Claire — Breaking Britain

Claire

I met Claire five years ago in Keighley, Yorkshire. She and her long-term partner Sean had many drug related issues. Claire had just given birth to Ellie-May, her seventh child. The other five (one was still-born) were taken by Social Services either at birth or soon after. Social Services worked very hard to enable Claire to keep Elie-May and were very supportive.

I formed a close relationship with Claire and Sean and visited them several times while they were in Keighley. Sean was a great guy and we’d have many discussions covering everything from politics to quantum physics, in which he had a keen interest and knowledge. Things were going well for them until Shaun lost his struggle to keep off drugs. Social services found out and told Claire she had to leave him or they would take Ellie-May from her. She left Keighley to stay in a women’s hostel and then resettled in Blackpool. It was all too much for Sean. He hung himself three months later.

Since moving to Blackpool, Claire has focused very much on doing right for Ellie-May who is now a very bubbly and confident five-year-old. Claire met Colin and they briefly had a relationship and remain friends. I visited them in 2015 when they were living together. They split up the following year and Claire and Ellie-May moved into a flat a mile further out of town. When Colin got evicted, Claire helped him to find a new flat directly below hers.

Claire is now struggling to survive on Universal Credit (UC), which was rolled out in Blackpool in December 2018. Since its introduction Claire struggles to have enough money for food, heating and electricity, and lives from hand to mouth. At one point Claire had her UC suspended for two months, which is a ridiculous thing to do to a single mum with no other source of income. She told me she was asked to attend a meeting with the UC office, but it clashed with a parents evening. She asked and was given permission to not attend the meeting. She went in the next day to re-arrange a time with UC and was now told that the meeting had been a mandatory one and therefore her UC was suspended as a punishment. When this happens, claimants have nothing to live on and have to beg for loans from the Benefits Office. It’s very demeaning and designed to make people feel worthless.

Claire has never stopped talking about Sean and misses him dearly.

Claire and Sean with Ellie-May in Claire's new flat in Keighley. Sean, her partner, had his own flat two floors down.

Social services had threatened to take Ellie-May away as they had done with all of Claire’s other children.

“When I first got pregnant with Ellie, I was living in Keighley West Yorkshire, a lovely little place. Me and Ellie's dad were there for four, five years nearly. And we lived in a block of flats. It was lovely. When I got pregnant with Ellie, before social services tell me this, that, and the other, I'm gonna go ahead and do it…”

“She's the seventh one I've got and got another daughter and six boys. I've got Daniel Lee, who was 18, 19 in July. Makes me feel old. Seventeen-year-old called Jordan, and there's Lauren who's 15, Kyle 14, should have Ryan who should be 13. I had him stillborn. Then I had Luke. And then her (Ellie-May), and she's nearly 14 months, and she's a little monkey…”

A birthday card from Sean to Claire.

“When I was 14, I got introduced to drugs. And because of the lifestyle I was living, my parents didn't really wanna know me and weren’t there for me. I got in with the wrong crowd and stayed on the drugs. Hence, lost children. Which was hard but I got through it…”

“I met her dad (Sean), who got me on the worst drug of all, namely heroin and crack cocaine. And it numbs the way you feel, so I had it, it numbed me and before I knew it, I had a habit…”

Sean with his dog in the kitchen of his flat. The dog spent practically the whole time locked in the house. As soon as anyone arrived it went crazy with excitement.

Claire had most of her baby gear donated by Save the Children. “I got myself a family support worker named Jackie. She was amazing. She helped me get a lot of stuff. That put me in touch with the right people. She put me in touch with Save The Children, who helped me out remarkably and they've been good and amazing. And being in Kieghley with all this partner help that I had was good. At the time I needed all the help and the support I could get…”

Sean in his kitchen. “Sean didn't want the help, but I did. I needed it, and it helped me sort my head out. And then after I'd got off the drugs and got clean and stayed away from it all…”

“I wish her dad was still here because he's no longer with us. He took his own life, October last year, which was very upsetting…”

Claire's Video.

Pictures on Sean's wall.

Together in Sean’s front room. “After Sean died, I couldn't stay in Keighley. I couldn't there were too many painful memories, too many. Just too many painful memories. Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, he's there…”

Claire at her new home in Blackpool.

Spot picking for Ellie-May.

“Since I've been in Blackpool, I've come on leaps and bounds. I've been putting my weight back on, I'm getting my confidence back…”

“Blackpool has been great for Ellie as well. She has all the sea air and that is amazing. She's coming on in leaps and bounds…”

Into town for a shopping trip.

“My social worker, I told her I wanted a family support worker, I’m still waiting. I've been waiting since January…”

“I found out a lot about all the health issues since the last time I was here speaking. I've got Chronic Pain Syndrome, having spinal injections, which don't seem to be working. Got to have some more but the doctor wants to go further up the layers, so means extensive, ten plus injections in the spine, which isn't good…”

Claire’s 2nd Video - 2019

Claire at her friend Rose's house. “Since last time did the video, I’ve moved properties to a two bed flat. Emily-May is doing well, she's in school year long…”

Claire, first thing in the morning.“Life in Blackpool is basically shit, nothing to do. The benefits are all topsy-turvy, they don't know whether they are coming or going, putting people in debt, rent. House, we've got to be out this property. Ha ha, they sold it, so we've gotta find somewhere else to live. I've got family support helping with that now since then, so hopefully we'll have a lot of help and good issues…”

Claire trying on clothes for Ellie-may. A local cafe 'Mama'a Kitchen' organised a collection of clothes and presents for Ellie-May in the run up to Christmas 2018. Claire frequently went to the cafe at times in great distress. The owners daughter got onto Facebook and organised collections for Ellie-May. Local people gave very generiously. “We've found a really nice set of people in a place called Mama's Kitchen. It's a little kitchen cafe thing near school and they're amazing. They helped us have a really good Christmas, because of the benefit system and the way that we're struggling at the minute. If it weren't for them, Ellie-May would not have had as many presents as she did have. So I'm quite pleased about that…”

Claire with Colin’s daughter, Kayleigh. “Here in Blackpool the benefit system is just starting everybody on Universal Credit. I don't like this because it is messing everybody up. It changes everybody. Their telling everybody to take five weeks but really, it's taking anywhere up to 12 to 15 weeks which is putting people into debt with their rent, Council tax, and various other issue things. At the minute they’re changing me over to Universal Credit. They haven't given me a proper payment from them as of yet, I'm still waiting. On my ESA (Employment Support Allowance), they took me off that because they said even though because of my chronic pain syndrome and health issues, they said I could still physically work…”

Claire and Ellie-May in their new flat. “Ellie-May is doing well, she's in school year long. She's loving it, she's learning about the Arctic Circle at the minute. Always talks about daddy. Wants to be a singer and a dancer when she's bigger…”

“So they put me on job seekers' allowance, which they then sanctioned because of a parents evening that the benefits agency said I could attend which I’d phoned the four days before. So they sanctioned me for that and it is going through mandatory reconsideration, and a mandatory tribunal. Waiting on results about all that. Universal Credit making everybody going to little group sessions to try and help you understand it. Well they don't understand it themselves. I've got friends that have been there a couple of years and they still haven't got things sorted properly. I'm dreading getting my first payment because I don't know what's coming or going, I really don't…”