Rent donations on GoFundMe up 60% since 2022, with 100,000 donors helping people keep a roof over their heads
A record number of people in the UK are turning to crowdfunding to cover rent and household bills, with GoFundMe reporting more rent-related fundraisers were created in April than in any month on record.
The platform said donations towards rent support had risen by 60% since 2022, with more than 100,000 people a month contributing to help others meet their housing costs.
Funding for some services within the National Disability Insurance Scheme will be slashed – even in cases where participants could be left with a funding gap – as part of a sweeping proposal to drastically curb the scheme’s annual growth.
The proposed changes, revealed on Thursday, will also grant the health minister, Mark Butler, god-like powers to reduce overall funding for support categories, determine pricing guides and caps for services and support, and the ability to change NDIS rules without state and territory approval for the first 12 months.
“To me, being a visual activist means I only illustrate stories that resonate with me deeply, by giving voice to minorities or social situations that need to be addressed,” says Fatinha Ramos. “It is the only way I can truly connect with others.”
Based in Antwerp, the Portuguese artist and illustrator is well-known for blending analog and digital techniques to create rich, emotive compositions. Collaborating with clients like The New York Times, The Washington Post, Tate, and Scientific American, among many others, Ramos has cultivated a keen eye for storytelling through her distinctive visual language.
Recent partnerships include the Anne Frank Museum and MoMA, the latter of which commissioned the artist to illustrate an essay on her experience being compared to Frida Kahlo. Ramos was born with osteogenesis imperfecta, commonly called brittle bone disease, which spurred a childhood spent in and out of hospitals. Drawing and art-making quickly became a preferred pastime, allowing her to transport herself from such clinical settings.
This adolescent hobby stuck, and Ramos worked as an art director in advertising and publishing for 12 years before venturing out on her own. Boasting an impressive list of clients and collaborators, she considers her practice to be an antidote to stereotypical narratives, whether related to the climate crisis, sexism, racism, or the dire lack of empathy that seems rampant in today’s world.
“I want to move away from the narrative that turns artists with disabilities into symbols of resilience,” she tells MoMA. “Creativity does not happen despite limitations but through them. Art should broaden how we see the world—and that includes how we see bodies, too.”
At the moment, Ramos is only accepting select illustration clients as she focuses on her fine art practice, including a series of anatomical glass sculptures based on brittle bone disease. You can explore more of her practice on her website and Instagram.
Nigel Farage was given £5m by the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne shortly before announcing he would stand in the 2024 British general election, Anna Isaac reports.
Badge holders and carers report being harassed, filmed and threatened by strangers who think they are faking disability
Disabled people who use blue badges to go about their daily lives have said they are being harassed, questioned and even assaulted, as anti-benefits rhetoric becomes more mainstream in the UK.
About 3 million people in the UK now have a blue badge, including 1 in 15 adults in England. The number of people who qualify for the scheme – which allows drivers to park in more accessible spaces – has caused some to warn of misuse and fraud.
In today’s newsletter: As campaigners and critics reckon with the bill’s failure, the debate reveals a country struggling to support vulnerable people and those living with terminal illness
Good morning. Last week the terminally ill adults (end of life) bill in England and Wales fell at the final hurdle – just weeks after Scotland’s parliament voted down similar proposals to legalise assisted dying.
For those opposed to a change in the law, it was a victory. For supporters, it has prompted anger – not just at the outcome, but at the process, with campaigners arguing that the unelected House of Lords had thwarted democracy by blocking legislation that had already passed the Commons.
Monarchy | King Charles and Queen Camilla arrived at the White House on Monday for a state visit in Washington with the transatlantic alliance showing fresh signs of strain.
US news | The suspected gunman at the White House correspondents’ dinner had, according to the FBI, written that “I am no longer willing to permit a paedophile, rapist, and traitor to coat my hands with his crimes”. Cole Tomas Allen, 31, from Torrance in southern California has appeared in court charged with three federal crimes including attempting to assassinate the president.
UK politics | Keir Starmer will face a vote on whether to launch a standards investigation into his appointing Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. The speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, has granted a debate today on potentially referring the prime minister to the privileges committee.
Conservatives | Police are assessing evidence about donations to Robert Jenrick’s campaign to become Conservative leader in 2024 after a referral from the elections watchdog, the Guardian can reveal.
National disability insurance scheme service providers will be required to undergo mandatory character checks and eligibility rules will be tightened further for children under 18, as Labor moves to curb growth in the $50bn program.
But the health minister, Mark Butler, faces a backlash from state counterparts as he announces major changes on Wednesday, with Queensland accusing federal Labor of walking away from responsibilities to families dependent on long-term care.
The states are increasingly on edge about Labor’s efforts to cut NDIS spending in next month’s budget, with officials asking the health minister, Mark Butler, to explain planned savings before a major speech this week.
It comes as the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, flagged on Monday morning that cuts to the NDIS will be “easily the most important part of the savings package that we will present on budget night”.
Login
