Jenna's Benefits Cuts story - 'Cuts will hurt, but we can fight'
In response, Jenna has founded Universities Against Disability Cuts UK to fight for Disabled students rights.
When I found about the government’s disability cuts the first thing I felt was pain. Pain, and then fear. It hurt being told that there’s a high chance that my only support will likely be pulled like a rug from under my feet.
My PIP payments have been my lifeline; I saved a majority of them and struggled for almost two years so that I could use them to buy a cheap, old, rusty, car. With the car (which I do affectionately call ’Rusty’), I could suddenly do so much more! No more skipped lectures because public transport wasn’t accessible and walking wasn’t always an option, no more favors from friends who I would have to ask to accompany me to do basic tasks such as going to do a food shop or going to collect a parcel or even to the post office, and I finally had an accessible way to work.
With my car, I got a part time job. With my PIP, I pay for my car, and with my part time job, I pay for my assistive technology, rent, bills, and the care of my ESA. For the first time in years, I am able to study, to work, to take care of myself, and for the first time in my adult life I feel independent. That’s why I’m terrified – because it’s largely thanks to PIP. While I have worked tirelessly to get to where I am, without my PIP, I may not be able to afford the running costs of my car.
Without my car, I have no accessible way to get to work or university; I will lose my job, lose my independence, and be forced to skip lectures again – my grades will fall and so will my future prospects. Without my job I will have no income, and as I’m hopefully graduating this year, I will no longer receive student finance – I will be surviving on the odd pennies I’ve saved since I was tiny. I will have no money for rent, bills, or for my ESA.
With an unfortunately complicated family life, I would have no home away from my university home to go to and my life as I know it would be stripped. All of my fear, all of my frustration, all of my pain is being transferred to energy. I have fought to get where I am – and now I fight to stay here. I have achieved things that I always wanted by getting into university and studying what has interested me since I was tiny, but if I don’t fight I could lose it.
I have founded Universities Against Disability Cuts UK (UADC) to fight, and to encourage a generation of young people not to give up on their achievements- we deserve our rights; we deserve our successes; we deserve to fight.
To take action against the Benefits Cuts, visit the Disability Rights UK Take Action resource for more information.
Our next Future Ready E-newsletter, issued on the 3rd April 2025, focuses on the Benefits Cuts. In this issue, you can find lots of helpful resources and information on getting support. Sign up to Future Ready.