I hear you Cazz.
I am a moderator on a different kind of forum.
There's someone on there wanting a council flat swap.
A couple, neither working - no idea why or for how long, so cant really comment on that - and they currently have a 2 bedroom flat with no garden.
They want a swap because they have 5 yes 5 kids!
Now, I would be the first probably to crow about peoples rights to have kids, buuuuut, I also believe with rights come responsibilities, and vice versa.
If you are stuck in a 2 bed flat at the top of some highrise, stop popping out babies!
Surely its not rocket science?
Sadly these days, people seem to expect rights without responsibility.
Oh dear, just read that, it makes me sound an awful snotty right wing bigot!

My heart does go out to you Hannah, and I know others in that situation.
I would imagine it must be very hard for you to even bother to get out of bed to look for work, when I am depressed and weepy and feeling ill the last thing I would be having the energy mentally to do would be to face the world and look for a job, let alone drag myself to an interview and look and act my best.
A vicious circle, I guess.
I hope something comes along for you soon.

Before my son was termed "chronically sick" and given 'incapacity benefit in youth' due to manic depression (and he has aspergers), I went with him to an interview at the job center and the lady spent ages filling out forms and asking questions about what jobs he'd done, his interests etc. (with the view of finding him a 'new deal' or some kind of training) then she got to the bit about his qualifications.....Book shut, she sat bolt upright in her chair and said "I'm sorry, I didnt realise you had qualifications, we can only help by way of sending you on basic literacy and numeracy courses and job training of that calibre...."
Right.
She then told him to stay on the sick as long as possible as he'd be better off than on JSA and there's bugger all jobs around above the basic rate.
He was most upset and went home and banged his head against the wall and cut up his arms again.
Really helpful that was.
Even his psychiatrist said to him, "hey your IQ is higher than mine, we should swap chairs", which was meant to be funny but wasnt at the time.
He just wants a job.

Grab a rifle Freda, there's a job waiting for you in Afghanistan!

Doing voluntary work it would still be an issue.
Just because you arent being paid, doesnt mean you can just put your coat on and say "I'm off to an interview for a REAL job" or just decide not to turn up for work one day because summat better came along - its about respect and consideration isnt it.
After all, you are going to need your 'employer' at your voluntary job to give you a reference regarding what kind of employee you are.
As for the "its easier to find work when you already have a job" - in many ways this is quite correct, for the simple reason that a prospective employer wants to hear you say what *current* (or recent) work you are/have been doing, rather than "Oh i've spent the last 2 years on the dole doing nowt."
Also, it goes a long way to impress the prospective employer to tell him he will have to wait a few days to interview you while you sort work time to get to it, and that you must give your current employer (voluntary or otherwise) fair notice to start his new job. It gives him an idea how you are going to treat him if he employs you.

/I interviewed a girl once who glibly said she could start immediately because her job sucked and she hated her boss so stuff him....she didn't get the job, I wonder why/

Red, I thought you are allowed to do voluntary work for x amount of hours per week?
When my son was on jsa he did about 4 hrs one day a week, on the advice of the job center lady for work experience.

Surely relevant, recent experience is a very important factor to take into an interview?
Gosh, if you're correct about that Red, that's summat they should change PDQ.
How is someone meant to get a job if they arent allowed to show that they are capable of doing it?

Another aside, my son wanted to apply for a job stacking shelves at asda nighttimes and the job spec said "recent experience required". !!
I do feel for people out of work and looking.

Bloody hell, dont it make you want to march in there with a baseball bat????!!!
Talk about tying someone's shoelaces together then saying if you dont run - and DONT fall down - you wont get any supper!
This country is mindbogglingly pathetic really.

Ah, but nothing like a baseball bat on the end of their nose to make sure they listen very carefully to your reasonable assertiveness eh?

My ex had experience of this last year. Being a Belgian national she didnt know how our system worked, I naively told her people would be there to explain and go through it with her at the job centre. She came home crying because nobody would help her, they just told her to use the phone and she didn't understand the terminology and accent of the person she spoke to on there who was very rude to her.

In this country you are a number, a statistic, all humane feeling is removed from the process and you are treated like shit. They expect you to put up and shut up because you are made to feel like a drain on the system. I have to say I was extremely embarrassed by the way they treated my ex at the time and I felt so bad at sending her along on her own afterwards, I made sure I went with her to every official thing after that.

A friend and I share a joke about how in London and in the inner cities everybody just seems to be waiting for you to get out of their way. It sums it up for me.