The Infant Feeding Team (IFT) Support breastfeeding families through support groups or one to one appointments in hospital and community settings. Breastfeeding facilitators are highly skilled staff and they also give guidance to formula feeding mothers who need help and give advice on infant weaning. The breastfeeding facilitators are being drastically cut in number and we are wanting to save their posts in order for families to receive crucial support. The IFT help parents to: Recognise if their baby is getting enough milk. Ensure feeding is a comfortable experience for mum and baby. Identify where more help is needed. They also address medical issues such as tongue tie to help babies to feed. Increase the social capital of mothers through facilitating group and peer support networks. Since IFT (or Mum2Mum as they were previously known) was founded, breastfeeding rates in the City have risen exponentially but we are still significantly less than the national average and more support is needed to encourage breastfeeding. So budget cuts to the service seem to be particularly inappropriate. A UNICEF study found that in addition to saving the NHS £40m a year, increasing breastfeeding rates could reduce the risk of a host of childhood diseases including gastroenteritis, bronchiolitis, ear infections as well as reducing the risk of breast cancer for the mother. Stoke On Trent Council has confirmed the benefits of breastfeeding in their own report dated June 2015, stating "Evidence shows that babies are five times more likely to be admitted to hospital with gastroenteritis and more likely to be overweight or obese in later life if not breastfed." Breastfeeding also helps to tackle infant poverty and goes some way to address health and social inequalities. With present government cuts to families support in reducing family expenditure through breastfeeding is needed. Without IFT new and existing mums will struggle and are likely to cease breastfeeding their babies which will create an increase in health and socio-economic issues for babies, mothers, families, the council and the NHS. Please Sign and share to help us Save Our Infant Feeding Team #SaveOurIFT

In 2011 the management of National Museums Scotland broke an existing ACAS agreement and arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed a two-tier wage structure upon its lowest-paid workers (principally Cleaners, Visitor Services Assistants, Housemen, Security) without consultation or negotiation with the recognised Trade Unions. Staff employed since 1st January 2011 are on reduced terms and conditions without a weekend working allowance which is paid to compensate for having to work anti-social hours. Many of this lowest paid group only get one full weekend off once every seven weeks, which has a detrimental impact on family and social life. The consequence is that low-paid workers on the same shifts, doing the same work, are being paid up to £3,000 less than their colleagues. These workers make the National Museums Scotland the top rate attraction it is, and it is only fair that they get paid properly for their hard work. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation states that those earning under £17,100 a year are being paid a Poverty Wage, and many of our members earn well below that. Senior Scottish Politicians, in opposition against Westminster, have recently been calling for recognition of weekend working payments for those who give up valuable family and social time. These payments make up a large part of low-paid workers’ take home pay. PCS totally agree with safeguarding weekend working rights, and believe that if it is good enough for other workers, then National Museums Scotland staff deserve this too. Both Museum management and the Scottish Government need to embrace the principle of recompensing weekend work and accept PCS proposals to settle this long- running dispute. We do not believe that low-paid culture workers deserve to suffer at the hands of austerity, especially when heritage and culture contribute so much to the Scottish economy. The Museum’s own figures show that it contributes £65million to the economy. PCS Members at the National Museums of Scotland have been taking part in discontinuous strike action for over 2 years. Despite repeated requests to come to a negotiated settlement with management, this has not happened.

The undermining of access to justice is gaining pace under the Conservative government and that denies UK citizens their rights to seek a legally binding outcome to their issues. It is also a serious attack on the democratic process. The discussions thus far have highlighted travel times to other courts as not being unduly difficult. However, this focusses on car users. For those that need to attend court by use of public transport this can become a major impediment to their access to justice. It indeed appears to be a deliberate action to deny justice to vast swathes of the population

It is the difference between life and death, between suffering and gaining help to live as independently as we can and takes off huge NHS resources by not ending up in hospitals by gaining practical help and guidance. To find out more about the work of ECIL, please click here: http://www.ecil.org/

