Concern that charitable donations will suffer.
Volunteers are concerned that support for charities will fall because government statistics are understating the true level of unemployment in Walsall, which could be twice the official figure. The news comes alongside a plea for parents to donate school uniforms their children have outgrown or no longer use.
Corrie Halford, who helped set up a school uniform bank in Aldridge, said the real level of jobless in the borough was much higher than the official claimant count of just less than 5000.
She said: “School uniforms can be a major outlay for parents, especially when children move from primary to secondary schools, so we are asking that people donate items of clothing from pumps and gym kits to coats and blazers.
“I’m worried that people will not donate because they think the demands for charities’ services are falling – the truth is quite the opposite. My experience shows many people are falling off the official unemployment count, mostly through sanctions which take people of the register and denies them benefits. They can be sanctioned for the most minor of infringements and the only place they can then turn to is food banks and charities. One individual I talked to was denied benefits for four weeks because, for two days, she couldn’t access a computer to apply for jobs.”
According to the latest figures from the Department of Works and Pension’s website, between October 2012 and June 2014 10,762 people were sanctioned in Walsall. In the same time period, the number of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance fell from 10,327 to 7,020.
In December 2014 the official claimant count was 4,965 but figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest the real unemployment figure could be as high as 11,600.
Corrie added: “National studies show over 40% of people sanctioned don’t reapply for benefits despite the vast majority not finding a job, so official government figures don’t reflect the true level of unemployment; not just in Aldridge but across the borough. That’s why we need people to continue giving to food banks and charities.”