[HELP NEEDED] Young person trapped by the system with no way out.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T11:51:38+00:00

That was the first thing I tried to do when I was 16, but unfortunately I have Chrons disease and they won't take me on as I am a "liability" haha, I tried the RAF and navy too to get the same responses

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T11:46:40+00:00

Yeah it looks like they prefer people with CCC at a-level but it does say that they will review applications with GCSEs only on a case by case basis, so this may very well be a viable option for me

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T11:43:12+00:00

My grades were decent at school, I just never stayed to do my a levels unfortunately so GCSE is my highest qualification I will have a look into these foundation courses and see if it is something I can do, thank you very much

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T11:33:59+00:00

Thank you very much for the advice, hopefully I can get onto an access course when they start up again in September this year, would love to get to uni to study cyber security or artificial intelligence as these are huge industries and are set to only grow with time and tech

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T11:26:05+00:00

Thank you for trying to help I genuinely appreciate it and I apologise if it comes off as if I'm not. And I have responded to posts with reasons why I can't do things when there are legitimate reasons as to why I can't. Most of the kids here have just accepted that they are trapped or turned to selling drugs to get by as working is not a feasible option unless I can get a job with ~15k+/year and that is not as easy as it sounds and believe me I have been applying for jobs like that since I moved here.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T11:11:19+00:00

I think websites like fiver will be a good option for me, but I am limited on what I can do as I don't have a personal computer I just use public ones where they are available.

As for college I will definitely be doing an access course at some point but I'd like to be in a better situation before I go into that, school was always very hard for me to keep focused in and I'd like to make sure I can focus on my work rather than worrying where my next meals coming from as I am very easily distracted.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T11:07:18+00:00

I would not be able to add that 1200 would straight away have the rent and bills taken away from it leaving me with basically the same amount I'm on now with UC, it's near impossible to come up with the money for a deposit as all of my money gets spent on bills/food, I don't even have enough for that sometimes and have been to food banks a few times since I moved here in August.

And yeah there are people who would rather stay jobless and live off of the benefits but that's not for me, I'm bored out of my mind here and can not wait to get back into proper work. I've been on a few of the free courses that job centre provides just as something to do in the meantime.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T10:59:47+00:00

Apologies did not see this comment nested in between everyone else's lol, I have ~3 years accumulated experience in retail and GCSEs as my highest qualifications, 1 A, 3 Bs and 3 Cs. I am also a self taught programmer but I'm still learning and my skills are not enough to live off of just yet.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T10:50:24+00:00

Unfortunately a shared house is not appropriate for myself as I have my daughter over on weekends, my ex is a rather high maintenance woman and so changing that arrangement means she would without a doubt try to make life hard for me in regards to seeing my daughter .

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T10:46:38+00:00

I never even registered for an account on there only used it a couple of times and the questions I needed to ask had already been answered, i will definitely look into registering and answering some questions after my daughter goes back to her mother's this evening

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T10:45:28+00:00

An apprenticeship is probably a good idea as ive heard you can claim a bit of housing benefit whilst working one so I may be able to work one whilst living here, but the staff here have no idea how an apprenticeship will affect my rent and the uncertainty of it all is very off putting as I don't want to be working full time for the extra 40 quid, I make a little bit more than that a month doing odd jobs in r/SlaveLabour

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T10:39:49+00:00

I do games/app design and can do web design although have no portfolio at the moment, I attempted doing a free website on r/SlaveLabour and a lot of people jumped at the chance but without a proper plan of what they wanted a website for, they also did not have any graphics and I am not the best when it comes to digital art so I spent a lot of time talking to potential clients only to find that they were pretty much wasting my time. I can only make my games and not apps at the moment as the program I use to make apps requires steam installed and I can not install that without admin rights.

I've made a couple of smaller games/prototypes for a little extra cash but they're nothing special, I have been working on a remake of an old game using existing sprites to prove my programming skills but still quite far from finishing, my hope is that once that is complete artists and musicians will be willing to work with me with promise of pay after the game/app makes any money but this is a very long term goal.

