Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety. Yet our prime minister said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care. But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome

Young women under 25 are dying and leaving their families behind

The Scottish Parliament passed the bill to introduce MUP in May 2012, with widespread support from political parties, health professionals and charities who deal with the consequences of alcohol misuse. Despite also gaining support from some alcohol drinks producers, the Scottish Whisky Association launched a legal challenge to the bill, delaying its implementation by years, and postponing the proven benefits of MUP on family and social life in Scottish communities. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/43354.aspx

A truly civilised society recognises need and seeks to meet it without punishing the people in need. The NHS Constitution clearly states that the NHS belongs to us all. It doesn’t belong to an insurance company, or any other kind of co-payment organisations. The NHS is affordable without a charging regime that would stop many poor people and those in poor health from accessing essential services.

The surgery currently serves over 4000 patients in our local area. The one GP we have left at the surgery is struggling to attract younger doctors to work at the practice, mainly because the premises needs modernising and developing. This will require an investment of funds from NHS England or from a benevolent property developer. Our GP is reluctant to move but feels she has no choice. If there is no money to develop the premises, the proposal is to merge with a 7000 patient surgery on the other side of town. I feel there is so much to lose if this move should take place, especially the loss of community, which I think will never recover once it has been lost

My Mum suffers from Dementia and the Care From Home Agency employ some young inexperienced carers. I would like legislation to stop Care Agencies from employing inexperienced carers.

In 2005, it was decided that an new acute hospital be built at Southmead together with a community hospital on the Frenchay site. The new hospital has only 800 beds where once there were 1400 beds: we have high and increasing numbers of frail and elderly residents, many with dementia: there are to be 28,000 new dwellings in the near future. Southmead is unable to discharge patients after treatment because there is no appropriate facility for them due to the lack of a community hospital at Frenchay and it cannot achieve a patient flow through Southmead because of these issues.

Cymmer is a small community in Port Talbot where there is a swimming pool that 5other communities also use. It is great to keep kids and adults alike fit and healthy. There is not much else in this area to keep kids fit and healthy. The local government complain about kids being obese and unhealthy yet they are going to close the only facility that can help tackle this problem the local schools within a 8 mile radius use this facility for recreational use. My daughter and friends would be devasted if this pool closed. There is an action group set up to keep the pool open that will be be run by the community. Please please help me and thousands of other children and parents keep this pool open.

My disabled Brother has been waiting for well over a year to be re homed in a suitable property. He has multiple disabilities and has to have oxygen almost all the time. He has not been out of his small flat for over a year (except for emergencies) and despite being unable to walk more than a few feet before being exhausted, he remains housed in a third floor flat which is dirty and dangerous. My brother was born with multiple health problems and was not expected to live much beyond his forties. He is now 54, and his health is increasingly worse. The whole family is worried about his safety and he has few, if any visitors. One of his regular visitors, and oldest friends from schooldays, recently died from Cancer. So he is now even more isolated. He has had to have his bed moved in to his front room as it's too difficult for him to get to the bedroom. He cannot reach the bathroom in the night so has to urinate in bottles which he keeps by his bed. He has undergone many serious operations throughout his life and suffered more than most, from being bullied during our school days right through the emotional problems that his poor health has brought with it. Our Mum has had Parkinson's for over 25 years and has recently had to go in to a nursing home. She now has related dementia but nonetheless is constantly asking after my Brother and is always worried about his well being. Despite repeated conversations with Bexley housing service and their acknowledgement that my Brother should be treated as a priority on the grounds of his ill health, he is in the system with everyone else and has had no luck in his search for a property. He doesn't want much, just a ground floor flat, with disabled access so that, perhaps with the aid of a mobility scooter, he could once again be able to get out once in a while. Please sign my petition, I have already tried contacting his M.P. but this achieved nothing. Thanks to all who sign. Kind regards, Mark Walker

Marijuana has been proven virtually harmless multiple times through verified studies. Along with this the effects of it are less than alcohol and the effects are less permanent. Marijuana is far safer than both Tobacco and Alcohol yet is still banned in the United Kingdom today. The evidence is all there to prove it is safe and should be legal. Pros: Weed is 114 times safer than alcohol Since being legalised in American States, Overall, crime has fallen by 15% and murder has dropped by 50%. Dope is actually less addictive than drinking coffee Legalising weed would recharge the British economy (If we legalised cannabis, up to £900m could be raised annually in taxes, according to the Institute for Economic Research.) Cons: You feel really tired and lazy for a few hours Smoking can harm the body ( Though edibles are 100% safe) So should it really still be banned? More info: http://www.theweek.co.uk/health-science/59417/the-pros-and-cons-of-legalising-drugs-in-the-uk

