The invaluable charity busting the 'benefits cheat' myth and making the voiceless heard in Lancashire

A 2012 study found that 29% of articles on benefits published between 1995 and 2011 honed in on concepts such as fraud and unemployment, despite the fact that the DWP's own estimates of fraud across all benefits claims is 0.7 per cent.

Whilst shooting 'Benefits Britain: Life on the Dole', it is alleged that producers purchased alcohol, cigarettes, and kebabs for the claimants they were filming, cruelly sensationalising the concept of poverty and stirring the right-wing media into a frenzy. All this at a time when the UK is experiencing the biggest squeeze on wages since the end of the Napoleonic Wars.

Thankfully, ICANN (Independent Community Advocacy Network North) is fighting the good fight.

"As advocates, our job is to help people get their message across and be heard," explains ICANN's Head of Services Janet Cullingford, 56. "We support people who predominantly have long-term health conditions and disabilities, including everything from mental health to learning disabilities and sensory impairment, and who claim benefits.

"A lot of the time, people don't know what's out there or how to access it," adds Janet, who lives in South Ribble. "It's not about helping people lie; there's an awful lot of bad press around benefits scroungers, but there are far more people out there who don't ask for stuff because they don't know they should or can, or who say things like 'oh, I can manage' when they shouldn't have to."

Originally founded in 1995, the organisation works to redress the imbalance in society created by disadvantage, supporting people to make sure their voices are heard, that they get what they're entitled to, and that they have someone in their corner. A lot of their work is with people who are disabled, carers, the elderly, and those grappling with mental health issues.

With statistics showing that having an advocate present at an assessment nearly doubles a person's chances of being awarded the benefits to which they are entitled, ICANN works to do everything from briefing people prior to benefits assessments to supporting them during tribunals and medicals.

A registered charity based in South Ribble, ICANN has over 40 volunteers and 10 full-time members of staff and, between May 2019 and April 2020, supported 514 clients with 372 benefits assessments, 102 appeal tribunals, and 40 other cases.

"There are a lot of hidden costs to disability, so there's pride in knowing you're helping on that front," explains Janet. "It's about helping people get what they're entitled to; the rhetoric around scroungers frustrates me because they're such a minority and, because of the press around them, it makes people who genuinely need support think twice.

"It's been lovely to see the charity grow over the years and I get a lot of satisfaction from the work and am very passionate about my job," she adds, having been involved with ICANN for two decades. "I came on board as a volunteer having experienced the benefits system myself who wanted to give back."

During the pandemic, ICANN has been supporting clients in assessments and tribunals over the phone and launched a telephone befriending service to check in on the elderly, the isolated, and those who have been shielding. They also started a form-filling support line to help claimants and developed a strong network of other services to which they can signpost people in need.

"From a client's point of view, people's mental health has deteriorated during Covid and many others have been impacted financially, so there's more need for support for those trying to access help," Janet says. "And, on our end, the switch to telephone-based services has meant that we can't have that face-to-face contact with clients, which we really miss.

"We can't wait for a time when we can actually meet up with people again and talk to them in person," she adds. "That human connection is crucial."