England are in the Euro finals! Last night’s incredible win saw our men’s team edge closer to a historic victory. If they win on Sunday, well, there’ll be one hell of a party. Whether you care about football or not, moments like this bring us together and, coming straight after the election, could help rebuild bridges. But to mark the occasion properly, we need a bank holiday! PM Keir Starmer is a huge footie fan and backed calls for a bank holiday to honour the Lionesses’ World Cup win in 2022 - so it won’t take much to convince him. In fact when asked about it today he didn't rule it out! So if enough of us sign a petition, calling for him to commit to a bank holiday if we win, we can make sure we all get Monday off to celebrate.

We have seen car accidents, destruction of property and our vulnerable residents scared to cross the road due to the volume of traffic and speed of some motorists travelling through Longside.  This has been an issue for decades and is only a matter of time before something very tragic happens. 

To identify, encourage and support the existing communities, talent and next generation that huddersfield and kirklees should be nurturing. Create more green space and a common space for activity. The site is prime for an amazing mixed use scheme that so much further than a Lidl and carpark.

VAR was introduced in 2019 to decrease incorrect decisions and make referring easier. Over the last 5 years it has made countless right calls from offsides, player misconduct and penalty decisions which the on pitch referee may have missed or misinterpreted.   Right now, the use of VAR is not perfect in the Premier League but with a few changes such as the time it takes for a decision to be made and relaying the information to the fans in the stands it could be better. Other sports have benefited greatly by the introduction of video evidence such as rugby union and cricket, so why not football? Keeping VAR and reducing the mistakes made by humans in their application of the technology, could improve the game and do what it set out to do in the first place….which is to ensure the game we all love so much is fairer

Hundreds of thousands of people are addicted to gambling in the UK, and every day someone takes their life due to gambling. A recent study found up to 3,500 gambling logos were visible during a single televised Premier League game. Another study found fans received 11,000 gambling messages during the opening weekend of the Premier League last August. Children, and everyone who watches the Premier League, do not need to face this advertising barrage. The gambling industry spends £1.5 billion on advertising and marketing every year and studies show a clear link between exposure to gambling advertising and increased gambling. Last year the Premier League said it would phase out front-of-shirt gambling sponsors by the 2026/27 season, but this won’t remove the vast majority of ads that appear around stadiums. During Mental Health Awareness week, the Premier League talked about a “mentally healthy culture across the game”,  encouraging young fans to talk about their mental health, but didn’t mention the adverts with links to mental health-harming gambling products.  Tell the Premier League, if it’s serious about mental health, to remove the ads from all its stadiums. Let's make the next season the first to be gambling ad free!

Football is the beautiful game. It is full of stories of unlikely heroes, of last minute comebacks and underdogs upsetting the odds.  But for too long now, the joy of our game has been sucked away with the use of unnecessary and convoluted technology. Instead of celebrating goals when they’re scored, we now wait…  and wait… and wait… for lines to be drawn on a screen, for millimetres to be checked, for someone sitting in a box miles away to make a decision.  And worst of all, even with all this technology, there’s still loads of mistakes. If it produced immediate and accurate results, that would be great. But it doesn’t. And it’s ruining the spirit of the game. So VAR has got to go.  If at least 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs vote in favour of scrapping VAR, then it will be gone for good! 

Frome is one of the largest towns in Somerset. Barclays, HSBC and Natwest have all closed their branches in our town. Whilst many people now use internet banking, a lot of elderly do not. Frome has many elderly residents, therefore potential customers if previously with Barclays, HSBC or Natwest. Frome has many small businesses, charities and the like who would really appreciate face to face banking facilities. So come on Fromeites and people of Frome. Let your voice be heard. Sign the petition to keep a bank in Frome!

For more than 150 years the FA Cup has provided some of the most memorable moments in sporting history. Football fans relish the David and Goliath battles between the smaller clubs and the Premier League giants. The shock upsets at the hands of giantkiller are one of the reasons why the Cup is the world’s most admired domestic tournament. But the Cup could be stripped of its magic because of the actions of the Football Association. Without proper consultation the FA has decided to scrap replays. We are calling on the FA to rethink this decision. Replays are a vital source of revenue for lower league and non league clubs. The money they receive from the gate and TV rights can be the difference between survival or bankruptcy. By caving into the demands of the big clubs, the FA is not just betraying the smaller ones. It is betraying communities across the country who are brought together through their love of their local team. They need to hear from us - the fans - that these plans cannot go ahead. A huge public backlash could force them to change their mind.

Members of the public are very upset that the annual summer performance will no longer be held at the island. The magic of outdoor theatre combined with the boat journey home is one of the highlights of the summer for many Dorset residents. It brings in a lot of money to the island. Some of the sweetness of the ticket price is that it is going to the national trust which is a great cause. Even if performances continued elsewhere, nothing can replicate the magic of travelling to and from the island and a lazy afternoon picnic before watching theatre in the beautiful surroundings of Brownsea Island.

FA cup replays are vital to the success of the FA Cup. The most famous football competition in the world has thrived from having the unexpected moments that come from a cup replay. The decision deprives lower league clubs of a much-needed source of revenue, if they were to get a lucrative home game against a Premier League team or earn a replay away at the likes of Old Trafford or Anfield.

The housing programme currently being operated is doing very little for people with a small or no deposit who want to get on the housing ladder, either by rent or purchase. Each area, including, rural areas, have been designated a target housing stock number by you , the Government, to instruct Local Authorities to implement this programme. This flies in the face of democracy and public opinion of these developments on what sort of housing and furthermore it does not state a suitable price. Builder Contractors are enjoying a building boom by building properties that are selling for an average of £300,000. This is totally not a programme for people who are on a low financial budget but are trying to find a decent home for them and their family. Houses should be built for young families with enough suitable space to accommodate them at an affordable rent or purchase, and all new builds should as standard, install solar panels. I suggest you take a step back and have a plan to reintroduce council housing and suitable, sustainable housing for all families, which are not undersized, but adequate for all needs. Do you not agree that the house building programme currently ongoing is not suitable for those with very little income to support these new builds? If you don't agree, can you suggest how people can find an affordable sustainable home in the area where they wish to be? Because there are many people struggling to secure decent, sustainable living accommodation for them and their families. whereby they can live in the area of choice and near other family members, if they so wish. Currently the building programme is altering the dynamics of an area and not allowing young adults who have grown up in these areas to remain there. It is important to build community not just housing. A house is a home and that is the difference between these estate built dwellings, where there is no infrastructure or support to allow residents to integrate in the local area or economy.

To everybody who lives in Horwich we can make a big change by addressing this problem