The closure of respite care and transfers for after care from hospital to Winifred Kettle home in Westhoughton is very important to our community Many people have used the facilities of this wonderful care home over many years. The services of dedicated staff from cleaners, domestics, carers and managers is exemplary. We all may need the services in the future. The elderly population is increasing, but more homes are closing. Many carers are elderly themselves and circumstances do not allow them to look after loved ones. We must rally round together to put pressure on Bolton councillors to change their minds.

Children with ASD usually suffer with anxiety, but this can be increased massively due to not handling or coping with the children correctly. Increased anxiety in ASD children can then cause a "meltdown" or tantrum to occur which can last a long period of time and the effects of this usually result in the said child being excluded from School as they are now labeled violent and a Health & Safety risk. We are increasingly hearing of children being labeled and treated as "Naughty" by teachers simply because they do not have the ability to recognise or understand ASD and the impact that this has on the child. This is not the child’s fault but the way the situation is handled. We are seeing and hearing of an increasing number of children being penalised by mainstream schools for having a disability. They do not receive the correct level of help and support whilst in school due to the lack of teacher training. If all teachers received the appropriate level of training and support then all parties involved and most importantly the child, would benefit. Children are often left demoralised and anxious and feel picked on by their teachers. This is due to their teachers not getting the required training to help them cope more effectively with the challenging concept of handling these unique personalities. More importantly, parents are left fighting for understanding and help against budget cuts and the bureaucracy of Government departments and LEAs. Whilst this continues both the child and parents feel bullied by the LEA's and the Government’s lack of understanding of ASD which results in stress for parents and children and the officials getting defensive instead of dealing with what should be the common goal… the child’s welfare and education. This then causes years of struggles between the parents, schools and LEA's to try and get the correct level of support for the children themselves with the children and parents often made to feel like criminals. If a child has a physical disability such as being in a wheel chair, provisions are made for their disability to ensure they receive the appropriate level of education and core skills that can only be learned as a child. Why should it be any different for a disability that you can’t see? Why should it take so long for the professionals we trust our children with each day to recognise and understand the educational and developmental requirements of our beloved children? This shameful treatment of our ASD children who have to fight for the right to be understood, to have someone who understands what they are going through and is able to nurture not misunderstand when they are going through difficult stressful times that create sometimes violent outbursts. This can be changed by the government and LEAs who set the curriculum and have both the means and the power to ensure all children no matter whether black or white, physically disabled, able bodied or indeed mentally disabled, have the appropriately trained teachers and staff to help them develop to the best they can be. Give these children a chance by giving teachers the appropriate training to recognise, understand and help these children. They are neither naughty nor stupid, they are simply misunderstood. Help our teachers to help our children! This is appalling treatment of our children. Please help to put an end to it.

GP surgeries could lose up to 15 per cent of their income from April if some services they currently offer such as spirometry, ECG and 24-hour blood pressure are given to private providers. This financial loss could harm the overall work of the surgeries, while patients would have to travel further to access the privatised services. The threat of privatisation of LES services arises from the Government's unleashing of competition law on the NHS. But Stockport CCG should stand up to the pressure, as some other CCGs have done - we need to tell them this urgently, at their February 12 meeting.

Horizontal hydraulic fracturing, ‘fracking’, is a way of extracting oil and/or gas. Water, sand and toxic chemicals are injected at high pressure into underground rocks to shatter them. This releases the gas/oil which can be collected. Investing in carbon-intensive fossil fuels is a distraction from the need to decarbonise our electricity supply. And it's hazardous. Studies show that fracking pollutes water supplies (with arsenic and lead), causes earthquakes, and spoils local communities. And there are nightmare stories coming form the States. Like in the town of Dimock, PA, residents have reported their water turning so brown that it stains crockery. Their water was later found to contain methane, and a host of toxic chemicals. But it gets worse. "My son had sores up and down his legs from the water." " My daughter... would have to get out the of the shower and lay on the floor." Those are the words from Greg Saunter, a local resident, whose water supply was shut off for his own good. He cannot shower in his own home. Or drink water out of his taps. Fracking has ruined his life. It cannot happen here. We call on the council to preserve the quality of life of its residents, and reject all planning applications for fracking.

