My Fight For A Career: Continued
I wrote an article only a few months back declaring that I had very little opportunities on what to do with my life due to how my benefits dictated what I would be able to do.
Since then I have found some alternative but awkward routes past the issues I was facing, although not all of them. I have discovered that I am apparently eligible to Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) if I only do 16 hours of guided learning, this is what I was told by student services at Coleg Glan Hafren. They told me to make reference to something called the Hansard, an apparent form of minute for the House of Commons. This said it does come with a drawback; I have to agree to leave my course should I find or be offered work at any point.
Now unfortunately I am going to play devil's advocate here and ask what would happen if I refused the work if I got offered. The answer would be a sanction from the Job Centre as mentioned before, with Housing Benefit and JSA being stopped for six months. I would be then unable to go to college and effectively still end up with nothing in the end and be homeless, again.
I have still not found a suitable grant or method that would let me out of this possible choke hold. I have to thank Careers Wales for telling me about the information in the Hansard. That said, two members of Careers Wales though did originally tell me that there wasn't any option of progressing further in education. I am thankful to have seen a really good Careers Wales advisor based in the Job Centre. I do believe that there isn't enough support for people who're trying to access education independently. This would be due to two things in my opinion...
1. A lack of knowledge on eligibility of financial support/lack of financial support
2. A lack of appropriate training for advisers regarding independent people trying to access further and higher education
Having now tried many sites on the internet, consulted two youth workers, three careers advisers, and two Job Centre staff amongst others, I think I have gotten as much information as I could find without having any particular expertise in the situation. What else can I do?
Info Education Higher Education
Info Education Post 16 Education
Info Money Benefits Income Support
Info Money Benefits Housing Benefits
Info Employment & Training Unemployment
Info Money Money while you learn Part-time Study
IMAGE: Waiting...? by *Kicki*