Manchester Activist Network agree and campaign in line with the same principles as Housing First, who stand by the following philosophy: - Housing as a basic human right - Respect, warmth and compassion for all clients - No requirement regarding housing readiness - Consumer choice and self-determination - A recovery orientation - Harm reduction rather than abstinence with regards to substance misuse. Receiving an intensive case management team This approach is guided by the belief that people need basic necessities like food and a place to live before attending to do anything less critical, such as getting a job, budgeting properly or attending to substance use issues. The Housing First approach views housing as the foundation for life improvement and enables to permanent housing without prerequisites or conditions beyond those of a typical renter. The traditional supported accommodation, addressing addiction issues and subsequent move-on to long-term accommodation had failed repeatedly. (Laura's Story) http://icmblog.shelter.org.uk/a-housing-first-future/ Housing First, widely replicated in the US, Canada, Europe, has been actively growing interest in developing better housing responses for people with multiple and complex needs. - provides strong and consistent outcomes for tenancy sustainment of between 70% to 90% - Potential annual savings ranged between £4,794 and £3,048 per person in support costs - One study found an average cost savings on emergency services of $31,545 per person housed in a Housing First program over the course of two years. However, the future of the initiative is struggling due to: - Very little funding comes from other sectors including social services (4%) criminal justice (2%) and substance misuse (2%) - By far the biggest barrier to setting up a Housing First project was reported as access to suitable and affordable accommodation in both the social and private rented sectors. Inspiring Change Manchester ‘now know more than ever of the importance of a tailored support offer; which is the crucial element in supporting men and women who have led complex lives into stable accommodation. Not just ceasing at the point where a tenancy is signed, but continued and wrap-around support has brought the immeasurable benefit of people developing real relationships with peers who in turn link them into what is happening in their locality’ . Wayne's Story: http://icmblog.shelter.org.uk/wayne-talks-housing-first/ “I believe that when you build a life it’s like building a building. You start with the foundations; you don’t start with the roof. I was being offered jobs and training courses, but no housing.” - Wayne, Housing First resident. As one of the largest landowners in the country, Network Rail, has a portfolio that is shifting the landscape towards gentrification of our inner Cities. M.A.N. believe Network Rail have a corporate responsibility to minimise the negative social ramifications of this change, such as the rise in homelessness in Manchester. Manchester Activist Network

After all the lies about Labour (and the related racist articles) printed before the last election by the Daily Mail and the Sun, we are asking your supermarkets to stop selling these papers for at least one month. The Independent Press Standards Organisation is absolutely useless as a regulatory body, because at best after an enquiry, all newspapers have to do is print a tiny apology months later after the incident.

It is unsafe and makes people vulnerable. It's an invasion of privacy, not only can your friends see where you are but also the creators of the app and G*d knows who else!

There is a major problem in the housing and property market whereby landlords whom want to make extra money renting individual rooms are providing no agreements and are taking sizable deposits from lodgers offering no protection as there is no policy or law that says they should do, 1.7 million homeowners rented rooms to lodgers in 2016 according to Santander Mortgages Survey. This matters because alot of professionals including our emergency services sector are renting in this way and by not regulating this area means hundreds of thousands of pounds are not returned with no consequences. I have a family member that decided to use a lodging platform for listings to find a room in London, she paid £1200 as a deposit, whilst living in the property the landlord began to infringe on her personal space and belongings and so she decided to give notice to leave, when she asked for the return of her deposit the landlord refused saying she missed payments and the room wasn't in the same condition he rented it to her in, she was devastated as there seemed to be nothing she could do but taking it to a claims court, she decided to walk away. I have heard thousands of stories just like this I want a Lodger Deposit Guard to be backed by the Department of communities and local government and rolled out as a mandatory action when renting a room going hand in hand with background checking to stop unregulated renting.

Cuatomer and employee comfort and care. Being a customer i have a two hour commute on the busses and on extremely hot days its just unbrearble and i can only wonder how the drivers stay so composed under such strenuos working conditions dealing not only with the heat. But with ubcomfortable perspiering passengers who belive that it is the drivers fault that it is scorchingly hot both outside and on the busses.

We are a local village restaurant striving to attract customers to experience our freshly prepared food. As we provide soft drinks, customers use local shops for beverages. As a result this has increased village trade! Our vegetables and poultry are sourced by local suppliers to benefit local businesses. Our objective is to support our community, as we contribute towards our village events. We also enjoy accommodating our friends from the local care homes on their days out.

