A bedbound woman with severe anxiety and osteoarthritis is facing eviction from the house she has not left for more than a year.
April Jackson Beard, has post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression and admits to trying to kill herself twice in a year which she said has been “hell”.
Her partner and full-time carer Gemma Pearman, has been forced to “cook by candlelight” as the couple lived through periods without access to gas or electricity.
After months of applying for an accessible home to meet April’s needs, the couple say they have not even been shortlisted for any social housing, the Manchester Evening News reports.
They say they left their previous home in Bolton to escape threats of violence from people who did not approve of their same-sex relationship.
And they say their housing benefit has been cut off as they struggle to make ends meet.
But Bolton Council insists it has helped and supported the couple throughout their difficulties.
The couple said they had “no choice” but to move to their current home in Westhoughton, which they rent privately despite knowing they could not afford it without additional help.
April, who has been homeless before, claims the council told the couple to come to the town hall on eviction day.
She said: “We had to get out because they wouldn’t help us.
"We were going to be on the streets. I only left the house once and that was to get into the taxi to get here.
“Home is safe and I would just really struggle to go to the council with all those people around. I don’t know why they can’t help people before they get on the street.”
April, who grew up in Northampton, stopped working at Amazon in August 2018 when she struggled to cope with her mental health.
She says she is in severe pain but claims she had always managed to pay her bills on time when she was able to work.
She said: “I have struggled with mental health since I was 14, but I have always tried to work. When we were working, we’d always pay the rent religiously. Always rent and bills first.”
The severe anxiety which April has also means she struggles to speak over the phone which is why she asked authorities to communicate with her partner via email and arrange home visits.
She explained: “I don’t like to talk on the phone because I get really nervous. I need to know what my day is going to be like in advance. But they would say I have to talk on the phone that day.
“I struggle a lot with getting letters through the door. I worry quite a lot about what they will say. Especially the brown ones because we always know what’s in them.”
But April has accused authorities of failing her, ignoring her communication needs and treating the couple like they were “nothing”.
She said: “There’s been times when I honestly didn’t want to be here anymore. I felt like it was all my fault.
“What they say is important. A letter from them – when you struggled to cope with things like that – that letter can be the thing that makes someone give up. It doesn’t take two minutes to be polite.
“If I had spoke to a customer like that, let alone discriminated against someone who was disabled, I would have lost my job.
“Sometimes it just seems like the way the council treated us, they treated us like we are nothing. It’s hard because I have never been on this side of it. It makes you understand people a lot more.
“The council always make you feel like you are completely alone – that you are wrong and everyone else is happy with them.”
Gemma also accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of “refusing” to assess April at home.
The couple claim the DWP discriminates against those with mental illnesses.
But the DWP blamed April for “failing to attend” an appointment resulting in her claim being disallowed.
Following receipt of further evidence, assessors completed a paper-based report, instead of a face-to-face assessment, resulting in April being awarded enhanced rates for both components of her welfare payments.
A DWP spokesman said: “We want people to get the support they are entitled to and Ms Beard is in receipt of Employment Support Allowance and Personal Independence Payment, however a claim may be delayed if someone misses an appointment. If someone needs help with their housing costs they should contact their local authority as they provide this support.”
A Bolton Council spokesman said: “We want people to get the help they need and a range of support has been given from different teams across the council.
“The couple have received help with their benefits, housing issues and numerous other matters. We have also supplied several household items through our Local Welfare Provision support.
“All of their applications for benefits have been correctly considered and paid in line with policies and based on the information provided.
“Their housing benefit has currently been suspended due to rent arrears with the landlord. We understand that this is disputed by the couple – we have asked for evidence of payments and we are still waiting to receive this.
“We have also offered to assess their housing circumstances and see what support they may be entitled to receive but they have not taken us up on this offer.
“A number of complaints have been investigated and not upheld, and we are looking into further complaints they have raised.”
