Why Access to Benefits Exists

A message from our founder:

When I had to leave a 30-year career due to health problems, I had to briefly rely on Universal Credit. My next step seemed simple: Find new work.

I found a training course with a paid work placement. Universal Credit warned that attending the course would be met with the highest level sanction.

I wasn't allowed to do the course, so I couldn't take the job.

I tried taking two training courses simultaneously, both with paid work placements. Blocked again.

I tried a full-time training course, also with a paid work placement. Also blocked.

Two years later I was still out of work and still living on benefits. I had a time-consuming healthcare routine. My only hope of re-training seemed to be with an online course.

I now had a fantastic work coach at Universal Credit and she supported me all the way.

One year later, I was going in to the second year of the course. Everything was going well. Then Universal Credit blocked that course too.

Access to Benefits was born.

Throughout this three-year ordeal I came to understand how people can be caught in a void between student funding and Universal Credit. If someone has to study part-time or online then generally they aren't entitled to any grants, apart from disability grants. And if someone doesn't have a grant then Universal Credit won't allow them to study -- disability grants are ignored.

I didn't want anyone else to be denied the opportunity to re-train and get their life back on track. A person's dignity, self-worth, and ability to provide for themself, can ultimately depend on whether or not they have access to a grant.

Access to Benefits exists to make sure everyone has a fair chance to fulfil their potential.