• Ban Face and Head Punching in Junior Boxing.
    After the recent boxing match between Chris Eubank Jr. and Nick Blackwell which resulted in Nick Blackwell's injury and induced coma I feel it is now time to look at consequences of this "Sport" but mainly in the involvement of junior boxing. My grandson age 8 attends a local boxing club which I am totally against but he and his parents do not feel the same way. They feel it gives him confidence and teaches the children discipline, I am aware the training is beneficial to them in certain ways but I also know first hand how the boys and girls can easily get hurt. On the one occasion I took my Grandson to the club I was only there for an hour and in that time two children received badly bloody noses, one child was crying in pain from a punch to the face and my Grandson was also nearly in tears from a hit to the face which resulted in a very bad bruise the next day. Although the children do wear head helmets and mouth guards these do not stop the punches to the face and head. The children are still growing and developing and I feel the damage they can receive to the face and head (even with helmets worn) could result in serious injuries and health problems. I do realize anyone can get injured in any sport but in other sports it is usually accidental injuries that occur, and it is not accidental in boxing.. Would you please make it compulsory that all junior boxing clubs have set rules whereby NO PUNCHES ARE ALLOWED TO BE AIMED AT THE FACE AND HEAD, whether it be whilst training or in a match. Many thanks, Elaine Brown I fear a child could be badly injured.
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    Created by Elaine Brown Picture
  • Save our cinema!
    The Westway is the only cinema in Frome and has been a loved part of our entertainment and social life for decades. We would like to register the Westway as an asset of community value to ensure its primary use remains as a cinema and entertainment venue, for the benefit of current and future generations.
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    Created by Pippa Goldfinger
  • Get 'winningest' out of the dictionary!
    Because our language is the building blocks of our whole society. Words brought us out of the dredges of despair and enlightened our lives. This so called piece of lexical defecate needs to be stamped out.
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    Created by Ashley Hughes
  • Pay of Charity Executives to be limited that of an MP.
    Charities are in a privileged position and contributors expect the cash they volunteer to go to the charitable cause, not inflate the pay packet of administrators. If you limit the maximum pay to that of a Member of Parliament-which is still three times the average pay of an employed worker, people would feel that more of their contributions were spent on the cause they support.
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    Created by David Kinnear
  • Stop Freezing Overseas State Pensions
    The continued exclusion of overseas pensioners from up-rating adjustments to their State Pensions means that the real terms incomes of those affected falls year-on-year. Over time this leads to hardship, poverty, loss of independence and loneliness. Some individuals have been forced to return to the UK, away from loved ones, just to get by. This policy also creates a barrier to pensioner emigration from the UK, as the prospect of a frozen pension means that many feel they simply couldn't afford to do so. Given the countries involved are largely in the Commonwealth, those in British Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are disproportionately impacted. There is no dispute about the entitlement to receive a State Pension overseas. All British pensioners who have made the required NI contributions during their working life are eligible. The issue at stake is whether that pension is universally uprated or not. At the moment, the government's policy is inconsistent and unfair, with half British pensioners abroad getting up-rated and the other half excluded. This creates crazy anomalies i.e. uprating in the USA, frozen pensions in Canada. It is time for reform to give all pensioners the full state pension they deserve, wherever they live, and to end this injustice once and for all. A positive, and easily affordable, step forward would be for the Government to include all pensioners in the 2.7% State Pension up-rating to be granted this year, by withdrawing the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2016 currently before parliament. CASE STUDIES: Anne Puckridge Former college lecturer Anne Puckridge, now 91, lived and worked in the UK all her working life, paying mandatory NI contributions throughout this time. In 2002, aged 77 she finally retired and decided to move to Canada to be with her daughter and grandchildren who had moved to Calgary in the 1990s. Fourteen years on, Anne, who served as an intelligence officer in the Women’s Royal Navy in the Second World War, is struggling to live on the frozen £75.50 a week rate, she was entitled to when she moved abroad. Anne now feels that she will be forced to move back to Britain, because her pension will no longer cover day to day expenses and she is increasingly reliant on her daughter to get by. Anne says: “It’s the small things, and the injustice, that is really getting to me. I value my independence, but I can’t go on living on the breadline and I don’t want to inflict this on my family. As well as ever-increasingly poverty, I feel a sense of stress and shame, which is affecting my health.” Abhik Bonnerjee Abhik Bonnerjee, now 73, moved from India to Glasgow in 1960. He worked in the UK for 38 years, in shipbuilding, steel manufacture and the food industry. He owned an