My Mum who has rapidly progressing Alzheimer’s disease uses the centre. It is a local lifeline for many local residents, as a caring unit which understands her condition and provides a friendly and stimulating environment, and for the carers such as myself to get some much needed respite. The proposal is to move the Patey clients to the Royal Albert Day Centre in the centre of Portsmouth which would be extremely detrimental for the majority of them. They are a close knit group of individuals who thrive on the familiarity and security of both their number and setting. The skilled carers provide stimulating activities which maintain their clients' skills, helping them to feel valued and promoting independence. The move to the much larger Royal Albert Centre and much longer journey would be frightening and hasten the progress of their disease as the unfamiliarity will cause confusion. Portsmouth City Council's own Dementia Action Plan 2013/14 states: “Objective one of the Portsmouth Joint Health and Wellbeing Strategy is to enhance the quality of life for people with dementia” “2142 residents will have some form of dementia · 55% (1178) will be mild, 32%(685) will be moderate, 13% (279) will be severe” “Portsmouth aspires to be a dementia friendly city where people with dementia will be treated with respect and feel included in our local communities.” “There will need to be a shift away from acute care towards primary and community based service provision, including rehabilitation and reablement.” “Support for carers is key” By closing the Patey Centre there will be just 60 spaces for the 2142 sufferers of alzheimers and dementia in the whole of Portsmouth. Portsmouth NEEDS more spaces not less. The Council claim this is a cost cutting measure however this is only true in the short term. Longer term there will be: growing costs of caring for increasing numbers of isolated dementia sufferers in their homes for whom there are no day care spaces; an increased need for residential care as overwhelmed carers without specialist day care respite will reach breaking point faster; and additional costs transporting people to the Royal Albert. The Council's intention is to sell the land the Patey Centre is on to help fund a residential home for people with alzheimers in the north of the city, why doesn't this incorporate the Patey Centre? The 2142 sufferers of alzheimers and dementia in Portsmouth are vulnerable people, many with carers such as myself who are stretched to breaking point. Their needs are being ignored and their excellent day centre is being lost. Please don't close the Patey Centre in Cosham, without providing alternative specialist day care for people with alzheimers and dementia in the north of Portsmouth, put the needs of the people of Portsmouth first.

I've heard that Hywel Dda health board are to downgrade Bronglais. They'll stabilize patients in Bronglais, then fly them down to Carmarthen

Recently, Jeremy Hunt lost his appeal against closing Lewisham Accident and Emergency. The law that protected it would be removed if Clause 118 passes. The Clause will allow the government to close or downgrade any hospital in the country, with barely any consultation of local people, if there is a Trust in financial difficulties anywhere nearby. They will be able to appoint an administrator to one Trust who will be able to take decisions to fast-track the closure of hospitals in another area - no matter how successful or popular those hospitals are - using the 'unsustainable provider' legislation that was designed only for insolvent Trusts. If it becomes law, this Clause means that *no* hospital will be safe, no matter how successful. Check out this link http://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/stop-hospital-closure-clause for more information. We will update you on further campaign actions you can get involved in. Please share on Twitter and Facebook.

So that people can visit their friends and relatives in hospital, or stay with them for check ups, and not have to pay excessive car parking charges that they can ill-afford. The current charges hit the most vulnerable, and people when they are most vulnerable.

The trust's medical director Edwin Borman told BBC Radio Shropshire "we need to have a countywide debate... we need to have serious decision-making" about the future of accident and emergency care in the county. Shrewsbury and Telford both have A&E departments but the trust is concerned resources are spread too thinly to sustain both of them. Mr Borman said that a trial to move urgent stroke care to Telford had resulted in patients getting the most important parts of their treatment more quickly. People in Montgomeryshire and surrounding areas need services to remain in Shrewsbury as Telford is too far travel. For more info: Please check out our facebook page link on the left under the map If you want to know more about us please go to other Campaign Website link under the map 8th Sept UPDATE: 8388 signatures ... Following the start of paper petitions last Tues 5th Sept and support from shops, residents, businesses and volunteers in Welshpool and Newtown collecting on the street we are proud to announce our total number of supporters. Thank you we will continue to promote this cause and thanks for all your support to date lets all keep up the good work 17th Sept... 9607 signatures....Thanks for all who have signed on line... also great response to the paper petition for those who are unable to site on the web. PLEASE KEEP SHARING AND ASKING FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO SIGN...LETS GET THIS PETITION OVER 10,000 THIS WEEK 18th Sept UPDATE .... 10,166 have signed so far... Keep signing

