on 020 7017 0072.

Please remember to let me know at janet.mearns@... when you change email address so that you always get my e-bulletin. If you put my email address in your address book and/or add me to your ’white list’ it will prevent my e-bulletin being caught by your spam catcher. Similarly, if you move house make sure you notify me so that you continue to get your copy of Waving not drowning.

If, for any reason, you don’t want to receive the e-bulletin, just email me at janet.mearns@... and I’ll take you off the distribution list.

Janet Mearns

Disability Adviser

Parents of Disabled Children Project

Working Families

Registered office

1-3 Berry Street

London EC1V 0AA

Direct line: 020 7017 0072

Office Tel: 020 7253 7243 Fax: 020 7253 6253

www.workingfamilies.org.uk

janet.mearns@...

My usual working days are: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday

Working Families needs your help! Donate online now to help us keep more low income parents in work and out of family poverty: click here to donate now.

Join in the discussions in the Waving not drowning Facebook Group. Sign up for Facebook at www.facebook.com .

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