I'm in a real loophole and just can't find a way out.

We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Hillbilliej

Hello. I really don't think there is a way out but you never know. In a nutshell. I worked all my life. In 2007 (aged 38) I was very poorly and eventually the cause was said to have been a possible stroke. Took a year to get back on track. My employers were amazing. The illness left me with a rathere nasty condition. I now have severe hemiplegia migraines. I have on average at the least 4 to 15 individual  attacks a month and about 3 clusters a year, always around the same time. The clusters can be a week if I'm lucky where I'll have 1cor 2ca day up to 5 months. I usually know when the migraine is going to trigger a hemiplegia episode. The migraines are bad enough but the hemiplegia episode starts with a tingle in my face which then leads to paralysis in my left side from 2 up to 8 hours. I have to get to a place where I can ly down on my right side until it passes. It is incredibly painful. It effects my eyesight and I cannot see properly for days after and it effects my speech which takes 72 hours or so to return to normal. I decided in 2014 to go back to uni and do a degree to retrain in my previous career as an illustrator. I had been in education for over 20 years and it was getting too hard needing so much time off. I got my degree and as it was too much working as well I gave up my job in October 2015 to concentrate on my last year. However, I had no idea what chaos this would cause. I had no idea as a mature student I had to pay my national insurance. I found out 18months in had a deficit of £1500. There's no way I could fill that. I have been desperately trying to work for myself and now with no income and no help I am in a real mess. We cannot survive much longer with just my husband working. I have tried for over a year to get a part time job. Who wants to employ someone who needs time out like I do? No one. With no income I cannot fund myself to promote myself. I cannot get any help as I have this hole in my NI .What on earth can I do? Hillbilliej

Donisha_Scope

Hi @Hillbilliej,

Thank you for your enquiry.

There are absolutely options available in terms of finding employment.

For instance, you could apply for home-based roles or freelance work depending on the industry of specialism.  

If you would like advice or guidance from the comfort of your home, the Support to Service may be a good place to begin.

Our advisers offer 12-weeks of digital employment support tailored to meet the needs of each individual. This includes building confidence; identifying your transferable skills; support with CV and cover letter writing and interview practice.

In addition, we provide general employment and benefit advice and assistance with completing job application forms.

If you would like more information on the service, or to register, you can complete an online referral form on:

https://www.scope.org.uk/support/our-services/employment/support-to-work

If eligible, the customer care coordinator will call to discuss the service in more detail and will book you in for an initial appointment. The appointment will enable you and your adviser to go through your career goals, skills and experience and tailor an action plan to meet your needs.

Kind regards,

Donisha