Stephen Sowden a middle aged disabled man suffering with cancer has been banned from his local disabled sorts club. Stephen lives in the Harold Hill suburb of the London Borough of Havering has attended the Havering Disabled Sports Association since 2007 taking part in the sport of archery. In September last year Stephen was banned from this organisation for under very dubious circumstances. He asked to appeal the decision and was aided by a local campaigner and the hearing was held in a public environment which has been described as a Kangaroo court. Since Stephen’s dismissal from the HDSA both the local authority who have financed this organisation unconditionally for a number of years and his local MP have refused to come to Stephens aid. In a number of disturbing developments Stephen has been subject to threatening phone call’s first from an individual masquerading as a journalist from a national newspaper who tried to belittle his story and since this unsavoury incident has received a number of calls from if not the same another individual advising him their will be dire consequences if he continues to pursue having his membership re-instated. This seems unbelievable in our country in 2016 that a disabled individual can still be subject to this kind of discrimination and intimidation belonging to a different era of countries history. Please see below a statement from Stephen he made shortly after his membership was terminated: "I have been a member of Havering Disabled sports association for many years and due to my Disabilities have had opportunities I would not have had without the transport and help provided. Three weeks ago I was informed my name had been taken of the transport list and I was not to attend the meetings. I eventually contacted one of the Committee in order to find out what had happened but got no information. Last week I got a letter telling me to attend a Committee meeting at the Broxhill centre if I wished to Discuss my situation. I replied to the letter stating that I would be happy to attend but would bring some one to help me and witness the meeting. This was agreed. I went expecting a meeting with the three committee members but was surprised to find that they intended to hold the meeting in front of all the members of the club with no privacy. They had it seemed decided to put me in front of a Kangaroo court and proceeded to ask me personal questions about my Health and private life. They had no evidence of any wrong doing only hearsay and accusations with out any substance. However one of the members stated that if I was to come back he would leave the club simply because he had not liked my attitude. I am at present expecting them to stop me attending the club. They have handled this in a very unprofessional way and have treated me with total disregard for my feelings. I am asking that if a Charity funded by the Council and its tax payers has to comply with any anti bullying regulations and if they are given funding for transport can they simply stop allowing me to use it. I have done nothing wrong and have been under a lot of strain lately having my original disability and having had two major operations for mouth cancer last year. I am still not able to eat solids and have problems speaking or writing due to the operations. If you are unable to help me can you point me to some one who can". We as a group of campaigners and concerned citizens who live in the London Borough of Havering are demanding a proper enquiry into the reasons why Stephens membership was cancelled and will petition the HDSA to re-instate unconditionally Stephen’s membership . All Stephen wants is to be able to continue his beloved sport of archery and get on with his life without intimidation and prejudice. With best wishes. TEAM STEPHEN

In the past, whenever there have been protections for disabled people they have been implied and found to be able to be "short-circuited". The disabled people of the United Kingdom need to be sure of their protection against abuses of the State and its Agents or Contractors, but no longer to be considered as an implicit part of any decision as we can never be truly equal no matter how hard we try or how much society adapts to our existence. Express Affirmative Protection is absolutely vital!

I suffer from a long lists of medical conditions of which I suffer daily chronic pain. This limits my ability to get out at times. Having a dog for support and emotional comfort has at times been the 1 thing that has kept me going. It has been proven that a pet can be of enormous benefit to someone's well being. Also it can make that person go out as they have to consider their pets well being as well.

I believe that restraining techniques are being overused by teachers and staff in schools and academies that claim to be places of learning for children and teenagers with BESD (Behavioural, emotional and social difficulties) too many schools are using restraining practices as a lazy way of getting what they want, leaving the children they restrain mentally and sometimes physically scarred and completely turned off to education with no recourse for the child or parents to take. This campaign is for schools and academies that are using restraint techniques to have to report by law to an independent body within the Local Education Authority, so each case is investigated and reoffending schools, academies, Teachers and/or individual Staff members are stopped from using restraint techniques when unjustifiable and prosecuted for assault of a child in their care. This campaign is to gather signatures of support so that the MP’s in Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole recognise the issue raised by this campaign and take action in Dorset for all Schools and Academies to become Hands-Free places of learning.

Once a month, I take my blind amputee brother to Asda supermarket in Perth. During our last visit to the store, we were appalled at our treatment following the use of a disabled parking space. I discovered a fine which had been imposed on the grounds that my brother (who has lived in a care home for many years and cannot drive for obvious reasons) does not have a blue badge to display. Why should a genuinely disabled person be fined in an Asda car park for not displaying a blue badge? Blue Badge Scotland clearly state on their website: "The Blue Badge scheme is for drivers or passengers with severe mobility problems. The scheme provides a range of on-street parking concessions enabling Blue Badge holders to park closer to where they need to go. The scheme does not apply to off-street car parking, for example in privately operated car parks at supermarkets or airports." I immediately contested this fine with the store management and was shocked to discover that Asda have no power to waive these fines under any circumstances. This is because Asda allow a private company - Smart Parking - to run many of their car parks across the country. This company exploits the blue badge system under their "contract" agreement and employ their own staff to cowardly affix parking fines to windshields without care or consideration for who could be using this space. By allowing such a company to run their parking areas, Asda are complicit in this greedy money making exercise. Following my formal complaint, I had a call from an Asda corporate employee who claims to be among the highest echelons of customer service representatives. This individual showed no understanding or compassion whatsoever, responding to my issue with cold bureaucracy. This employee showed (as with any other member of Asda management that i have discussed this issue with) utter incompetence in understanding the difference between criminal law and contract law. I have been persistently shamed as having “broken the law”, which is absolutely not the case. Perhaps the most shocking revelation during this call is that Asda have confirmed they DO NOT provide their own spaces for disabled people who do not have (perhaps have forgotten or never had the need for) a blue badge. Their best suggestion was that I use the drop off point at the front door. This shows an incredible lack of understanding as they expect me to leave my blind, wheelchair bound brother unattended while I find a regular space. My brother is effectively barred from Asda as there are no suitable spaces to allow safe access to their stores. This amounts to discrimination against disabled customers, as confirmed in my correspondence with Citizens Advice Scotland. They have suggested that there is a strong argument here for the discrimination against the disabled and they have notified trading standards with regards to this issue. I am grateful to have guidance and support of local mps and msps on this matter in addition to a local newspaper that intends to run our story. PLEASE SIGN this petition to help prevent other people from suffering this discrimination, humiliation and indignity while visiting their local Asda store. N.B. Tesco have confirmed that they do not treat their disabled customers in this way and are equally shocked by the conduct of Asda.

