Gill Haddow

“My full-time unpaid role”: Understanding the (extra)ordinary work of founders of rare disease organisations Rare disease organisations can play a crucial role in shaping the medical and scientific landscape. This article draws from interviews with sixteen fo…

New paper in Social Science and Medicine with Rebecca Dimond www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

26.03.2025 07:37 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0

Many MPs think it immoral to slash disability benefits – and they’re right | Sonia Sodha Making it harder to claim Pip isn’t about ethics, as Keir Starmer says, but economics

Many MPs think it immoral to slash disability benefits – and they’re right | Sonia Sodha

17.03.2025 03:24 — 👍 239    🔁 46    💬 4    📌 4

Mental health support • Mind runs a support line on 0300 102 1234 as a safe and confidential place to talk openly. It also has an information line, on 0300 123 3393, for details of where to get help near you. And its welfare benefits line – 0300 222 5782 – supports anyone with mental health problems who is navigating the benefits system. • Samaritans is there to talk to you for free 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Call them on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. • The disability charity Scope has a forum where you can chat in a supportive atmosphere to people going through the same experiences. • NHS England has an online mental health triage service.

Benefits support • The Trussell Trust's Help through Hardship helpline, on 0808 208 2138, is a free and confidential phone service offered alongside Citizens Advice that provides advice to people experiencing hardship. You can also find your local Trussell Trust food bank here. • Benefits and Work provides guides, forums and newsletters to help people navigate the benefits system and get the support they are entitled to. This includes benefit applications and appeals. • Turn2Us provides a free benefits calculator to help you find out what benefits you can claim, as well as a grants search service and a Pip Helper to assist you in applying for the benefit. • The Law Centres website helps people find their local service for benefits support and more, while Advicelocal provides a search directory tool to find your local advice provider.

I know coverage of disability benefits can be very distressing. So, I’ve worked with colleagues to make a range of support visible on The Guardian’s site.

If you click on a relevant news story, you’ll see a “drop box” of signposted mental health help as well as benefits advice.

18.03.2025 11:05 — 👍 297    🔁 150    💬 11    📌 7

This was memorable for lots of different reasons but how hard it is to fit in was definitely one of them!

04.01.2025 15:04 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0