I hope you got your blue badge. They tried to take mine away a while ago. I was still working but could not walk to the public car parks. With my badge I could park outside my office. When I got the notice that my blue badge was being withdrawn or not renewed, I wrote them a letter thanking them so much for making me have to stop working and making me feel more of a liability than I already felt. I thanked them for ensuring that I will probably not get another job now at my age and disabled. I finished by saying that I guess I'd now be eligible to apply for sickness benefit. My blue badge arrived a week later.
A neighbour of mine had his blue badge and mobility car taken off him because he could walk from his front door to his car ! They were not interested in the pain he was in when walking too far. These assers couldn't give a damm they are paid by how many people they can get off benifits..!
It‘s like that here in Germany as well, you have to be half dead to get a disability „Badge/Category“ high enough to allow you to park in the Disabled Spots. Meanwhile the Disabled Parking Places remain empty !
The gentleman doesn't say which is his local authority. I too am disabled, yet have not encountered like difficulties. I have a balance problem which I refer to as ground-based vertigo, I have managed to knock myself out several times, and I lay on the floor for three hours until my wife came home and helped me from the floor. Since that time, I have had a massive heart attack, to which I was further debilitated. I use a seated walker or the in-house mobility shopper, I find life more enriching, no longer taking nature's beauty for granted. After the attack, I found I came out the other side a different person, no doubt something chemical. Life, love, and family are far more meaningful, I am certainly not the soldier I once was. I have been lucky, life is more colourful, and more meaningful, being in my mid-70s, there cannot be that much time left, so I embrace the gift I have been given, if that is what it is. I sincerely hope this gentleman receives the recognition he deserves.
I wholely and completely understand and agree with your ascessment of "the process" as being invaseive, "accusatory", arbitrary and "threatening". In a way, the decisions, made by beaurocrats, can dictate the course of other aspects if your life. Being able to use disabled parking can mean the difference between being able to live independantly, and requiring a higher level of care. With the blue badge, you are able to, using your limited mobility, achieve a functional level of "being". Without the blue badge, there will be things you have to strike from the list of things you CAN do without excessive pain and fatigue. Your "world" shrinks. At what point has it shrunk below "a life worth living"? Can you, for instance, do your shopping every fortnight, instead of weekly? Maybe.. but it might come at the expense of having fresh produce and dairy. Is this a "reasonable" imposition on your rights as a citizen of a modern democracy? I answer this with an emphatic NO! This is an arbitrary and capricious assualt on your autonomy and free will as an individual and a citizen! There is one thing to consider, though: disabled parking bays are a limited resource. They cease to be useful when you pull into a car park, and they are all "occupied". Is some spaces are used by people who find disabled parking "convienent", and not the difference between being able to live independantly. From your description, I think you are on the verge of loosing your ability to live independantly. It comes down to "how much suffering is TOO MUCH?" When you are making choices as to whether you will do, and not do something , based on " is it worth the pain", or not." YOU.ARE the person society set aside disabled parking for. Is having to show, periodically, that you are "that person" too much to ask to make sure that when you pull into the car park, there will be a bay waiting for your use, as opposed to "taken by someone who just "likes the convienence"? That's a question you will need to do some soul searching for. I think you have "earned" the right to your badge. Best of luck! (And if they force you to appeal, remember, you are parked there because you need the closer parking... it isn't a "choice".)
I have just re-applied on behalf of my wife. Little or no consideration is given to the carer's role. Driving with a disabled person is not easy, trying to find a disability bay which is within reach for the person to be able get to their appointment, toilet facilities are very scarce. Dealing with a disabled person who is getting flustered because their goal is beyond their reach, it goes on and on.....In our town restrictions on Blue-badge parking have been imposed even although the public carparks are well beyond the 50 metres distance. Too far for the disabled person to use a rollator so a wheelchair is required so this 80 year-old carer now has to lift the chair in and out of the car, get the disabled person into the chair and push!
