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Soap Star Signs-off giveme5 campaign
River City actor Stephen Purdon marked the end of the giveme5 benefits campaign by becoming the final person to sign the petition before it is presented to the House of Commons later this month.
Stephen, who plays ‘Shellsuit Bob’ in the show, joined FOCUS Regional Coordinators at The Richmond Fellowship Scotland’s head office in Glasgow to sign off the campaign, which is calling for people on incapacity benefits to be given more opportunities to work.
Coordinators will hand over the petition, which contains more than 3,500 signatures, to Jo Swinson MP at Westminster on 20th February.
giveme5 is managed by FOCUS and is calling for a change to government legislation which discriminates against people on incapacity benefits who want to work longer hours but find their £20 weekly earnings limit too restrictive.
Increasing this limit, known as the permitted earnings disregard, by just £5 will enable individuals, who are well enough to work for short periods, to increase their working hours. This is an important stepping stone back to work for many people giving them a better chance of returning to the labour market, learning new skills and improving their physical and mental wellbeing.
Commenting on the end of the campaign, Stephen Purdon said:
"The campaign has come a long way since its launch over a year ago. Everyone involved has put in so much hard work to give people on incapacity benefits more opportunity to work. It’s an honour to be the last person to sign the campaign before it makes its way to Westminster where it will finally be able to positively influence changes to the legislation.”
Following the successful launch of the campaign at the Scottish Parliament in November 2006, Campaign Workers have encouraged individuals and voluntary organisations throughout the UK to back the campaign by signing the petition.