Indian restaurant for 6 years. Abhik returned to India in 1997 and reached the State Pension retirement age in 2008 when it was paid at £87.30 a week. Having made all the required NI contributions, if Abhik still in the UK today he would get £115.95, 28% more. The decline in his real terms income has left Abhik concerned about losing his home. He now feels he may have to move back to the UK. Abhik says: “The current situation makes me very, very angry. The government are scaremongering… [The Minister] says it will cost a lot of money but it is only a tiny percentage [of the pensions budget]. The government should be doing more, especially for Commonwealth countries and MPs can’t explain why they are not.” Rita Young Rita Young, 78, lives in Peterborough in the UK. She retired in 2002, aged 67, having enjoyed a long career in market research and as a community volunteer. Rita’s son moved to work in Australia some time ago and now has a family there. Since being widowed Rita has wanted to join her son and grandchildren in Australia, but has felt unable to do so due to the prospect of a frozen pension. As she gets older Rita finds daily life increasingly difficult, especially as she doesn’t have a family around who she can call on. She is deeply saddened that she is not able to be with her family during the later stages of her life, and feels that it is a complete injustice that had her son moved to a different country (e.g. France or the USA) she would be able join him with a full UK pension. Rita has spoken at the National Pensioners Convention about the issue and is very active in her community. Rita says: “I worked and contributed to my State Pension all my life. It doesn't seem fair that the government can just stop uprating it because I want to be with my family.” Geoff Amatt Geoff Amatt from Abergele in Wales reached 100 last year. Geoff contributed to the UK economy all his life and fought for his country during the Second World War. Geoff’s daughter Jean emigrated to Calgary, Canada more than 40 years ago, yet Geoff was unable to follow in the knowledge that his State Pension would be frozen at the rate of leaving the country. £29 per week at the time. As a result Geoff has been separated from his two grandchildren and two great grandchildren throughout his retirement. He has lived alone, largely dependent on the state for care, since his wife died seven years ago. Jean says: “Frozen pensions are unbelievably unfair. Canadians get their pension uprated in they live in the UK yet we don’t offer the same for those moving in the other direction. The government is keeping families apart and I worry about my father left all alone in Britain while we’re thousands of miles away.”
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    Created by Tim Snowball
  • Mandatory work activity for MPs
    Our MPs get extensive holidays compared to regular members of the public in low paid jobs. I propose they be required to work in a low cost high street food chain on the shop floor for five days, in full public view. Cabinet members who "refuse" to take part or need to be excluded for security reasons must wear a wonky boot, a glove on their dominant hand, and fuzzy goggles from dawn to dusk, secured by locks, and be on web camera at all times except toilet breaks. Use of public transport in full "kit" should be mandatory at least once per day, from random locations across the country. This will ensure they more fully understand the lives of the people they were elected to represent, or the nature of health and disability.
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    Created by Colin Wilson
  • SAVE THE CINEWORLD HAMMERSMITH
    The Cineworld Hammersmith building was originally opened in 1934 as the Regal Cinema, and has since been operated by many chains, including ABC, Canon, Virgin, UGC, and Cineworld. This is the only cinema left in Hammersmith, and the most historic cinema operating in the area, with the devastating closure of the Art Deco Odeon Kensington. For some reason, this beautiful building is not listed, and so time and time again Developers are demolishing picture houses like this one in order to build luxury flats. This is the last thing West London needs. West London needs a cinema, and this is the perfect building to house it. At meetings and petitions residents have expressed no desire for this building to be demolished, yet Granger PLC and Helical Bar PLC, who, according to their website, 'create shareholder value through a wide variety of high margin activities with property investment at our core', seem to not care about the resident's requests, which makes this petition so necessary. I, alongside many other Hammersmith and Fulham residents, have many happy memories at this cinema over the years. It would be devastating for us to let it go without a fight. Please save the Cineworld Hammersmith
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    Created by Preston Nyman Picture
  • Save Milton Road Public Library in Cambridge from demolition
    Milton Road Public Library is an iconic building in the history of mathematics, celebrated for its connection with Professor Sir Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's last theorem. This dignified and much-loved building has served the public as a library since the 1930s, and continues to do so. It was a book that Andrew Wiles found in the library when he was ten years old that inspired his remarkable achievement - Eric Temple Bell’s, 'The Last Problem'. Wiles had been on his way home from school when he stopped to look at the library’s puzzle section. He read that a proof of Fermat’s theorem had eluded mathematicians for 300 years. Thirty years later, Wiles announced his solution. Milton Road Library had done what libraries should do - inform and inspire – with magnificent effect. Worldwide, few buildings are as closely associated with so notable a mathematical event. Yet Cambridgeshire County Council proposes to demolish it – to build a 3-storey block of 10 flats, with a small library/‘community hub’. This would be a huge loss to the heritage of mathematics and to the architectural and civic heritage of Cambridge. Read more here: http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/download/downloads/id/4248/milton_road_library_site_redevelopment_surveydoc.doc