100% agree with this gentleman its degrading and upsetting l had to travel 14mile to be assessed and its not free like a lot of people think ,and also have to pay on many car parks
Following various videos about blue badges and disabilities having had to apply myself. Shock when your at work one day then taken ill and then your whole world changes. I went for one assessment and the guy seemed genuine and agreed mostly with my diagnosis then just 3 weeks later another assessment where she claimed I could do far more and actually did these tests without any signs of trouble. It seems like you need to beg to get what your actually entitled to.
There are people who deserve a blue badge and can't get one ,on the other hand there are fraudsters who have them . Too often I've seen people put the badge on the dash then literally jump out the car with no difficulty and carry on with no difficulty with mobilisation, no stick or wheelchair etc and come back carrying bags of shopping . I do hope you are able to get your badge, perhaps a letter from your doctor may help.
I’m in a very similar situation with 3 year renewal due next month . I’ve had a blue badge for 18 years and no 78 why on earth would my council think osteo arthritis gets better , it most certainly doesn’t . Interested to know what decision they came to in your case ?
My grandfather has to use a stick nut can't walk far or up small steps. He's forgotten to renew it. He's 87, and he his hip stops him manoeuvring. He's ex miner and suffer with his heart and dust to his chest. But coz of his ages he says why have a new hip but coz of the breathing through dust which makes about 20 meters without stopping because of all the illnesses. How can he re-apply for the blue bage He's had for last 30 yrs.
When I (46F) go for my two assessments (ESA and PIP) I have to get a taxi which costs a fortune and I get terrible motion sickness, so I can't take my pills in the morning, because I will just throw them up, throwing up also makes my pain worse. I have social neurosa (I fear people and get anxious in public) and they leave you in a room FULL of people waiting, sometimes for hours, this has made me have meltdowns. I don't know why, if you have MEDICAL EVIDENCE, they have to assess. It's merely a means for the benefits to not pay what you deserve. I didn't choose to be disabled, but I'm made to feel like a criminal in asking for help. Sometimes I think I should go abroad, 'lose' my passport and claim asylum back in UK. At least then I'll get ALL the things my full-time-worker daughter pays taxes for!!!
As far as blue badge clearly some people need them . But as we have all seen in towns and cities some dont need them . When they come sprinting out of there vehicle. Also some park just basically anywhere and anyhow.
Your past medical history should have immediately got you a badge. I got mine and the man who took my application said I got it for my medication alone as were fentanyl and oxycontin.
Absolute disregard for humility of the citizens. The authorities spend more time and effort in caring for asylum seekers than they do for the needy members of the tax paying public. Disgraceful.
@@davidhoyle6626 My (4th generation in this 'new' town) full-time working 19 year old daughter is not eligible for social housing, but cannot afford private renting. She has to live in my council house with me for another 10 years and save for a down-payment on a mortgage. I need to move to a disability home, but they only come in 1 bedroom. My council have spent a fortune in converting office blocks into homes for asylum seekers, (and yes, ONLY asylum seekers) and yet, they don't have the money to repair our council housing and pathways. When I moved into my house, I move in with NOTHING and had to go to charity shops because I couldn't afford new items (including carpets, curtains, bed linen and white goods). I have worked with asylum social workers and they provide them with a 'fully stocked' home with carpeting, curtains/rails, bed linen, basic furniture and white goods of fridge/cooker/washing machine. 'Michael' stated 'more time and effort' (not MONEY) on asylum seekers. Why shouldn't 'native citizens' who pay the taxes and have ancestral rights to this land not be given first? I'm all for helping those in need as in the Ukrainians who eventually WANT to return home, but those coming from the WAR IN FRANCE? NO!
This appears to be a classic example of a bunch of a...holes showing how NOT to be empathetic and very rules and regs focussed. Customer Service at its worst and as for expecting a discussion in a public thoroughfare - REALLY! Whole lot either need sacking or extensively retraining.
No disrespect to anyone but I'm old enough to remember when there was no such thing as a blue badge. Message to all British governments if you prioritise one group off people you discriminate against another. The government are always saying they want equality don't give anyone priority that's equality.