Our aim is to keep this building open for the community. We need to reach out the people of Wilnecote and beyond and show the council that there is a big need for the building to stay open for the community groups that already use it and all those that could use it in the future. The Tamworth Herald recently covered the story and published the following: A whole host of groups in Wilnecote have rallied together in a bid to keep a beloved building where it currently is – at "the heart of the community". Earlier this year Staffordshire County Council revealed that the Wilnecote Community Centre was being sold and the site had been earmarked for a 'flexicare development scheme'. It was agreed that community groups currently using the centre could continue to do so until the end of the year. But now, members of groups including the 1st Wilnecote Guides and Attitude Performing Arts, which regularly use the building, have united to "save" the centre from being redeveloped – and keep it open to the community. Protesters have launched a community organisation called The Wilnecote Arts Centre Ltd and are hoping to raise enough money to purchase the building and retain it for use by local social and community groups. It is not yet known how much money the organisation would have to raise to secure the red-brick building. Christine Harris, a guide leader with the 1st Wilnecote Guides, said: "This building is and always has been a community hub. It's the only hub left in the area. If it goes and is redeveloped we are going to have more isolation in the area and could have more anti-social behaviour because nobody will have anywhere to go." "The amount of people who have joined together over this shows that there's a desperate need for it to stay as it is," added Wilnecote resident Christine. The centre, in Tinkers Green Road, is also currently used by a social group for senior members in the community, by the Wilnecote Residents Association and by a social group for adult learners with disabilities. Michala Hitchcock, an Attitude Performing Arts principal who has been involved in the organisation being established, said the centre "brings people together". "What we're trying to do is get as many local people being able to do activities that enhance the community as possible," she said. "We should be increasing participation in activities and improving people's quality of life and they are the kind of opportunities this building offers people." A county council spokesman said the council will work with everyone interested in the future use of the building. "This building formerly housed Tamworth Day Centre and Wilnecote Youth Centre and it has been included in a flexicare development programme because of the need for this type of facility in the area," he said. "After the youth service moved out, it was agreed that local community groups would use that part of the building rather than it remain empty. This agreement will last until the end of 2015. "A community group has lodged an interest in the future use of the building and the county council will continue to work with all interested parties throughout this process. An announcement on the building's future use will be made in the autumn." Cllr Ian Parry, deputy leader and cabinet member for finance, added: "In Staffordshire we want to ensure that we get the maximum benefits for communities and maximum value for taxpayers of every single county council owned building. As part of this, we have created a partnership to review sites, including those no longer in use, following a review of youth services in 2014."

We are currently in a GP recruitment crisis, with applications for GP training schemes falling every year. The suggested plans to cut GP registrar pay will exacerbate this trend and put even more junior doctors off a career in general practice. This will worse the current severe shortage of appointments, leading to poor patient satisfaction and putting patients at risk. The government say they want to hire another 5000 GPs by 2020, but this massive pay cut will make this an impossible target. This is another ideological attack on the NHS and its workers.

The community resources the council seems keen to knock down support a range of groups that connect our community. Without them many vulnerable people will lose support and spaces that they need, and all of us will lose affordable community led activities (including dancing, singing, sports and sewing clubs).

The Guildhall Walk Walk-In Centre is facing a possible closure due to a decision by health bosses to move the walk-in service to St Marys Hospital. It would be a tragedy if the Guildhall Walk Walk-In Centre is closed down as St Mary's already struggles to provide a service for people with minor injuries and waiting times are often long. The Guildhall Walk Walk-In Centre is very successful and is well used 8am - 8pm, 365 days a year and is available to everyone who wants to see a doctor fairly urgently but can't get in to see their registered GP. If we lose this, we will lose a well-established service and it will be much more difficult to get to see a Doctor urgently in the future. Please sign the petition and Save this Walk-In Centre. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/p/emergencydoctors

Apart from rural footpaths, the only way to and from Dinder is by road; without a bus service then school kids, mobility impaired and elderly residents, as well as their friends and family in the local area, will no longer have the independence the bus service provides. Destroying rather than building environmentally-friendly transport networks, while giving no alternative provision is a terrible step backwards, affecting us all.

The recent scandal involving Lord Sewel has highlighted the fact that peers can claim a £300 allowance for sitting in the Upper Chamber. Surely this level of subsidy is the real scandal here!

There are many adults that are unable to get to their day centres, even though we were told that families were happy with their own arrangements, to a lot of us this is so untrue. We have lost a lot of free time to do jobs and for a bit of time to relax which our transport made that possible, so we are asking now that two of our families have been given their transport back which we are all so thank full for but would like to bring to light that the transport that has been given is taxis and escort, this is great but what happens when our next families get their transport back how much will this cost when surely common sense tells us all it would be much less cost to provide a coach and escort that would accommodate most. Please would you sign and share this petition and share it with family and friends regards Noreen Bailey

Child poverty in Wales is currently at 31% and has been growing for decades. This means almost 1 in three children in Wales are not receiving the basic essential things in life that will help even their children one day get out of child poverty and the problem is getting worse. Failing to do this will see further suffering of Welsh children and they will not be able to reach their true potential in life whilst indirect costs of government such as law and order, social costs and health related costs in future will escalate.