Home responsibility Protection

 Hello

I got this from Morning Live. If you were claiming children benefit from 1978 - 2010, the system, they had then was flawed, it did not include your national insurance details, so you missed out on contributions to your pension when you claimed children benefit. They changed this in 2010.

If you are an OAP, and claimed child benefit during those years, you can ring HMRC and ask for the national insurance department, to see if you qualify for an increase in your pension from the government and a refund too.

Simply give them a call to find out more.

Miriam

Free travel 24/7 for disabled people

 Hello

From April 2027, disabled people will get 24/7 free bus travel as long as they have a disabled bus pass.

This is for people living in the UK. This will make life so much easier for disabled people.

Please find out more information here.

Miriam

How to find lost money in old bank accounts

 Hello

Have you opened a bank account, and forgotten it was, so don't know how to get it back?

Introducing mylostaccount.org.uk  simply join, add your details and it will pass your details onto all banks, they will then check your database, and if you are on it, invite to you your local branch, to take your id, and get your money back.

If you have recently lost a loved one, instead of contacting all their banks, pension providers etc, simply go to deathnotificationservice.co.uk, add the details, and they will send you the relevant details, so you can inform everyone at the same time, without doing it individually.

I hope this helps folks.

Miriam

How to boost your immune system

 Hello

There are a lot of illnesses around at present, I take Twinnings, immune support tea every day, and since I have done, that, I have not got a cold, so I recommend it on.

Miriam

Royal mail collection service

 Hello

If you are housebound with disability or want to return a package to a company, you can do so through Royal Mail, sometimes its free other times you have to pay, but it worth knowing, this service is available.

For more details, please go here.

Miriam

The Timms review conclusion

 Hello

As many of you will know, there has been a Timms review of the benefits system for disabled people, the following is what has been found.

We need to encourage people who have a temporary illness, to get them well and back to work.

Those with a mild long term condition, we can help them to work.

Those with long term conditions that will get worse, we give a life time of benefits.

To me that's the common-sense appropriate. Work is good for you, but those who cannot work, need financial support.

Miriam

Help for people on means tested benefits

 Hello

As disabled people, we have extra expenses to pay, and if you are on a low income, you probably want to save where you you can.

Most utility companies, offer special rates for people on means tested benefits its called a social tariff, plus with the water companies, you can have a water meter, if your landlord allows or you own the property, that can save you a fortune.

If you use a lot of water, you can also go on a special tariff, you just needs to apply for it.

I hope this helps.

Miriam

Extra funding for ME and Long covid

 

We have been delighted to see the positive reaction to our BBC Lifeline Appeal and would like to thank everyone who has watched, shared and donated to the appeal.   We have reached many new audiences with the video as seen from the number of new donors and social media followers we’ve had since it launched. The feedback we have received has been overwhelmingly positive, such as the below from a new follower: "I'm getting in touch because I was alerted to your BBC Lifeline Appeal via Instagram. I cannot tell you how supported, moved and seen I felt. Feeling so seen has helped me feel empowered, less alone and stronger inside.  I have shared the Appeal video to relatives and friends as well as from my Instagram account. Furthermore, the video helped me to feel more justified in asserting myself to speak out about the paucity of research and our treatment." Our video is still available to watch on the BBC website here, and we will continue to take donations towards the campaign until the end of May.

Donate

All money raised during the appeal will go towards our work to improve the lives of anyone affected by ME - meeting their needs today through delivering information, support and healthcare, and changing the future by investing in research.

Have you heard the news about major funding for Sequence ME & Long Covid?  This week we were delighted to announce that this new research project has received £4.75m from the UK Government’s Office for Life Sciences (OLS), signalling a transformative step toward uncovering the biological roots of ME/CFS and Long Covid. This funding was secured by Action for ME and our research partners, with the money going directly to University of Edinburgh to start sequencing DNA samples. Read more here.  Creating these partnerships and securing this level of funding is only possible thanks to donations from people through appeals like our BBC Lifeline – if you are able to donate to or share the appeal video, you are helping us to create these major research milestones and moments of real hope for all those affected by ME.

