Children walk and cycle to primary and secondary schools next to a 50mph/70mph road, along a shared use footway/cycleway that is sometimes only separated from this traffic by a narrow verge. An email from the County Council Highway Schemes says that they will only take action to install a vehicle restraint system (barrier) if "vehicles have left the carriageway and have come into contact with pedestrians or cyclists".  It is unacceptable to promote Active Travel and advertise "Park and Stride" along this recognised route to school before first making it safe. There should not have to be an "injury collision" before a barrier is put in place, as is current policy.  Encouraging people to take to their bikes or walk only works when the routes in question are safe. The council's Active Travel Strategy July 2022 notes 5 core priorities, one of which is a “promise at all levels…to treat walking and cycling as a policy priority”.  Many people avoid cycling this route because of safety concerns; adding a barrier will also contribute to the Council's priority of increasing cycling and reducing car use. We are calling for Oxfordshire County Council to install a vehicle restraint system along the A40 London Road from where it turns to 50mph heading East, along through the 70mph by Thornhill P&R to the Holton turn. This stretch incorporates direct routes to school for Sandhills Community Primary School, Bayards Hill Primary School, and Wheatley Park Secondary School. Please sign and share this petition widely, and leave comments if this personally affects you or those you know.

This issue is very personal to me. I am living with the long-term effects of viral encephalitis from childhood, which left me visually impaired and paralysed, along with a brain injury and multiple complex health conditions. While I live with these challenges every day, I focus on staying independent and contributing where I can. I am unable to work, so I dedicate my time to voluntary work, supporting charities across Devon and helping others in my community. It gives me purpose and allows me to support people who may be facing their own difficulties. Through this, I have seen how vital charities are—but also how much they are struggling. On one occasion, I spent a full day fundraising and didn’t receive a single donation. At the same time, I am personally trying to raise funds for a suitable wheelchair to maintain my independence. NHS provision is very basic, and accessing grants is extremely difficult, if not impossible. This means people like me are left relying on charity and public generosity for essential equipment. I find it very hard to accept that while people are struggling to access basic support, individuals can receive tens of millions of pounds through lotteries and competitions. I believe this highlights a wider issue about fairness and priorities, especially when the NHS, ambulance services, and charities are under so much pressure.

To advance amateur dramatics, dance and music performances in particular but not exclusively, by providing facilities suitable for public performance and other community uses such as for example celebrations, exercise & wellbeing classes, home school hub, youth club, cinema club, AA meetings and art & craft activities. The facilities – including a full size stage - will be housed at Meeching Hall in Newhaven Town Centre for which the Trustees will be fundraising in order to retain and improve this hall for the public benefit. Charitable Objects * A place for performances * A place of celebrations; party packages * A place for passion projects; cinema club * A place for wellbeing practice; yoga; pilates; dance; AA * A place for pop up themed Cafes; repair cafe, seed exchange, crafting * A place that can be a hub for home schooling * A place to be used for Adult Education such as U3A courses Meeching Hall will be open to all Newhaveners: established, recent, young and old. Our Mission: Affordable – Welcoming – Can Do We like to say ‘yes’ to the community

Medical students in the UK face significant financial hardship during compulsory clinical placements, which are full-time and often require long travel, relocation, and additional living costs without any pay. This disproportionately affects students from lower-income backgrounds and risks widening inequality within the medical profession. We call on the Government and Parliament to introduce paid clinical placements or, at minimum, a standardised national stipend that reflects living costs and recognises students’ contributions to patient care within the NHS. In addition, a consistent system to fully cover travel and accommodation expenses should be implemented to eliminate regional disparities in support. Without action, financial pressures may force capable students to leave their studies, worsening workforce shortages. Ensuring fair financial support during placements is essential to widening access to medicine, supporting student wellbeing, and securing the future of the NHS.