Did you know that the UK NHS Ambulance Service is NOT currently recognised by the Government as an "Emergency Service"? (we are currently only classified as an essential service). Why is it important to receive recognition? = If the Ambulance service is officially recognised as an "Emergency Service" the funding would come from central government rather than the NHS budget. How would this affect you? - You would almost certainly get a better funded, better trained and better equipped ambulance service for yourself and your family = if you think that is important?

Emergency ambulance staff are often unable to work until the state pension age due to repetetive strain injuries, sustained through years of lifting patients. Every week we will be forced to carry patients in a carry-chair on multiple occasions; these patients are often younger than ourselves and increasing levels of obesity make the outlook bleak. Do people want emergency ambulance staff aged over 60, perhaps 68, attending their relatives for time-critical emergencies, almost always having to carry patients up/downstairs between just 2 staff? Emergency Ambulance staff have in the last few years increased their work-load by over 40%. If you value the response we provide, and agree that our job is more demanding than most, then I would like to take this opportunity to ask your support for the Ambulance service 'Emergency' staff to have pay and retirement parity in line with the Police and Firefighter's.

The damage to the environment and economy of areas where this has been allowed is well documented. Poisoning of the water supplies, health issues, earthquakes are not imaginary and if you want an economic reason, property values can drop by 30% and you can find yourself unable to get house insurance. An estate agent in Poulton le Fylde, near one of Cuadrilla’s drilling sites, told the Observer "There are a lot of properties coming on to the market, and some of the owners are saying they want to get out before prices start dropping” Other local estate agents have said sales have fallen through because properties are near a fracking site. Herefordshire is an agricultural area and a tourist attraction, being an area of outstanding beauty. Experience in the US shows that fracking can create problems for local agriculture, including the loss of agricultural land, and concerns about water resources. Jumping forward to September 2015, you will have heard on BBC Hereford & Worcester that a new round of applications were to be allowed in the South of Herefordshire in the Wye Valley Area Of Outstanding Natural Beauty and in autumn of 2016 were issued. Thanks largely to public resistance accompanied by adverse oil prices South West Energy handed back the licences but made clear that this is a 'temporary' reprieve and they would be back, The fight continues ... Meanwhile a documentary is in editing stages at present. Thanks to those who have caught up with the plot and all the new additions to signatures. . Further info: Nationwide Mutual, the largest US farming insurance underwriter, announced in 2012 that “from an underwriting standpoint we do not have a comfort level with the unique risks associated with the fracking process to provide coverage at a reasonable price." What would be the impact on tourism of hundreds of shale gas wells and associated infrastructure? In Australia, local tourism bodies are among the opponents of unconventional gas developments. The Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management has said that the UK should “not encourage fracking as a part of our energy mix until there is more evidence that operations can be delivered safely, that environmental impacts are acceptable and that monitoring, reporting and mitigation requirements are comprehensive and effective. Mark Menzies, the Conservative MP whose constituency covers much of the area in Lancashire where Cuadrilla has been active, has said “I do not believe that the regulatory system is robust or transparent enough to instill public confidence should permission be granted to the industry.". Having fought off a previous attempt by South West Gas & Oil, we achieved a temporary stay, but with current news 2 years later in 2018 we can no longer consider ourselves safe we must raise attention to the fact that we are in an area where previous attempts have taken place. Go tell your friends again that this is no longer a distant threat but a very real one right on our doorstep . For recent updates watch our associated facebook pages. Here is an explanation for beginners: https://www.facebook.com/frackfreeshires/videos/1971358513123509/