2 Questions😃 6 May 2019 at 11:41AM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Disability Money Matters 7 replies 1.2K views

FunnyUseName

Firstly, just a quickie! Can I still gift aid when I donate to charity as I’m no longer working? It’s mainly bits and bobs to the BHF etc and probably less than £150 a year in monthly standing orders.

Secondly, I occasionally do a little bit of volunteering- not much, it’s part of my CBT. It’s not just me, quite a few of us in my the groups , are worried that this could be seen as being fit enough to be moved to a WRA group and all that that entails. There is a definite push to get us all into UC at the moment which is a nightmare by all accounts. The transition is a bit precarious to say the least, a lot of people who can’t depend on working to pay all their bills are going to be penalised for not being able to work.

kpwll

FunnyUseName wrote: »

Firstly, just a quickie! Can I still gift aid when I donate to charity as I’m no longer working? It’s mainly bits and bobs to the BHF etc and probably less than £150 a year in monthly standing orders.

Secondly, I occasionally do a little bit of volunteering- not much, it’s part of my CBT. It’s not just me, quite a few of us in my the groups , are worried that this could be seen as being fit enough to be moved to a WRA group and all that that entails. There is a definite push to get us all into UC at the moment which is a nightmare by all accounts. The transition is a bit precarious to say the least, a lot of people who can’t depend on working to pay all their bills are going to be penalised for not being able to work.

Only if you are a tax payer for gift aid.
I can't help with the second part, sorry. I hope it all goes smoothly for you .

wild666

Volunteering would be what the DWP might want you to do when you attend a WFI they might say stop volunteering for X and do it for Y because the DWP get paid for putting anyone in any work. The DWP/job centre will try and get you to do a CV and sign up to the find a job site at a WFI , if you haven't already.

poppy12345

FunnyUseName wrote: »

Secondly, I occasionally do a little bit of volunteering- not much, it’s part of my CBT. It’s not just me, quite a few of us in my the groups , are worried that this could be seen as being fit enough to be moved to a WRA group and all that that entails. There is a definite push to get us all into UC at the moment which is a nightmare by all accounts. The transition is a bit precarious to say the least, a lot of people who can’t depend on working to pay all their bills are going to be penalised for not being able to work.

Have you told DWP that you're doing permitted work? Even though it's voluntary you still need to get permission to do this.



If the work you do contradicts the reasons why you're claiming ESA can go against you at your next assessment or they could review you earlier.

FunnyUseName

I’m only aiming at 2 hours a month atm - It’s part of my CBT include certain things into my daily/weekly structure. Volunteering is great because it’s optional, sociable and enjoyable. I did manage 1hr 11 minutes on a beach clean last month but it took me days to get over. No where near able to be any use to the work force - but I’m reading about people with similar and worse conditions being found fit for work.

FunnyUseName

Does checking out possible therapeutic interests count as actually volunteering?

sheramber

If you have not paid enough tax to cover the gift aid amount HMRC have the option to charge you the amount due.

unrecordings

sheramber wrote: »

If you have not paid enough tax to cover the gift aid amount HMRC have the option to charge you the amount due.

This
One of my little bugbears about Gift Aid is when I was a higher rate tax payer. I signed up to a few Gift Aid schemes, not one single charity was able to explain the tax implications, and most treated it as an open ended win - win exercise. The tax liability exists when the goods are sold not when they're donated, so when I no longer worked I had to go around and argue/complain/eventually threaten various charities to remove me from Gift Aid

As for the volunteering OP - make sure you tie that activity in with whatever your GP/specialist says is good for you - no one should be forced to sit at home and rot for fear of losing disability benefits. If you're still worried, maybe keep a simple diary of activity versus effect