The Moseley Road Friends institute building is a valued and vital community asset, serving the local and wider community since its opening in 1897, commissioned by Richad Cadbury – first as a home to the Quaker community, then from the 1980’s onwards as a community centre – continuing the original objectives of the building, which are enshrined in a covenant of use: “for educational purposes, for purposes of recreation and other leisure time occupation [with the object of improving the conditions of life] and for other Charitable purposes” When Richard Cadbury died, the building was held in trust and transferred to his children, and then in the 1980’s transferred to Birmingham City Council to manage and maintain. Once a thriving incubator of community activity with a café, function halls which hosted weddings, parties and meetings, music, arts and crafts, youth clubs and so much more, for the last twenty years it has experienced a consistent lack of maintenance and care via managed decline.  The building now faces closure, with Birmingham City Council issuing short notice to the tenants and users. There are currently four organisations using the building: The Moseley Road Community Conservation Trust (TMRCCT), Centrion Care, Dunamis Birmingham, and Live Art Life-drawing.  Between us, and in the case of TMRCCT supported by National Lottery Awards For All funding, we provide arts and crafts, music and music therapy, and therapeutic writing activities, carers training and provision, advice and support services, sales of donated goods, and Church services.  It is one of 23 landmark Birmingham buildings that feature on Historic England's at-risk register, highlighting their architectural significance and the challenges they face. There has been a lack of transparency or willingness to find alternative solutions – citing health and safety concerns for the users of the building, when no such concerns had been presented over the previous decade, despite there being no heating, a broken boiler, the kitchen removed so the café had to be closed and a small leak in the roof escalating to major damage, meaning space can’t be hired.  As Custodian Trustees of the Charity, Moseley Road Community Centre no 516602, Birmingham City Council are responsible for “the provision and maintenance of an Institute or centre for the benefit of the inhabitants of Birmingham” at the Friends Institute. By their lack of maintenance of the building over the last 20 years or so, contributing to the deterioration of the building, they are, and have been for many years, in breach of these responsibilities. Owing to The Friends Institute’s Grade 2* listed status,  Birmingham City Council are in breach of their legal responsibility to maintain the building. We see a continued lack of maintenance, and in particular wilful neglect of the building by allowing the roof to continue to leak since 2018  - a contravention of the Planning (Conservation Areas and Listed Buildings) act 1990. The Friends Institute has been in continual use as a Community Centre since 1897, providing opportunities for local people to improve not only their health and well being, but also wider life chances through social and recreational activities, and education and training opportunities. All of the above offer, and have offered in the past, invaluable opportunities for the community of Birmingham to engage in learning and training, self-improvement, information and advice, therapeutic and recreational activities and social support that provide considerable mental and physical benefits to participants, amongst whom are individuals with physical disabilities and mental health issues, as well as a range of other social and societal disadvantages.  Participants originate from a wide variety of social backgrounds and ethnic groups, and they include recent immigrants, asylum seekers and refugees, and those returning from prison or homelessness, as well as longstanding residents and their families and friends. The Friends Institute is therefore a place of huge potential educational and social value, offering opportunities to develop the potential, and improve the well-being of not only the Highgate community, but the wider community of the City of Birmingham.  As a significant historic building, and as a vital resource for the local community, it is essential to retain the Friends Institute as a community resource, and to enable it to be restored and revitalised as a thriving community hub as it has been through much of its previous history. We are urging Birmingham City Council to reconsider the closure of the building, and to work with us and the inhabitants of the City of Birmingham or some part of it, who are the stated beneficiaries of the Charity, to explore alternatives whilst continuing to deliver our vital services. We believe communities need space and meaningful provision, and that the Friends Institute can continue to do this, with support whilst we explore fundraising options and alternative models of management.  Please sign this petition and share amongst your networks. Thankyou Friends of the Friends x  

Bethnal Green Gardens is a rare open space in London that supports free, informal community use. The recent construction of padel courts has reduced the area available for people to gather, be active, and socialize. Losing this space would affect a wide range of people who rely on it for exercise, leisure, and community connection.

It matters to everyone who feels anger or even unease at the chaos and loss of life resulting from the war being waged by Israel & the US.  The involvement of other states is more likely to prolong than shorten hostilities.

I am one of the students at risk

Each one of these homes has provided exceptional, award winning care to thousands of elderly people over the years and has been a vital support for elderly and infirm residents as well as those requiring respite care in the final chapter of their lives. The RMBI has stated that “at the core of their organisation is a steadfast commitment to deliver safe, compassionate, responsive, high-quality care, with kindness, support and trust”.  The decision to walk away from the homes is exhibiting a cruel lack of empathy, care and consideration at a time when the residents need stability and security. Thousands of people across the UK have supported these homes, on a voluntary basis, fund raising and giving their time to improve the lives of residents within these homes.  If these homes are sold  there is no guarantee that the residents will be allowed to remain or that the standard of care will remain the same. The UK is facing a severe shortage of residential and care homes. The sector is already suffering from closures and cannot meet rising demand from an ageing population, leading to thousands of vulnerable people struggling to access suitable care.  Why add to this critical situation that we are already facing?  WE NEED THESE HOMES. Please sign and share the link to all your family and friends to implore the Executive Committee and the RMBI to reconsider this devastating decision to sell the homes and explore other ways to protect our vulnerable residents. 

