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Disabled woman 'humiliated' by health assessor
A DISABLED woman suffering from a degenerative disease who lost her benefits after government-appointed assessor Atos ruled she was fit to work has said: "I feel utterly humiliated."
Sally Stovell has chronic osteoarthritis and relies almost entirely on her wheelchair.
But the 50-year-old, from Nineacres Way in Coulsdon has been told she no longer qualifies for the financial support she uses to pay for food and hot water, after a medical assessment by Atos said her condition had improved.
Ms Stovell, who ran her own recruitment agency in central London until she was diagnosed in 2004, has been forced to go to the council asking for crisis money and vouchers to visit the Purley Foodbank.
"It is utterly humiliating," she said.
"I am a staunch Tory and support the cuts. However, the government has employed this company, Atos, who are not doing their job properly and taking away support from people who really need it.
"I live alone and if I did not have a few family members to help me my life would probably be in danger.
"Until I was made disabled, I put everything into the system. Now I am in need I am having everything taken away from me."
When Atos assessed Ms Stovell in October 2011, they rated her ability to work as seven, with 15 meaning the least able.
In May 2012 she was deemed unable to work after her condition deteriorated following major surgery.
However, in February this year, Atos reassessed her as qualifying for zero points.
They ruled she was as able to work as any person without a disability and stripped her of Employment Support Allowance.
"It means I now have nothing apart from £80 a month left to live on," said Ms Stovell, who was informed of the decision earlier this month.
"I receive Disability Living Allowance but most of it goes on my mobility scooter so I can get out of the house and fend for myself.
"It's truly heartbreaking. I am being made to feel like I have done something wrong by being disabled.
"I fully support the Government wheedling out those who cheat the system but I am clearly not one of those people."
As well as chronic osteoarthritis, Ms Stovell suffers from neuropathic pain and chronic clinical depression.
She said: "Does the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) think I would not work if I could?
"Sometimes my illness is so bad I can't do anything at all.
"Who is going to hire a 50-year-old disabled woman who cannot even guarantee when she can come into work?"
Ms Stovell claims the Atos assessor did not examine her during the session but referred to illnesses such as sciatica, which she does not have, in the report.
Croydon South MP Richard Ottaway has been involved in her case
Ms Stovell is also seeking legal advice.
"I am going to take this issue all the way to the top," she said.
Richard Ottaway said: "I am sorry Ms Stovell is experiencing so many difficulties."
After visiting Purley Jobcentre Plus, Ms Stovel is now receiving £310 per month until her appeal has been assessed.
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BBC presenter Mary Beard backs campaign to stop Cambridge becoming "Croydon of the Fens"
The historian has joined efforts to stop the demolition of a Victorian terrace to make way for a modern development.
Wilton Terrace in Station Road is earmarked for demolition by developers who want to build what Professor Beard described as "brutalist" office blocks.
Professor Gavin Camp, an architectural historian at Cambridge University, has backed the campaign to halt the development, which he says is reminiscent of overdeveloped Croydon.
He told the Cambridge News: "They are good examples of High Victorian domestic architecture, are sound and serviceable and deserve to survive.
"Clearly they stand in the way of a campaign to make Cambridge the Croydon of the Fens."
Beard, a Professor of Classics at Cambridge, has presented programmes about the Romans, including life and death in Pompeii, on the BBC and appeared on Jamie's Dream School on Channel 4 in 2011.
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Schwartz raises bar
HOLLAND Sports' Ocean Schwartz had an amazing Sunday afternoon at the Surrey Track & Field Championships at Kingston, winning bronze medals in the U17 high jump and 400m with personal bests and club records.
What was incredible was that Schwartz ran the heat of the 400m in a personal best of 53.19 seconds while his high jump competition was in the later stages.
When he came back he had missed his attempt at 1.70m.
With tired legs he summoned up the energy to make a third- time clearance at 1.75m, a season's best, before making a first-time clearance at 1.80m.
Less than two hours later he ran another PB in the 400m final, coming close to snatching second in 52.39.
It was a Herculean effort as Schwartz was also suffering from an ear infection, while he had also come fifth in the long jump with 5.74m.
Josh Watson was another medal winner as he twice broke his PB in the U13 high jump, winning silver with 1.36m.
Mark Andrews won the senior men's high jump with 1.75m and won silver in the triple jump with 11.31m.
Elsewhere, Tom Rady won silver in the senior men's pole vault with a jump of 3m, while Charlie Smith threw close to his best in winning the bronze in the U15 Shot with 11.23m.
In other performances, James Rady finished fourth in the U17 hurdles, in 68.81, while Josh Watson just missed out on a medal in the U13 75m hurdles, in 14.52m, and was fourth in his 200m heat, in 30.22.
Hugo Fowler and Troy Lee-Edmunds also competed in the 200m heats, coming fifth and sixth respectively, in 30.91 and 32.38. Lee-Edmunds also long jumped 3.56m for 13th in the heats of the U15 800m, while Tom Knight ran a PB of 2:32:31 for fourth.
Meanwhile, Mark Andrews also competed in the discus and long jump, coming fifth with 26.13m and sixth with 5.29m.
