Continuing with the theme of a week of action against Workfare, today's call for action is in the sector of hospices charity shops. Thousands of actions across the country on a daily basis against this aberration in decent human society, will have an impact, if we show determination and solidarity. The poisonous tentacles of workfare has slithered its way through the fabric of this corrupt exploitative system, and the powers would be delighted if we would let it become the norm. This mustn't ever happen.
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Stop workfare in hospice charity shops
Posted: October 8th, 2014 | Author: boycottworkfare | Filed under: Action report, Charities | No Comments » This week is #HospiceCareWeek. Today, as part of our week of action, we want to contact hospices and ask them to commit to not taking part in any of the government’s workfare schemes.
Hospices offer palliative care, social support, and practical advice – and help families through mourning and bereavement. They help people with illnesses which would otherwise massively curtail their freedom of movement be as independent as possible. This is vital and valuable work, transforming the quality of people’s lives.More Details HERE:
Help the Hospices, the charity for hospice care in the UK, says that
‘A hospice is not just a building, it is a way of caring for people. Hospice care aims to improve the lives of people who have a life-limiting or terminal illness, helping them to live well before they die.’But why are so many hospices willing to stop other people living well, by forcing them to work for no pay under threat of sanctions?
Many hospices have local charity shops which take people through workfare schemes – especially Mandatory Work Activity. If you’re unwilling to take part in MWA, which involves 30 hours unpaid work per week, for four weeks at a time, you’ll be hit with a minimum sanction of 13 weeks for a ‘first failure’. The maximum sanction is 3 years: 3 years of hunger, hardship and destitution. We’ve also heard from people at hospice charity shops on mandatory work placements from the Work Programme and six-month Community Work Placements.
We know hospice shops and care centres need volunteers to run them. And we know that hospice care across the UK relies on the work of tens of thousands of volunteers to carry on their valuable activities. But that is no justification for forcing unemployed people to work in charity shops for weeks at a time for no wages. Charities that take part in workfare not only undermine genuine volunteering, but are also instrumental in claimants being sanctioned and left with no income.
