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Charity ride father loses benefit
Topic Started: Feb 6 2008, 05:33 AM (165 Views)
wild_thing
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Tyre Changer
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicest...ire/7228611.stm

Quote:
 
A father said he has lost a disability benefit after doing a 200-mile sponsored bike ride for the cancer charity which helped his twin sons.

Danny Johnson-Green, 25, from Leicester, said his monthly payments of more than £300 were stopped and he was ordered to repay more than £2,500. ....................."(The Department of Work and Pensions) are saying that if I could cycle 200 miles then I'm a normal, able-bodied person, which is clear from the evidence that I'm not," he said.

Mr Johnson-Green was born with hemiplegia which affects his mobility and movement.

It means he can not get out of the bath, fasten his shoes or cook a meal without discomfort.


And what i am i supposed to do feel sorry for him? He's been found out and he doesn't like it. So he can ride 200 miles on a bike, something a lot of the so called able bodied population could not manage, but cannot get out of the bath? Is the bath at the bottom of a pit he has to climb out of.

If he is getting that benefit he is also entitled to disabled parking etc etc.

I take my hat off for making a charity run, but he should not complain that he is hard done by when he is obviously fit enough to not warrant a benefit for people with real needs.
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John
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There is a lot assumptions being made here... many handicapped people overcome the pain and disability for one off charity events... they are no suddenly cured because unlike some more able bodied people they are willing to do something for charity...

There are two side to everything.
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wild_thing
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John,Feb 6 2008
08:31 AM
There is a lot assumptions being made here... many handicapped people overcome the pain and disability for one off charity events... they are no suddenly cured because unlike some more able bodied people they are willing to do something for charity...

There are two side to everything.

There can be two sides to a story, but this benefit is paid because the person claiming states they cannot do many normal tasks unaided.
Though we had a rare champion in the Terminally ill Jane Tomlinson too many are claiming a benefit they do not deserve.
The governments own statistics show 2.7 million get incapacity benefit when only around 700 thousand are genuinely ill and the benefit is being scraped for a new better administered one later this year.

The guy in the article is not terminally ill and as shown he is more than capable of riding a bike. For then to say, it hurts a bit getting out of the bath or tying his shoe laces then i feel, like the department who would have re-read his application form and withdrew his benefits, he is taking the pi$$ and is most likely also fit to do some kind of work which brings into question his other benefits as well.

You don't have to be able to ride 200 miles on a push bike to work but if your that able you can flaming well do some sort of work for a living. He is obviously not motivated enough in that area which makes the benefit life so appealing to some but obviously not all.

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Norbert
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It does seem that he's extracting the urine. However, to be fair, is it not possible that as John says, he is affected by something that can be overcome for a time if you have the willpower? I'm not suggesting that being able to ride a bike 200 miles doesn't imply a good fitenss and stamina level, but there may be more to it. Maybe sitting at a desk would cause this 'discomfort' to flare up. Then again, it depends on how you define 'discomfort'. Maybe I could wear clothes two inches too small and claim that I'm too uncomfy to work?

Again, it's another example of needing means testing and individual cases to be looked in to before you can really get a proper answer.
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Norbert
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wild_thing,Feb 6 2008
08:55 AM
Though we had a rare champion in the Terminally ill Jane Tomlinson too many are claiming a benefit they do not deserve.

Well, there you go. You could argue that yes, she was terminal, but at the same was still capable of doing all that charity work, so not entitle to benefit. I don't know if she actually claimed or not, but given the amount of money she raised it's not inconceivable that a small portion was used to help support her needs, which I would fully endorse.
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