My daughter has a life long incurable disability. She did not choose to be so disadvantaged. She was born with the condition and her fiance has the same impairment. Both have autism, are highly intelligent, and like 90% of other people on the autistic spectrum are unemployed. The DWP placed them both in the 'support' group. This is a curious name as neither actually receive any extra assistance, financially or practically. It basically means they are 'unemployable', which is not great for self esteem. Neither chose to be out of work, on benefits and to live in poverty. What stops them, like others with disabilities, getting a job is employer attitudes, an individual's health, lack of experience and job opportunities, a review by the house of lords found in 2015. They were planning to get married this year and we were all looking forward to the day. It would have been a small family occasion, but something to celebrate. Even this small piece of happiness has been smashed by the latest revelations in the Guardian. Under the Tory welfare 'reforms' - I think the word 'changes' is more appropriate - if they marry, they will be moved over onto universal credits, which are less generous than the tax credits and ESA they currently receive. So much for the Tory endorsement of strong families. They have very little money now. Married, that would be even less. The hypocrisy amazes me. Iain Duncan Smith's speech in the summer of 2015 made the point that if the government wants to reduce the employment gap for those with disabilities, then support and financial investment are vital. Instead, these cuts are driving some of the poorest households into further poverty and penalising people who are too disabled, or sick, to work.

This is important because this will stop disabled people from accessing the library in the way they do at the moment. The decision was made with no consultation. Due to the nature of some disabilities some people cannot read books, but benefit from literature in different ways. The charges will mean people will start having to pay to use a service that is available free for people without disabilities in the form of books.

I lost my husband to mental health just before Christmas. This has ripped apart and devastated our family. As a family we were failed. We were given very little support and information. Basically left to cope on our own. More needs to be done. Mental illness can be a killer like cancer and heart disease but it has a very low profile and funding. This needs to change and it needs to change NOW! More and more people are suffering. Mental health wards are full yet run on minimal staff. Patient care is lacking and community follow up is so stretched that the support just isn't there. We need to change this for now and future generations. As a nation we need to do something. Stand together and fight for more help. Everyone knows someone affected. Please sign and support me in this campaign so we can hopefully change the lives of those suffering. Its what my husband would want us to do...he wasn't happy with the care he had.

During Channel 4’s leaders’ debate, a member of the audience asked what the Conservatives plan to do to get more disabled people into work. David Cameron replied that the culture of employers needs to change. I could not agree more. I am a visually impaired qualified business administrator who has also studied business studies seeking a new job in the administrative or marketing profession. I have been asked questions during interviews that would never be asked of a non-disabled candidate – such as how I use the telephone – despite evidence of my competencies and ability to do the job. According to the Labour Force Survey, disabled people remain significantly less likely to be in employment than non-disabled people. It is not enough to comply with disability discrimination legislation or to offer “guaranteed interviews” to disabled applicants. Employers fear that disabled employees will be a burden and so reject these candidates – on grounds such as lack of experience in an area of work not essential for the job – even when they perform well at interview. This is important to me as I am a disabled young individual who is desperate to find work, but to barriers which employers put I place, cannot get a job. This is very frustrating for me, as I want to give something back to the community as wellraising awareness that disabled people can work and are just as qualified as able bodied people

Members of the public find it difficult to support a political party 100%. Our system is out of date, our MPs out of touch, the public go unheard. We agree with points made by the Lib Dems, the Conservatives, Labour, the Green Party, the SNP etc and sometimes we disagree with them all. Either way we can't communicate with the government effectively. The system needs to work for us all but instead it's dusty, nobody really understands it or cares to sort it out with any long term vision. We need to start again. Simplify. Direct questions, direct answers. If regular referendums were to take place, the public are truly part of the process, allowing us to demonstrate what we care about, that we're united and want to invest in the future of this land and it's people. Less moaning and more doing, having a proactive and fair say, feeling satisfied that the decisions are being made and supported by the majority of the UK. Let the UK public vote for their future. This Kingdom can then begin to feel proud and respected, and most importantly, united.

I feel this is important as people with autism are just as capable of serving their country as their neurotypical counterparts (even more in some cases)

This petition is important as it will widely help disabled people live their life independently and efficiently. 18,000 people with high support needs relied on the fund and said it "transformed their life". The fund has recently been closed resulting in changing peoples lives greatly in a negative way. This petition may contribute towards re-opening the independent living fund even if it is a small difference. Please take a couple of minutes out of your time to sign up for this campaign. It will be greatly appreciated :)