As per NHS and midwifery guidelines bumpers in cots can cause choking, suffocation and strangulation. The only things in a cot should be a correctly sized mattress and a fitted sheet. Some people are not aware this and sadly there are still related incidents and fatalities in the UK. The Lullaby Trust state “New parents now have a massive range of baby products to choose from and it can be really confusing to know what is needed. Babies need just a few basic items for sleep: a firm flat surface and some bedding. Our advice is simple: the safest cot is a clear cot.”

Mental health services are already hard to access and during the pandemic this has only become worse. We need to protect the mental health of new parents both for the welfare of parents and their babies. Parental leave can be very lonely if isolated and with tier 4 restrictions coming in across the country there are fewer and fewer places available to have any contact with other adults. This is so vital in preventing postpartum anxiety and depression. Having the opportunity to form a support bubble would provide a lifeline to some new parents.

This will protect children from potentially harmful situations if the break in contact is justified and also protect the childs metal health and well being by maintaining relationships and regular contact with both parents. Where parental responsibility is shared then all decisions in relation to the child should be made jointly by both parents, who should be equal in the eyes of the law as there is still a bias towards mothers

Given the crisis that the world is facing because of Covid this is not the time for leaders to take pay rises while the poorest in our society go hungry. MPs should publicly declare these donations in the registrar of MPs interests.

Jo Gideon, Conservative MP for Stoke on Trent Central, voted against the motion to provide meals for the children of poor/vulnerable families during the Christmas holidays. As a Trustee of the Charity, she should be supporting every single endeavour to provide food for those who need it; that’s what Feeding Britain is all about. Her action is extremely hypocritical and her position as a Trustee is incongruous.

Many families use a mixture of formal and informal childcare in order to continue working and ensure their children are looked after while they are working to provide for them. Local Restriction rules ban them from using informal childcare arrangements, such as grandparents, other family members and friends, unless they are part of their support bubble. This includes many key workers such as NHS staff, police officers, teachers, shop workers and factory workers - people that have worked throughout this crisis to keep our country going. Many have used up their annual leave to cover childcare during the national lockdown, leaving them with no options now. People with informal childcare arrangements tend not to be able to afford to pay for childcare or they work hours that do not fit in with paid childcare or paid childcare is not available or their children have disabilities that means formal childcare is not an option for them. They are also highly likely to have employment contracts that state that they will not be paid for time off to look after children. Not everybody can work from home, not everybody can work school hours, so how will they cope with the drop in income? Many are worried about losing their jobs. We urge the Health Secretary to think again as these rules are just not practical or workable for many families, they cannot afford to employ private nannies and it is completely unrealistic to expect that they can arrange formal childcare within a matter of days or that they can afford formal childcare.

Its important to the fans to complete their collection of a very popular comedy series.

On 24 April 2020, Statutory Instrument 445* removed and weakened legal protections from children in care (and children who could come into care) in England. There was no public consultation or Parliamentary debate. The changes were brought in overnight. Councils in England are now allowed to reduce social worker visits to children in care (which can be by phone, video or other electronic means). Even a six-weekly telephone call is no longer mandatory. The duty to have an independent six-monthly review for each child has been removed. Pre-court scrutiny and other vital safeguards in adoption have been lost. Legal timescales for children's homes inspections have been removed, and independent scrutiny of children's homes diluted. Safeguards for children placed out of their home area with people who are not connected to them have been removed. Safeguards in relation to short breaks have been removed. This particularly affects disabled children. Even duties on fostering services to notify Ofsted of criminal convictions and infectious disease have been reduced. These changes weaken vital safeguards for vulnerable children built up over 70 years. The government says the changes are temporary until 25 September 2020 “unless extended”. But some of the changes extend beyond the expiry date. Moreover, the government has a track record of trying to remove and dilute councils’ duties. In 2016/17, Ministers tried to get a law through Parliament which would have allowed councils to opt out of their children’s social care duties for up to six years – as an experiment for removing them altogether. Children’s rights campaigners and charities have consistently stood together to successfully defend children’s legal protections. Please join us in pressing to urgently reinstate children’s rights in care. *Its full title is The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020.