In the girls', Stephanie Fisher qualified from the heats of the U15 100m with fourth, in 13.82, into a strong wind.
In the semi-final she was sixth, in 13.88 secs – a time that would have qualified her for the final had she been competing in the other semi-final.
Top golfers at Walton Heath Golf Club for US Open qualifier
SEVERAL top European golfing stars were in Surrey on Monday for the US Open qualifying tournament at Walton Heath Golf Club.
Among the stars on show were two-time Masters champion and last year's European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal (pictured above), another previous Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie and Englishmen Paul Casey and Simon Khan.
Khan was the winner of the 36-hole tournament, with rounds of 67 and 70 seeing him safely through to the US Open championship, which begins at Merion on June 13.
And he said he was pleased to get over the disappointment of losing in the fourth extra play-off hole of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday so quickly.
He said: "Obviously if I'd won on Sunday I wouldn't have had to go which would have been nice.
"But they are tough days, especially when you've done well on the Sunday, there's the emotion of that and then having to get yourself off again.
"I was fortunate, I started the first round well, birdies on the second and third holes and you're in to it. I enjoy playing there, I like the course and it was a good test. I drove the ball well, a couple of little blips came in but I felt pretty confident all day."
Khan finished one shot clear of former world number three Casey and South African Jacob van Zyl, while Dane Morten Orum Madsen secured his place by finishing on five under.
Sweden's Peter Hedblom was one shot further back, along with England's Eddie Pepperell and Australian Marcus Fraser.
Olazabal, English pair John Parry and David Howell, Scotsman Chris Doak and Argentinian Estanislao Goya then progressed via a six-man play-off, with Swede Rikard Karlberg the unfortunate man to miss out.
Os face St Albans opener next season
OXTED will face new boys St Albans on the first day of the 2013-14 men's Conference East season.
The Os will travel to Hertfordshire on Saturday, September 14 ,to face a St Albans side who are returning to the league after a two-year absence.
That is followed by a home match against Holcombe eight days later on Sunday, September 22, before a trip to face Bromley & Beckenham to round off the first month on Saturday, September 28.
Oxted will also face a couple of other newcomers this season, including Brighton & Hove, who have been promoted from the South league.
Oxted are due to end the season against Brighton & Hove on Saturday, March 23.
Meanwhile, Southgate have entered the Conference East this season having been relegated from the Premier Division.
Wimbledon have been promoted to the Premier Division via the promotion play-offs, while City of Peterborough were relegated from the division, but Cambridge City retained their place by winning a relegation play-off tournament.
Most British buyers of overseas property come from the South
M ORE than a third of British people buying overseas property today come from the south of the UK, with the South East being home to the largest number of buyers.
Of the 1,255 people planning to buy property abroad that took part in The Overseas Guides Company's (OGC) online survey, 34.9 per cent lived in the south of the country. Breaking this down further, 16.2 per cent came from the South East, 11.6 per cent from the South West and 7.1 per cent from London.
All of the respondents were considering a property purchase in France, Spain, USA, Portugal, Cyprus, Italy, Greece or Turkey.
Richard Way, editor of The Overseas Guides Company, says: "Crucially, our survey showed that nearly a third of respondents – 31.7 per cent - will finance their overseas property purchase solely with the proceeds of the sale of a UK home, with a further quarter buying abroad with a mortgage combined with the sale of a UK home or other funding.
"The South and London continue to record the UK's highest average property prices so clearly homeowners in these parts can afford to move abroad more easily."
The OGC survey results also revealed regional differences between British people buying overseas property. For example, Italian property appears to be especially popular with Scottish people, who accounted for 10.9 per cent of respondents looking to buy in Italy, third only to the South East (14.3 per cent) and South West (13.4 per cent).
While buyers from the South East dominated results for the USA (23.4 per cent), the second largest group came from the East Midlands with 12.5 per cent.
The one country where buyers from the South East did not outnumber all other groups was Portugal, where people from the South West came out on top with 14.8 per cent, followed by those from the North West (12.3 per cent) and then the South East (11.1 per cent).
"Another factor influencing where people will buy overseas property is air access and transfer times both ends of their journey," Richard adds.
"For example, travel to the Continent from the South West has improved hugely in recent years as airports at Southampton, Bournemouth, Exeter and Bristol have taken on more flights. Not forgetting ferry services are easy from there too, for property-owners in France and even northern Spain."
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Carshalton College Tutor runs successful workshop at The NFEC Conference
On Wednesday 22 May 2013 Carshalton College electrical tutor, David Jaitly-McDonald ran a workshop at the NFEC Conference in Leicester.
The NFEC was formed in 1992 to provide support, advice and representation on any issues that may hinder the provision of a member's quality learning in Engineering and related Technologies. Today membership of the NFEC includes Colleges, Group Training Associations, Specialist Schools, Employers and Individuals with a broad representation within the 14-19 and post-16 sectors.
David held a workshop at The NFEC Conference covering the topic of dealing with challenging behaviour in the classroom. The session was well received by the delegates and was a popular session.
David said "I was delighted to be asked to run the session at conference. It is always an interesting discussion point and one that teachers want to be able to deal with in an effective and appropriate manner. I am glad the session had such a positive reaction."