To all British retailers, Just over 4 months ago I found out I was pregnant. Since that moment my life has been a roller coaster ride of emotions ranging from so-excited-I-could-burst to oh-my-god-what-are-we-doing?-this-is-absolutely-terrifying. Indeed, as a FTM or first time mum there are lots of things to get my head round. Knowing what FTM means for example, or becoming highly acquainted with the toilet bowl. There seems to be an endless list of adjustments to be made, whether it be my sleeping position or how to sneeze without causing myself pain. All of these things I hadn’t expected. I actually said to a friend that I’m convinced the reason why it’s been deemed bad luck to share your pregnancy news before you’ve completed the first trimester is because the first trimester is so bloody horrible that if non-parents were to know they’d never consider starting a family. All in all it’s been emotional. One of the biggest factors to contend with is the effect of pregnancy on your body. People talk about the pregnancy glow but I must admit I can’t say I feel bouncing when every part of my body hurts, I’m out of breath, covered in spots like a pubescent teenager and watching my body expand by the day. Like any woman I take pride in my appearance, like to keep up to date with fashion and know that when I’m not feeling my best I want to be dressed in my favourite clothes. This has been a problem. On a recent visit to the UK I was looking forward to hitting the streets of London and Manchester and getting my hands on some maternity clothes. I’ve reached the point of no return with my ‘normal’ clothes and I was looking forward to shopping in the both fashionable and affordable high street stores. Sadly I shouldn’t have bothered. After dragging my podgy ankles up and down Oxford Street I realised that it was time to make another realisation: I was now an outcast of society. All the stores I entered (bar three) told me that they no longer stocked maternity clothes in-store, instead opting to sell them online. Now I’m a big online shopper, I love it, especially living abroad but I only love it because after 30 odd years I know my size. Being pregnant I don’t. Never has there been a more important time to try clothes on because I’m still coming to terms with my ever-changing shape. Trying to explain this to various shop assistants and managers I got some sympathetic glances and suggestions to try plus size clothing but i left feeling hugely disappointed. It’s not as if I’m the only pregnant woman in the world so what has changed the attitudes of the retailers? Why is being pregnant now out of fashion? Most fashion stores now stock a variety of ranges for different body types, tall, petite, plus-size. So why has pregnancy clothing suddenly been deemed uncommercial? In the few stores I visited which did stock maternity clothes there was a very limited range (usually just a rail or two) and bizarrely these sections were located in the most inaccessible parts of the store, requiring me to climb several flights of stairs, manoeuvre through enthusiastic bargain-hunters and rifle through childrenswear before finding my one pair of over-the-bump jeans. The store whose praises i would like to sing however is H&M. In virtually all the stores I entered I found a maternity range, clearly signposted and easy to find and with a decent range of fashionable clothes at reasonable prices. Were it not for them I would probably have burst into tears a few times during my shopping trip (I’ll blame the hormones). So to all the other retailers who have, for some unbeknown reason, decided to purge their stores of maternity clothes and move them all online; I urge you to reconsider. Having children is a wonderful thing and mothers are truly awesome at dealing with pregnancy and childbirth (trust me on this one) so please, please don’t alienate young mothers and make their self esteem take yet another beating. At a time when everything is changing lets allow mothers to at least indulge in a good bit of retail therapy. Yours sincerely (and pregnant) Olivia

Anticoagulants are only prescribed lifelong when there is a definite high risk of repeat incidents of strokes, heart attack, blood clots or similar. I personally suffered a blood clot, which was a pulmonary embolism blocking both arteries in my lungs and was told I would be lucky to survive the night. I was 29. There was no fault of my own attributed to the clot. And due to the severity of the clotting and the likelihood of repeats, with such a high risk of death I now rely on anticoagulants to prevent this. However, I have to pay for these, along with other medications which are related to the side effects of my drugs. This makes it very costly. These costs are inconsistent so it is not efficient for me to pay monthly. As an example, let's say I get a cold, firstly I'll be blowing my nose a lot which, due to the anticoagulants, gives me nosebleeds and I will need a prescription for a cream to help heal the capillaries in my nose. Secondly I will cough somewhat, and due to the scarring on my lungs, I will need painkillers for chest pain, but I cannot take over the counter ibuprofens as they are contraindicative to anticoagulants so I need prescription strength codeine. Plus my normal anticoagulants. That's three prescriptions just for a cold. And the added medications will send my anticoagulants levels out meaning I am no longer protected against further clots and therefore need a bridging medication until I'm better. That's four prescriptions just for a cold! Overall, I believe that because anticoagulants actually save my life and the lives of so many others on a daily basis, they should be provided free of charge.