{"id":293005,"date":"2025-04-29T06:56:36","date_gmt":"2025-04-29T06:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/volunteers-at-ross-on-wye-hub-flag-rising-benefit-cut-concerns\/"},"modified":"2025-04-29T06:56:36","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T06:56:36","slug":"volunteers-at-ross-on-wye-hub-flag-rising-benefit-cut-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/29\/volunteers-at-ross-on-wye-hub-flag-rising-benefit-cut-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteers at Ross-on-Wye hub flag rising benefit cut concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Volunteers<\/div>


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Tom Edwards<\/span><\/p>\n

Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Independent councillor Milly Boylan said the centre had been “inundated” with worried people over benefits changes<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Staff at a centre which supports vulnerable people say they are seeing an increasing numbers of people come to them who are worried about large changes to the benefits system. <\/p>\n

In Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire, @the Hub launched in June with volunteers offering people support on issues like benefits, housing and debt advice.<\/p>\n

Independent town councillor Milly Boylan, who runs the site, said they were being “inundated” with concerned visitors. <\/p>\n

A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokesperson said the government would never compromise on protecting people in need.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In March, the Labour government announced plans for major changes<\/a> to the benefits system aimed at cutting the growing amount the UK spent on welfare.<\/p>\n

Those changes would include stricter tests for personal independence payments (PIP) and the halving of incapacity benefits under universal credit for new claimants.<\/p>\n

“We are seeing a lot of people coming in who are struggling – we’ve had people get in touch who are absolutely petrified,” Boylan said. <\/p>\n

“Some people are concerned specifically about their PIP potentially going down. <\/p>\n

“Then there’s concern over this migration on to universal credit and how that will work – we’ve had extra training to try and help people who are coming in but we know there’s some who will be excluded from PIP payments under the new rules. <\/p>\n

“It’s crippling for people.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Les Mifflin said he would struggle under the changes<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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One of the regulars at the hub is 64-year-old Les Mifflin, a former kitchen porter who ended up homeless after the breakdown of a relationship. <\/p>\n

Due to ill health he currently gets a PIP payment but if the changes come into force, he said he would face a significant cut. <\/p>\n

“I will be impacted by what they are looking to do, that’s my understanding of it,” he said. <\/p>\n

“That will make life a lot harder for me – the cost of everything is going up so I can’t afford them to cut it.<\/p>\n

“I can’t work due to my health, I’m a diabetic too.<\/p>\n

“I’ve been coming here for around seven months; I feel safe here but I don’t feel safe by what the government wants to do.”<\/p>\n

The hub has had 5,000 visits since they opened with the list of regulars rising from 220 people in the winter to about 280 now. <\/p>\n

The centre exists largely on donations and is currently fundraising to try and expand its offer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Zena, pictured with her daughter Piper, said life was tough for people without a steady income<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Zena, 35, is a single mum who described the hub as a “lifeline” for people who are struggling. <\/p>\n

“It’s a real relief, actually, to have somewhere like this in the community where you get welcomed in,” she said. <\/p>\n

“I’m not a very sociable person but when I come here I know there is help available if I need it.” <\/p>\n

Ministers want to save \u00a34.8bn by reducing the benefits bill with a consultation set to run into June. <\/p>\n

Overall the government estimates <\/a>3.2 million families will be worse off as a result of the reforms by 2030 while 3.8 million families will be better off.<\/p>\n

The DWP spokesperson said: “We have been clear that protecting people in need is a principle we will never compromise on.<\/p>\n

“The social security system will always be there for those with severe health conditions, and we will introduce a new premium for those who will never be able to work.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Edwards Reporter, BBC Hereford & Worcester BBC Independent councillor Milly Boylan said the centre had been “inundated” with worried people over benefits changes Staff at a centre which supports vulnerable people say they are seeing an increasing numbers of people come to them who are worried about large changes to the benefits system. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20250409-091508-0ef9b7676-web-2.19.1-12\/grey-placeholder.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[604],"tags":[8633,507,3177,9941,13868,988,227896,66668],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293005"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293005"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":293007,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293005\/revisions\/293007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}