Regular Benefits and Work readers will need no reminder of the fearless, investigative reporting into benefits and disability issues regularly carried out by John Pring’s Disability News Service.
For nine years, stories such as the secret reports into the deaths of ESA claimants were broken and followed up by John’s extraordinarily determined efforts.
Now John needs your help.
Funding from organisations that carry his stories and from advertising have not been sufficient to finance the site. Now John says that his life savings have almost been used up a and, as things stand, DNS will not see its tenth birthday.
That would be a real tragedy for disabled claimants, who have no better champion in unearthing the truth and challenging the DWP.
So, reluctantly, DNS now has a donate button on the site and each article will encourage readers to make a small contribution, if they can afford to.
According to John:
“For the last nine years, I have resisted asking visitors to the DNS website for money. Because so many of its stories have been about the grinding, austerity-related poverty faced by many disabled people, it did not feel right to do so. However, DNS will not be able to continue its work without a new source of funding.
“My life savings have gradually trickled away over the last nine years and it is time to accept that without a significant new source of funding, DNS will not be here to celebrate its 10th anniversary. For that reason, although access to the website will always remain free, I am asking for the first time for voluntary contributions (please note that DNS is not a charity) to allow DNS to keep operating.
“I hope the tens of thousands of disabled people who visit the site every month will understand why I have had to take this step.
“Please note that this is not aimed at those who are struggling financially. Please do not contribute if you cannot easily afford to do so. But if you can, your support might allow DNS to continue well into its second decade.”