Warmest wishes,  The Action for ME Team

You can now watch and share our BBC Lifeline Appeal!

 

You can now watch and share our BBC Lifeline Appeal! Our appeal video was shown live on BBC One yesterday and is now available to watch and share on the BBC's website. We're delighted to have Montell Douglas as our BBC Lifeline Presenter! Montell features in our 9-minute video, alongside our CEO, Sonya Chowdhury, and the real stories of Andrea, Alice and Isla, and Mark who share their experiences of living with ME. We'd like to say a huge thank you to Montell and our fantastic contributors for supporting our appeal and the wider ME community.

Watch and Share

“ME is a condition that affects so many people, yet is still widely misunderstood and often overlooked. Through this appeal, I hope we can shine a light on the reality of living with ME, including those who are severely affected." - Montell Douglas

3 things that will improve your health

 

Hello

This is from Just one thing program, 3 things that can improve your health.

Drinking 4 cups of tea a day. The properties in tea are full of antioxidants, and will boost your health and make you more relaxed.

Having 3 beetroot a day, will help with concentration.

Having a piece of dark chocolate a day, will boost your brain power. If you are not keen on the taste, you can start with 55% and build up.

I hope this helps.

Miriam

Action for ME on the BBC

 

Action for ME is coming to the BBC!  We are delighted to share with you that we have been selected for a BBC Lifeline Appeal – a unique opportunity to increase understanding of ME across national TV. Since February we have been working with the BBC to develop a 9 minute video featuring the real-life stories of people with ME. These stories will be shown on BBC One on Sunday 26th April at 2:50pm. Keep an eye on our social media or BBC Lifeline webpage (links below) for further updates.  The video will be available to watch on the BBC website until Saturday 16 May and will feature the stories of three people living with ME in the UK. Through this TV appeal, we hope to reach an audience unfamiliar with the realities of living with ME, combat stigma and raise vital funds towards our work. All money raised during the appeal will go towards our work to improve the lives of anyone affected by ME – meeting their needs today through delivering information, support and healthcare, and changing the future by investing in research. Donations can be made from Monday 20th April. Watch & donate to help people like... Isla, who developed ME after Covid. It has been hard for Isla and her family, but after accessing our Support Services, Isla's mum said,  "It has been wonderful to be part of a community of people who truly understand what you are going through. Every person that I have interacted with at Action for ME has been very kind and empathetic.” Andrea, who has been living with severe ME for 33 years and has accessed our Information & Support Services. “Having had contact with Action for ME I felt supported for the first time in 30-odd years. I was listened to and believed.” Mark, who had mild ME for 30 years, then in 2016 it became moderate, then severe. Mark participated in our recent DecodeME genetic research project as, in his words, “This was a golden opportunity to help prove to the world that ME is NOT a psychological condition but a physical illness”. Please save the date, tune in to BBC One on Sunday 26th April if you can, and thank you so much for your support. Warmest wishes,  Sonya Chowdhury Chief Executive, Action for ME P.S. Please tell your friends and family too – the more people we can reach with this video, the more we can shine a light on the reality of ME.

Visit the BBC Lifeline Page

How to save your life, in one easy stroke

Hello

Do you have a smoke detector, do you test it once a month, by doing so, you will save your life, especially if you have a fire in your home.

Miriam 

This is a matter of life and death.

 Hello

From Morning Live, market places like Ebay, Amazon and Facebook are not regulated, so they can sell anything. One thing, you don't want to risk is a fire in your own home, just because something is cheap online.

If an electrical product does not have the letters EC on them, they are fake, and could burst into flames at any time. If you want electrical goods, go to Currys, Heelas, to name a couple.

Don't risk your life, over cheap good, that may be fake.

Miriam

Free tradesmen for you?

 Hello

I got this from Morning Live.

If you want a tradesman free or expenses paid only, there is an organisation called the Mens Shed, it is a group of retired men, who are happy to do free work or expenses paid, in the UK.

