Hi insig, just wanted to say how much I relate to your post. I too received my ESA decision this week, and it was the support group without medical, like you. I can identify with how deflated and defeated that can leave you feeling.
I just wanted to say congratulations for being shortlisted as volunteer of the year - that's a massive achievement and just goes to show how valued and valuable you are to your organisation, it certainly doesn't sound like you're useless.
As you probably know, the longest period of time you can be in the support group for is *I think* three years before being reassessed, so it's not like they've decided you won't be able to work forever, just for a period of time. You could maybe think about using this time to discover, with the help of your CPN, what would need ot change for you to become able to work again and what steps that might take. This might mean trying evening courses or part-time study to gain skills and qualifications, or adding more voluntary work to practice other skills or gain confidence. You could maybe try some permitted work at some point which means you could keep your ESA but try out some part-time work too.
I've been devising a timeline with my CC with dates on to stick to, so I know I won't stay static and will keep progressing.
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