We are hearing a lot of stories from people who are very obviously chronically ill.

These people are all unwell and had sick notes from their doctors but the jobcentre is saying that these sick notes aren’t good enough.

It is ignoring a lot of sick notes and in some cases losing them and claiming that they didn’t exist. People are terrified, you can see it in their eyes. The way that they walk and look at the ground when they walk.

They just want to disappear away from the world, desperate to hold on to what little they still might have. It’s got to stop.

To most people this is shocking, it’s wrong. To the government this is OK, this is right. How can it be right?

And to the jobcentre staff reading this we come in peace. We want you to stand together and say this isn’t right.

People are dying as a result of your actions which are dictated by this government. Call upon your union for support and take action.

One death is a death too many.

For more of Charlotte Hughes’s writing visit thepoorsideoflife.wordpress.com.

One woman who was obviously very ill and disabled has her money stopped for three months over Christmas.

She was freezing cold because she didn’t have the money to put her heating on due to having pay-as-you-go meters.

She didn’t realise that she could get her housing benefit paid to her on a zero-income basis either, so she is now in debt to her landlord.

She challenged her non-payment and won but the jobcentre has refused to pay her the back pay that she deserves and is entitled to.

On top of all this the jobcentre staff phoned her doctor up just to see if she was ill.

They were so rude to the doctor that she felt the need to apologise to her doctor on their behalf.

To add insult to injury they have now made her attend the jobcentre every day to complete a computer course.

Part of her illness is that she has memory problems. Hearing this story I can see that they have broken many rules but even when you complain nothing happens. They seem to think that they are invincible.

Another man who suffers badly from depression has been totally worn down by the staff in the jobcentre.

He’s tried everything to help himself, even researching his own illness in the hope of understanding it.

He says all that he’s received off the jobcentre is cruelty. He was at the point of giving his life up, he couldn’t take any more. My friend persuaded him not to and he’s still with us thankfully.

A man suffering from chronic liver disease was refused his personal independence payment because he could still use his microwave.

How cruel can they get? It seems that they have no limit, they have a bottomless pit of cruelty that they delve into with great pleasure when encountering the most vulnerable in society.

This just cannot be allowed to continue. It’s beyond cruel.

We were standing in our usual spot and I got called over by a member of our group.

“Hiya this man would like to speak to you. He wants to be heard.”

I walked over and spoke to this lovely man. He was sat in his mobility scooter and shook my hand.

He went on to say: “My friend committed suicide just before Christmas. He hung himself at the top of his stairs. He had been sanctioned but he had mental health problems. He was that scared that he was going to lose his house he killed himself.

“He couldn’t see any other way out. I miss him. Everyday life without him isn’t the same. Since when was this government allowed to hurt people like this? It’s wrong so wrong. They’ve put me on the work programme and I’ve got to go to Manchester for an interview for a workfare job.

“How am I going to afford to do that? I won’t eat just so I can go. I’m too scared that I will be sanctioned to do otherwise.

“I already volunteer but it’s not good enough, they say. They won’t let me breathe. I want to work but I am limited in what I can do.”