Disabled people, benefit claimants and supporters will be demonstrating at the Olympic Site in Stratford on Saturday 3rd December at 2pm outside the London Prepares Goalball test event for the Paralympic Games.

Campaigners are furious at the involvement of IT firm Atos as the Paralympic Game's official IT partner. Atos are contracted to carry out the government's notorious Work Capability Assessment which has seen tens thousands of disabled and sick claimants being stripped of vital benefits due to the demeaning, intrusive and flawed nature of Atos' assessments.

Several claimants have tragically committed suicide due to the stress of the assessment process whilst thousands of others are now caught up in lengthy and distressing appeals. People with terminal illnesses, severe mental health conditions and debilitating conditions have all been judged fit for work by Atos' scant assessment regime which ignores the opinions of GPs and specialist consultants in favour of a brief computer based interview.

A spokesperson said: "It is an outrage that Atos are attempting to use the Paralympic Games to promote a positive image of their company on one hand whilst taking money with the other from harrassing and bullying sick and disabled people sometimes to death."

To add insult to injury Bernard Bourigeaud, founder of Atos, has recently been appointed to join the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) Governing Board.

Atos are not the only company involved with the Olympic Games who have attracted criticism. Saturday 3rd December is the anniversary of the Bhopal gas disaster and Atos joins Dow Chemical Co as Olympic sponsors who are spending $11.4m on the Olympics, but refusing proper compensation and clean-up to survivors of the disaster at the plant which claimed thousands of lives.

Not for the first time, it appears that the 2012 Olympic Games will be drenched in blood.

 http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/protest-against-atos-outside-the-paralympic-test-event/

Notes

This event is part of a month of festive action against Atos and the benefits cuts. Disabled people and benefit claimants are also planning a Christmas Party and Picnic outside the company's London Headquarters in Triton Square, NW1 on December 16th. For details of all protests please visit:  http://benefitclaimantsfightback.wordpress.com/

Around 40% of appeals against Atos' decisions are successful, rising to 70% when people have representation. A recent investigation found that the benefits appeal system is already on the brink of collapse. Recent figures suggest that Atos have only carried out 56,000 assessments against a target of 11,000 assessments a week from April 2011:  http://www.ersa.org.uk/hub/details/571

This form of disability assessment is shortly to be extended to around 3 million claimants on Disability Living Allowance.



Please help spread the word and come if you can! We are hoping to meet at Chesnut Plaza via Westfield Shopping Centre at 2pm, however should the forces of darkness have other plans and we are unable to access Westfield then we will reconvene outside Stratford Station and discuss what to do from there.