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Our living archive

Welcome to the Changing Realities archive. This is where you can search and read our diary entries about the realities of getting by on low incomes.
▼ Found 181 entries
18 Jun 2025
Q&A

Edison P

What's your experience with work coaches?

The work coaches specifically in Govan Job Centre are horrible, they bring you down to within an inch of yourself looking down on you and your circumstances with zero compassion or thought to why you may have a mental health issue. They speak to you as if you are a piece of gum on their shoes, they show no empathy towards anyone and seem to not want to actually do their job: they do not help in any way, actually they hinder you because they leave you feeling worse than when you first walked in.

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17 Jun 2025
Q&A

Precious S

What's your experience with work coaches?

Some work coach appears understanding but they tend to use their jobs Regulations to act and respond to their clients issues.

Most work coaches do not want to know about your health challenges while some do and advise you on how to go about your predicament.

The fact that we have some physically challenged people working and trying to cope with their job stress, Work coaches will continue to pressurise people to intensify their efforts in getting a job and complying with the rules and regulations guiding such

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17 Jun 2025
Diary

Lexie B

Love your self enough, tell people that you love ❤️ more often that you love them. Please be kind to people show love ❤️ to one another thank you!

😀
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17 Jun 2025
Q&A

Meg S

What's your experience with work coaches?

When I needed help and support from my workcoach to seek employment after losing my self employment I was offered cv skills. There was nothing else they offered me. They took my details designed a cv and never came back to ask if it was OK. I felt it wasn't as generic and only landed to 1 type of job. I got very little guidance on where to look for employment other than a list of job sites to look over. It was a lot of information with very little guidance. It was more or less a job is a job and any job will suffice.

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17 Jun 2025
Q&A

Lexie B

What's your experience with work coaches?

Hello everyone, The job centre, sometimes can be very difficult 😥 having to tell someone with disabilities to go work without compassion, like me, I love to work and give back to the community because this country is very beautiful and have helped me so much. But because of my son I have to work half time which the job centre is not happy with because I was told I need to work £800 plus but what can I do? I have to pick up my son from school 🏫 no help.

Some Coach is really lovely and nice 👌 why some are very mean and 😢 rude would cut your money 💰 for missing an appointment which is not good enough, for me I think the government needs to talk to them about being rude to people thank you everyone!

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17 Jun 2025
Q&A

Debbie S

Do you invest the same amount of time into your mental health, as you do into your physical health or career?

Hey

Yes I think I did because I have to be mental health okay to be able to work

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17 Jun 2025
Diary

Debbie S

Good day,

Feeling sad for the whole two weeks now, please God help me go through this.

😟
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17 Jun 2025
Diary

Sophia I

Feeling the strain financially again this week. I did a food shop with what I had left in the bank and can't believe how very little I managed to get for my money.

😐
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17 Jun 2025
Diary

Ollie U

If work coaches were truly trained to listen with empathy and if the system allowed more flexibility, I think a lot of stress, harm, and unnecessary sanctions could be avoided. We don’t need tougher rules, we need a fairer, kinder system that sees the full picture.

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17 Jun 2025
Q&A

Ollie U

What's your experience with work coaches?

To be honest, I didn’t feel fully understood by my work coach at the Job Centre. As a full-time carer for my 3 children (one of them with high level of special needs), I came with unique challenges, but it felt like the system wasn’t built to listen to that. I was expected to meet the same job-search requirements as someone with no caring responsibilities, and explaining my situation didn’t always lead to understanding, just more pressure.

There were times I felt like I was being set up to fail—not because I didn’t want to work, but because no one was willing to adapt expectations to the reality of my life. Sanctions felt like a looming threat, and I lived in constant fear of saying or doing the wrong thing, even though I was doing my best.

If work coaches were truly trained to listen, with empathy and if the system allowed more flexibility, I think a lot of stress, harm, and unnecessary sanctions could be avoided. We don’t need tougher rules, we need a fairer, kinder system that sees the full picture.

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17 Jun 2025
Q&A

Howie N

What's your experience with work coaches?

I have been going to the Jobcentre for nearly 4 years. I am not any near getting work in fact I am in worse position now. I never felt supported. confident. I was getting the help I needed to get into work going to the Jobcentre. In fact the situation has only got bad. But more people are need to speak up about their experience in terms of what service they have gained going to the jobcentre because the work coaches just say they are doing their job and doing it right. But I believe work coaches should be able to get us into the right jobs for us within the first 6 months and if not should be sacked. It needs to be the right hours wage, contract, organisation and job. And if you want to do a course you should be supported to do and after doing a course for example if you have done a degree in law and want to be become a lawyer afterwards that's what you should be able to become with the help of the job centre and universities should be ensuring this as well.

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17 Jun 2025
Q&A

Micky I

What's your experience with work coaches?

I have not experienced a work coach.

But to the best of my knowledge l think a work coaches - he or she - is aiming to provide personalised support and to help individuals overcome and achieve their employment goals.

I think that's all l have to say about work coaches.

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