Do you care about biodiversity, climate change, and Scotland’s natural beauty? Then please sign today to preserve a precious maerl bed on the Isle of Skye! In this frightening time where biodiversity is plummeting and global warming is rocketing, you can save an organism that protects us from both: maerl – a living calcified algae with coralline branches in exquisite pink and purple hues. Maerl is a crucial keystone of marine biodiversity. The spaces between its branches provide homes for a myriad of juvenile crustaceans and molluscs, such as scallops and anemones. In allowing these marine creatures to mature, maerl supports the fish, otters, seabirds, and seals that feed upon them. Maerl is invaluable in the fight against global warming, as it absorbs carbon dioxide and stores that carbon in its hard exterior. Because of these vital characteristics, maerl is a Protected Marine Feature under Scottish law.  We cannot take this beautiful defender of our planet for granted - maerl is categorised as a threatened and declining habitat. Therefore, we are unbelievably fortunate to have a 6-hectare, centuries-old maerl bed (recognised by NatureScot and the Marine Directorate) here in Ardmore Bay, on the Isle of Skye.  Unfortunately, SSEN are planning on high-pressure water blasting the seabed to lay a cable through Ardmore Bay, which can destroy this maerl bed. Maerl is extremely slow growing (about 0.5 mm per year) so when damaged it is essentially forever lost, depleting the wider marine life and negatively impacting the climate.  Thankfully, this is a unique case where both maerl and new infrastructure can co-exist! There are alternative routes for the cable into Ardmore which will not impact the irreplaceable maerl bed. Therefore, we urgently need SSEN to consider the alternative routes for their cable into Ardmore, before this Protected Marine Feature is irreversibly decimated. Maerl has helped protect our home, it’s now time for us to protect it.  Video of Maerl Bed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKnFGUAntfU Video Identifying Alternative Routes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnC5dJ5Myl8 Press Articles Referencing Ardmore Bay Maerl’s Plight: https://www.facebook.com/OpenSeasScot/photos/lovely-to-see-our-work-turn-up-in-private-eye-it-was-a-pleasure-to-help-the-comm/1234525238822664/ Skye locals fight power cable plan 'threatening rare coral beach' | The National

Too often, fans who are under a certain height are left straining to see the stage, as they’re blocked by taller people in front of them. Despite paying for tickets that cost upwards of £60, shorter individuals (like myself!) are left feeling excluded from the full experience. This is not only frustrating, but it limits our ability to enjoy the music, the performance, and the overall atmosphere of the event. We believe that concert-goers who are 5'4" or shorter should be given the option to sit or stand in a designated section where their view is unobstructed, ensuring that we can all have an equal opportunity to enjoy the show. As someone who’s on the shorter side, I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve gone to concerts and found myself standing behind a 6-foot-plus person, straining to catch a glimpse of the stage. It’s incredibly frustrating to pay top dollar for a ticket, only to be left squinting at the back of someone’s head for the entire show. It’s not just about the view—concerts are about experiencing the music and the energy of the crowd. But when you can’t see past someone’s shoulders, it completely kills the vibe. I’m not asking for special treatment, but why not create a space where shorter people can actually enjoy the show too? I know I'm not the only one who’s felt this way. If you’re shorter and have had the same issue, share your story and let’s work together to make sure concerts are a better experience for everyone—no one should have to sacrifice their view just because they’re not tall enough.

As residents of Long Itchington, we see the speeding on Marton Road (A423) every day. Cars and vans regularly travel through the village at dangerous speeds, putting pedestrians, cyclists and families at risk. The recent crash that completely knocked down a street light was a stark reminder of how serious this problem has become. Many of us walk this road with children, dogs or pushchairs, and it is frightening to think that without action, the next incident could involve a person rather than a lamppost. We simply want our village road to be safe for everyone who lives here.