Many British citizens are stranded in Guatemala and are being left to make their own arrangements with little to no guidance from our embassy except to go to a potentially dangerous border. Some have infants or are in other compromised situations (medication potentially running out etc.) Furthermore many tourists are scattered throughout the country and there is a curfew now in place. Mr Raab needs to organise for British nationals to have special dispensation for a period of time to travel to an international airport.

Hundreds of British citizens are stranded in Peru. Other countries have organized repatriation flights to bring them home. One flight so far has been sent to Lima to bring a group of people back to the UK. There are still very large numbers of people left in the lurch who have had little or no information from the Foreign Office about what is being done. Many tourists have been cramped into rooms in hostels in desperately difficult conditions and some are running out of vital supplies Furthermore many tourists are scattered throughout the country and there is a curfew. Mr Raab needs to organise for British nationals to have special dispensation for a period of time to travel to an international airport.

Watch the video about the campaign here: https://youtu.be/3EE38TySdSE My name is Leyla Preston. I have three children and I own a parenting magazine called Motherhood Diaries (www.motherhooddiaries.com). In the summer of 2019, I joined a campaign with The Association of Play Industries (API Play) called #PlayMustStay which encourages parents to visit their local parks and playgrounds with their children and keep them off the screens. Cast your mind back to when you were a child. I remember always being outdoors and spending most of my time playing with my friends. I only ever came home when it was time for dinner or sleep. It was such a fun time, and I really enjoyed being outside socialising and burning my energy. As a result, I have such fond memories of playing at my local park/playground, which was just minutes away from me on foot. Nowadays, children have a very different life, most of which is now spent indoors, because of diminishing parks and playgrounds and the constant lure of screens. In 2016, API Play researched into the state of England’s parks and playgrounds and found that local authorities had already closed 347 playgrounds to date. Next year, they plan to further decrease their spend on play facilities by almost £25 million per year, which means more parks/playgrounds will close. And once they’re gone, they’re gone forever! This means a lot of communities cannot get to their local park or playground, and the vicious circle of keeping our children indoors will continue–and how do you occupy your children when you have millions of things to do yourself? Screens! As with everything, a balance is key but this new world is seeing an epidemic of excessive screen time, which has led to childhood obesity, mental health issues and sleep problems because kids are not getting enough exercise and mental stimulation from unstructured outdoor play, which is deemed more beneficial than structured play. Don’t forget that play also encourages social interaction, physical and mental development and, of course, learning through play. We need to take back control and together with our local communities encourage our local government to increase their spend on parks and playgrounds and make them understand that this cut, which they think will save money will cost more in the long run through medical expenses alone. I am not alone in thinking this. Mumsnet surveyed 1,111 parents with children aged two to twelve years old and found that 72% of parents with children who suffer health issues like obesity agree that lack of outdoor play has played a role in their child's health problems. We need more access to parks and playgrounds, but we can’t do this on our own. The government must understand how vitally important our beautiful pockets of nature are to our kids by urging them to stop closing our parks and playgrounds and increase their spend so more parents can get to their local park. Not all parents have access to a car or public transport, so let’s build more parks and playgrounds and have them on our doorstep, so we are not pulled in by the lure of screens. We will be paid back in dividends for the rest of ours and our children’s lives. Please sign the petition so we can bring this issue of not enough parks and playgrounds to the government for review. Thank you so much for your time and consideration. Check out my full article and video on the Winter's Tale campaign here: http://bit.ly/PlayMustStayWinterTale https://youtu.be/3EE38TySdSE Learn more about the campaign here - https://www.api-play.org/news-events/play-must-stay-campaign/ Follow our story on Instagram here - https://www.instagram.com/motherhooddiaries https://www.api-play.org/playmuststay-a-winters-tale/

Victoria Park is a hub of the community with families and children using the play park, walkers milling through, with recreational sports and events taking place on the green. The play park is used by locals, and visitors the area, it is a wonderful addition to the town. Our aim is to apply for funding as part of Aberfeldy Road Safety Sub Group to achieve a safer entrance/area to the park for all ages, which I am sure you agree is much needed vital change. Success in the competition for funds, will depend in part on demonstrating widespread community support and a Partnership approach, which this petition allows us to achieve.