Unilever owns PG Tips, the UK's most popular cup of tea. Let's call on them to remove ALL plastics from tea bags - it is usually polypropylene. Teabags won't completely biodegrade if they have plastic in them. People in Britain drink 165m cups of tea EVERY day - with 96% of those from tea bags. That adds up to billions of pieces of plastic. As a market leader and the recent purchaser of Pukkha teas which doesn't use plastic in its tea bags, Unilever could help make a positive difference to the environment by removing plastic now. Polypropylene is a plastic and 20% is not a small or insignificant amount when multiplied up by the millions and millions of tea bags used daily around the world. All of these plastics remains un-degraded in the environment. There have been many campaigns to keep plastics and microplastics out of our seas, highlighting the harm they do to marine life. But the same is true of plastics on land as they can cause harm to birds and small mammals. We need to keep ALL plastics OUT of our environment. I believe that it is possible to use another material that is biodegradable - plant or fabric based. In fact, I understand that there is already one brand of conventional teabag which is polypropylene-free made by Jacksons of Piccadilly, so it is technically and practically possible. Let's make our environment plastic free and fully compostable with a change to the materials used in our tea bags.

The demographic has changed drastically over the last few years with lots of families and young couples moving into the area from other parts of Bristol (and London). Everyone I speak to; friends, family, neighbours and fellow parents at the school gates agree that this investment is long-overdue. We need a pub that appeals to the many, not the few 😉

The fashion industry is renowned for being the 4th most polluting industry in the world, While some companies have admirably already started to focus their efforts on sustainability, I am concerned that real change will not be effected without government intervention. Without state regulation, there is very little, or nothing, to oblige companies to adopt better work ethics and ensure that the production process follows a moral and ethical code. We are unlikely to inspire change within the fashion industry without an incentive or government supported initiative. Taking tobacco consumerism as an example, studies have found that there was little change in people’s habits simply by printing warnings on cigarette packets. However, once the UK government took steps to ban smoking in public places the number of smokers dropped significantly. I would urge the British government and the European Parliament to consider the imposition of regulation within the fashion industry, to include production, environmental protection and working conditions. If we consider fast fashion for a moment, have you ever really given thought to the practices that companies must engage in overseas in order to produce such vast amounts of clothing on a large scale, still managing to sell them to consumers at £2-£5 per piece and yet also retain profitability? Fast fashion aside, how do luxury brands manage the huge quantities of waste they produce and how do they dispose of it? Many do not turn their mind to these matters because they are not within eye's reach. However, as a leading country in the Western world where we are increasingly concerned with climate change, where we pride ourselves on human rights and where we have enacted new laws to tackle slavery in the modern world, we have a duty to ensure that the things we consume (whether produced nationally or internationally) all meet a standard that we should be entitled to expect. It is time to encourage a political dialogue between the government and the fashion industry. Purely for reference, please consider the following: -The report ‘Fashion Transparency Index’, from Fashion Revolution; https://issuu.com/fashionrevolution/docs/fr_fashiontransparencyindex2017?e=25766662/47726047 Movies: The True Cost - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaGp5_Sfbss RiverBlue: https://vimeo.com/190158582 How French government effectively implemented new regulations for the production and use of plastic http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/france-bans-plastic-cups-plates-cutlery-energy-transition-for-green-growth-a7313076.html?cmpid=facebook-post

MITIE Group PLC is the UK's single largest provider of immigration detention centers. Inspections have severely criticised these facilities for detaining people for 'unreasonably long' periods (even when medical and mental health professionals have recommended their release) in 'desolate' and insanitary conditions. Other exploitative practices include the use of inmates to perform essential maintenance work, with payment of only £1 an hour, while incidents of serious self-harm quadrupled in 2 years at one immigration detention centers operated by MITIE. Durham University has a long and proud record of respect for human rights and social justice, a record that is being tarnished by our association with immoral companies like MITIE. Working with these firms is an embarrassment to the student body and the university as a whole, this is why we are calling VC Stuart Corbridge's administration to cease all relations with MITIE (firstly by not renewing their current £5 million contract, due for renewal this year) and to look into updating the University's procurement policy to include more human rights requirements.

This is an international problem, which met with an international solution - and Britain must join the international condemnation of America's terrible, selfish decision. We do not want to live in a world dominated by bullies. We do not want to live in a Britain too scared to do anything America doesn't want. We demand leadership that makes us proud to be British. If Theresa May cannot condemn America's decision to condemn our planet, will she ever stand up for anything? British people stand up for others, and we stand up for what we believe in. We do not want a Prime Minister who licks the boots of the American president. Theresa May must show strong leadership and sign the international letter condemning Donald Trump and his abandonment of the Paris agreement.

The Sun newspaper began in 1964, founded as a paper for the people. It had instant widespread appeal, by the 1970s it had been bought by Rupert Murdoch and gradually it's agenda changed. Since this time, this newspaper has been very effective in guiding the views of it's readers from that of a "paper for the people" to one that causes ugly division and shocking scaremongering. The reporting is rarely based on fact and is usually in support of right wing idealism that largely favours the wealthy elite (a powerful collection of corperations and companies who's main aim to to ensure they accumilate wealth). No government or elected body should ever be involved in closing a newspaper down. Freedom of the press is very important. But WE the people can take action. We can join in with the boycott, Town by Town, City by City until no-one wants to advertise or back this paper anymore. Let's take a stand against Britains most popular newspaper and try to get it's constant spread of xenophobia. Let's make our tolerant and unique City of Brighton and Hove free of this poisonous newspaper. Boycott "The Sun"