#TakingThePip
ClaratyVoices talent Amy Forrest recently spoke with ITV News Meridian about efforts being made to resist proposed disability benefits cuts. More than 100 of the UK's most high-profile individuals have called on the prime minister in an open letter decrying the proposed plans to reduce eligibility criteria for Pip benefits (personal independence payments) as well as the amount of payments made to eligible recipients.
If you're unaware of what PIP is and how it works, this Personal independence payment is a disability benefit made to individuals after a qualifying assessment. The assessment uses a point-based system to determine an individual's need for support for mobility or to accomplish tasks of daily living.
Based on recent reporting from the BBC, Pip is paid to approximately 3.6 million people in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a result of long-term physical or mental health conditions.
The government has proposed a revision of the assessment process which will make the eligibility requirements so dramatically different that several hundred thousand people who currently receive these benefits will no longer qualify for any Pip, while more than 400,000 recipients will receive less support than they previously were paid.
Make Your Voice Heard
Amy's conversation with @itvmeridian shines a light on the danger to people experiencing the need for support as well as what you can do to ensure the government hears your voice.
Learn more about #TakingThePIP here and do what you can to get involved: sign the petition, share the Open Letter, and use the easy-to-follow template to find and write to your MP.
This is the letter Amy signed, and we're delighted to share in the hopes you'll consider taking a stand on this critical human rights, health, and safety issue.
ClaratyVoices is proud to work with talented actors like Amy who lend their hearts--not just their voices--to their passions. Amy is an actress and voiceover artist originally from West Yorkshire, based in London. She trained at Arts Ed,The Second City and NYMT. Her experience expands across a range of Television, Film and Theatre, including Emma in After the Flood on ITV. Amy has appeared on Sister Boniface Mysteries 2, Holby City, Call the Midwife, Emmerdale, Coronation Street and The Syndicate. She has also recorded numerous audio dramas, animations and audio books including Roar by Beth Mead for Hachette UK and Wartales for Shiro Games.