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    Created by Martin Aitken
  • Support the SKELF Bike Skills Park in Edinburgh's Southside
    We want to create an open access bike skills park in the heart of Edinburgh, making mountain biking accessible from within the city. Our site is an area of neglected woodland wedged between the Southside area of Edinburgh and the Western boundary of Holyrood Park (immediately adjacent to the Crags Community Sports Centre). We want to build: - An 800m Blue Graded MTB Trail looping through the woods (for beginners, younger kids, and cycle proficiency) - Red Graded Skills Development Features (located along the Blue Trail) - An awesome Pump Track that will be great for developing skills and improving technique But we are doing way more than just creating a cool new bike play space: We are also cleaning up a potentially lovely but badly neglected woodland and turning it back into a green space that everyone, young and old, will actually use, spend time in & enjoy. Specifically we are: - Cleaning up all the rubbish, dog mess etc - Getting rid of all the needles so the woods are safe again for kids & dogs to play in again - Planting 200 new native species & fruit trees - Installing 30 bird & bat boxes - Installing new benches & rubbish bins - Improving footpaths for dog walkers & runners After four years of hard work we have: - Planning permission - A 25 year lease for the site - 80% of the funding - Loads of support from local people, organisations and businesses! Once up and running, the woods will also be a great community resource for local Eco schools & forest school projects, for young people to achieve their JASS & John Muir Awards, and for led walks by park rangers plus interpretive guided tours. So why is this so important? Learning to ride a bike gives young people great confidence, and an ability to access and explore the outdoors independently, which often goes on to benefit them throughout their adult lives. Young people often can't do this in safety on the street because they are too congested and dangerous to learn on. The danger of future generations slipping into sedentary lifestyles is also well documented. Sign the petition & help us make the SKELF Bike Park happen! For more info or to get in touch: Website: http://theskelf.org.uk/ Twitter: @skelfbikepark Facebook: SkelfEdinburgh Email: [email protected]
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    Created by conrad molleson
  • Save St Giles
    By targeting the most precious and valued greenbelt land in the Village of Chalfont St Giles for possible housing or commercial development (Local Plan page 40) Chiltern District Council lost the confidence of local residents. The meadows were purchased with public funds by CDC in 2002 and should be preserved for future generations, they define and contribute significantly to the character of our historic village. The Meadows are set on an active flood plain and are unsuited to any development. Classed as An Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty the meadows contain a rare and precious chalk stream river that flows through the picturesque Misbourne Valley. Home to protected wild life, flora and fauna the meadows are enjoyed by residents and visitors from all over the world.
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    Created by Save St. Giles
  • Bring Back Reading Racers Speedway
    Reading has been without a Speedway and Greyhound Stadium for nearly 8 years, following our forced ejection from Smallmead and the failure of Stadia UK to start the construction of a New Stadium, even though they had the full support of Reading Council and the Speedway supporter s of the Racers Club. Recently, there has been a groundswell of interest in resurrecting old Speedway clubs, in Cradley, Oxford, Exeter, and Weymouth for example. The "Reading Speedway Action Group" Committee, are looking to form a Supporters Trust and get aboard this bandwagon and have speedway once again in Reading and the Winged Wheel flying high. To achieve our aims we need YOU to sign this petition to show Reading Council that there is sufficient support for this project. The more that sign, the more leverage and empowerment we will hold. Please sign NOW and help bring back the Racers. It costs nothing except 5 minutes of your time. Follow us on Facebook "Reading Speedway Action Group". https://www.facebook.com/Reading-Speedway-Action-Group-490790471107024/?fref=ts
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    Created by John Hill
  • Save The Birch Tree Inn
    This is important to the local community of Glasshouses, Wilsill and Blazefield who have been using the pub for the past 170 years and continues to be an important hub for many activities, including Glasshouses Village Association, Glasshouses Development Association, The Birch Tree darts team, The Birch Tree dominoes team, quiz nights, Pateley Bridge Walking Festival, cricket club meetings, two book clubs, etc., as well a place to meet, eat and drink. The Nidderdale AONB also needs tourists and this pub provided a very attractive asset for day-trippers, walkers and cyclists alike. This pub had not failed!!
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    Created by Simon Tame