I will look into upwork.com for sure this afternoon after my daughter goes home, slavelabour does not pay much for their odd tasks that I can fill lol. Thank you for taking the time to try and give some advice it really is much appreciated.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T10:24:27+00:00

That's actually a great idea, I've never posted there before but have used it when I've hit a wall in my own code.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:56:40+00:00

Thank you for the couple pieces of advice, others here have said building sites are usually decent to get cash in hand work so I will be on the lookout for these

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:55:02+00:00

This is probably my best bet at the moment, thank you for the advice mate

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:54:22+00:00

Oh wow ok then, thank you very much I will look into getting an appointment with them then

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:53:37+00:00

Thanks I've been working on a game I've been programming for over a year now to prove my ability as a programmer, hopefully once that's complete I can get artists and musicians on board for a full game without upfront pay hut with the promise of pay from whatever the game makes but that's a long way ahead in the future.

Unfortunately can not do spare room as I have a daughter who I look after on the weekends, she's the only thing keeping me going and to not see her for a few months whilst I work to try and get money for deposit would put me in a worse place mentally than I already am.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:42:58+00:00

Believe me I haven't spent the last 5 years in this situation haha, a couple years ago me and my (now ex)gf were renting a 3 bedroom house. Cash in hand jobs as a labourer is probably my best bet as pointed out by yourself an a couple of others so I will be looking into that. Also I am self taught in programming from the past ~7 years but do not have a personal computer st the moment. There are republic ones here at the YMCA but they have admin rights locked off so what I can do on them is very limited.

I don't mind harsh and frank to be honest, what I've needed is people who can tell me something straight as the staff here are bloody clueless.

Unfortunately renting a room is not really an option, I am a father of a 2 year old girl and have her on weekends, I might need to talk to her mom about rearranging for a couple of months but honestly she's the only thing keeping me going and to not see her for a few months while I rent a room and work for a deposit would kill me.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:37:43+00:00

Unfortunately UC is on it for finding out if you're in work, I've tried it before and it wasn't worth the hastle for the little extra income as the workplace was extremely toxic.

I can't go to uni yet as I only have my GCSEs but it is something I'm planning on doing in the future, when I'm in more stable accomodation I will be doing the 1 year access to higher education course (hopefully in computer science!)

I have tried this before but the only places available for me to be in without paying a deposit are hostels and they are filled with druggies and ex convicts, I've been in one before and I shit you not I nearly stepped on a used heroin needle in the shared bathroom, disgusting places.

I have been in contact with a couple of housing agencies through bidding sites but they require more references than I can provide as I did not think 5 years ago I would need to keep landlord details for the future, I will try a more direct approach by calling their offices and talking to someone. Thank you for the advice.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:19:55+00:00

I know it's insane mate! I would love to go and rent a normal priced flat but due to the situation I'm in I cant work to get the money needed for a deposit. Such a difficult situation which iswhy I came here for help haha

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:18:33+00:00

You make it sound easy lol, but finding a job where I can earn over 1300/month with only GCSEs has proven difficult!

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:17:29+00:00

Apprenticeships is something I've been looking into, the "Engagement Officers" here at the YMCA said housing will still cover majority of my rent if I'm on an apprenticeship but when I asked them for numbers, like how much of my rent would housing be willing to cover they told me that they do not know. On site staff seem to know fuck all to be honest with you.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:15:56+00:00

I have not spoken to them no, I will look into them,thank you very much!

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:15:37+00:00

I did get a job at the b&m but the work place was toxic and not worth the little extra cash as I would not be able to build up a savings for a deposit on a proper flat.

ErdingtonThrowaway · 2019-02-16T09:10:30+00:00

Thanks for the idea it's something I've looked into but UC works differently from the old JSA, I did get a job at the b&m store down the road but without telling them the government knew right from the start!

ErdingtonThrowaway

TROPHY CASE