Wigan workers backing national campaign for those excluded from Covid-19 support

Excluded UK represents an estimated three million people who have received very little or no financial support from the Government during the pandemic.
Sharon Lowe has joined national campaign Excluded UKSharon Lowe has joined national campaign Excluded UK
Sharon Lowe has joined national campaign Excluded UK

The group says people in a wide variety of circumstances have found themselves ineligible for furloughing, grants and other support packages and are lobbying chancellor Rishi Sunak for more help.

Sharon Lowe, from Pemberton, and Ashton resident Louise Wainwright are both Excluded UK supporters who fell foul of regulations which rule out anyone who has a mixture of income sources and derives less than 50 per cent of the total from being self-employed.

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Sharon divides her time between music research work, being a children’s entertainer at parties, festivals and community events and acting in murder-mystery weekends at hotels.

Louise Wainwright singing in the virtual choirLouise Wainwright singing in the virtual choir
Louise Wainwright singing in the virtual choir

She was not furloughed from her role at a marketing company, did not qualify for support for self-employed and freelance workers or get any help for her own business.

Louise was left without support as she was self-employed providing teaching for medical staff in general practice in conference centres and other similar facilities but had also taken an early pension from the NHS.

She is also one of more than 100 people taking part in the Excluded Choir, an ensemble which has produced a parody version of the song One Day More from Les Miserables.

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Sharon and Louise said politicians need to urgently take notice of how many people have fallen through the cracks in the support systems put in place and have suffered hardship in lockdown.

Sharon said: “I didn’t get a single penny. The only thing I was able to do was get onto Universal Credit, but that doesn’t pay the mortgage. I’ve had to live off my savings. It has been very difficult.

“The marketing company I work for got taken over at the beginning of the year so our contracts got wiped. Even though I had been there years I got no furlough. I applied for a business grant and got knocked back because I don’t have to pay business rates. We need the Government to wake up and realise 10 per cent of the UK workforce has been excluded.”

Louise said: “All we are asking for is parity. We are honest taxpayers who have paid our dues who have been entitled to either very little or absolutely nothing.

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"I also fell under the 50-50 rule, because my teaching was marginally less than my pension. My income was effectively halved but I’m still in a better position than many people in the group.

“Businesses are going to fold and all those skills are going to be lost.”

Excluded UK has united people in a vast array of jobs, including driving instructors, hairdressers, childminders, plumbers and dog walkers.

However, while some of these have now been able to reopen and can start trying to claw their way back to profitability freelancers and casual workers in the arts, entertainment and hospitality industries face a bleaker outlook as they depend on public events and it is not known when they will be able to resume or when demand for them will return.

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Sharon said: “No-one’s going to hotels for the mystery weekends I do, and for actors it’s tough because the theatres are shut down.

“Concert venues are not starting up again and there’s no filming at the moment. That affects everyone down to freelance music technicians, catering companies, anybody connected to those industries or working behind the scenes.”

The group is sending thousands of postcards to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to remind those around the cabinet table that they are still in need of government assistance.

Enthusiastic singer Louise has also joined the dozens of people who have lent their vocal cords to the awareness-raising video, with new lyrics to the West End song written by two members of Excluded UK.

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Louise said: “My ambition was to join a Gilbert and Sullivan Society when I retired, so this was a great opportunity because there were professional musicians and videographers involved.

“It was excellent fun and very therapeutic. It gives you something to work towards and makes you feel part of something.”

Sharon says the group has the support of more than 200 MPs, with cross-party recognition of their plight.

The parody video by the Excluded Choir came out on Friday.

For more information about the campaign, visit www.excludeduk.org/excluded-uk-an-inclusive-alliance-for-the-excluded