Many times, when people retire they don't know what to do with their life, with this, they can continue to work very part time, giving them a purpose, and saving your money at the same time.

Miriam

How to cut your energy bills

 Hello

I got this from watching Morning Live.

Use the eco settings on your devices, this saves energy each time you use it.

Turn your heating down a degree or so, and add more jumpers!

Don't overfill your kettle, as it uses a lot of energy to boil.

Don't over fill your fridge, and it takes up more energy because of lack of air space to circulate air.

Don't put things on standby.

I hope this helps.

Miriam

Sequence ME and Long Covid beginning.

 

As a valued supporter of our work, we are delighted to share the exciting news that we have secured funding for phase 1 of Sequence ME & Long Covid - the world’s largest long-read whole-genome study of any disease. The study will analyse the entire genetic code of 9,000 people with ME and 9,000 people with Long Covid. The initiative is designed to explore the causes of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) and Long Covid using large-scale, long-read whole-genome sequencing. Building directly on the success of the DecodeME study, this project aims to unlock deeper genetic insights that could accelerate the development of diagnostics and future life-changing treatments.  Find out more about Sequence ME & Long Covid The Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid and CODA (Complex Disorders Alliance) have provided $200,000 and $50,000 respectively towards the cost of the project’s first phase.  In this first phase we will: establish the project’s Management Group, Scientific Advisory Board, and build on the existing involvement of people with lived experience who have driven this study from the start develop the research criteria for Long Covid collect expressions of interest from 15,000 people with Long Covid We are delighted to be able to begin this ground-breaking research, however the total cost of the initiative is £20million, with phase one lasting two years and costing £388,138. The funding provided by project partners CODA and The Schmidt Initiative for Long Covid will enable us to recruit a full-time Partnerships and Business Development Manager to help drive this work, including seeking further funding and partnerships for the study. Once further funding is secured, we will immediately move into sample collection and analysis – aiming to sequence 9,000 Long Covid samples, as well as the 9,000 samples already collected through DecodeME.  We are now in a position to take donations towards the project from those who are able to. If you would like to support the project, you can make a donation here. We will share future updates on the study’s progress with you as soon as possible. Our ability to develop research partnerships such as these is only possible due to the support of people like you. Thank you for helping us create real change for people with ME and Long Covid, now and in the future. Warmest wishes, The Action for ME Team P.S. We still have some seats available at our Breakthrough ME fundraising dinner in London on Thursday 15th October 2026. For more information or to book your seat, please contact breakthrough@actionforme.org.uk

Donate to Sequence ME & Long Covid Miriam miriampotter40@gmail.com

Frozen are better than fresh!

 Hello

If you are like me and love fruit and vegetables, but a cannot afford, them fresh, then buying frozen is just if not better for you because they are frozen at source. 

Miriam

How to save money

 Hello

How often do you look through your bank statements and see a subscription, that you don't need any more?

Now is the time, to do just that, go through your bank statements, and highlight any subscriptions, that you have that you no longer need or use, and get rid of them.

With broad band and any other services that are similar, could you get a cheaper deal, why not give it a try?

If you are not well enough to do it, why not ask a trusting person to do it for you.

Miriam

How to improve your mental health

 Hello

The following are ways to  improve your mental health.

Be in nature, I don' t know about you, but nature does me so much good. Having a bird house in the garden, which is regularly topped up, and watch wildlife come and go, is such a tonic, it gives me so much pleasure, and does not take much work at all.

A more painful way is to have an ice bath, but I suggest you run it past the doctor before doing it, and the same with cold showers.

I hope this helps.

Miriam

Never eat ultra processed food

 Hello

Everyone knows, the damage ultra processed food does to your body, but people still eat it, because it cheap, why not ditch them, and go to Aldi or Lidl and get fresh food there, its much cheaper.

I am aware that many people who have ME, cannot go shopping, maybe your carer a friend or a neighbour can do some shopping for you.

As the saying goes, never eat anything, that has a name on it, where you don't know what it is.

Miriam