Detention is an inhumane and unfair system that tears families and communities apart. Right now, people can be held indefinitely with no release date and can wait for months or even years for a decision. It destroys people's lives - people are forced to put their lives on hold, and the uncertainty of when they might get out makes it incredibly tough to get through each day. This is part of the government's attempts to create a "hostile environment" for undocumented people, refugees and immigrants in the UK. So people in Yarl's Wood are on hunger (and labour) strike to push for their demands.

At Yarl's Wood IRC in Bedfordshire 120 inmates are currently on hunger strike on these issues and others. The poor care at Brook House IRC has been exposed on Panorama. Detainees in IRCs are among the most vulnerable people in Britain. They require our support.

If this erroneous decision is not rescinded then it would create a two tier urgent care system that would exclude, workers, visitors and those that participate in the full range of sporting fixtures that happen in the area from accessing and using the urgent care centre: putting untold pressure on KGH A&E and the East Midlands Ambulance Service.

The Home Office quietly announced, without debate in Parliament, that West Yorkshire Police will be rolling out on-the-spot fingerprint scanning on 10th Feb 2018. The checks will include UK Border Agency and Criminal Records databases. Over 30yrs ago I was fined for a minor offence and my fingerprints were recorded at the time. If I were to encounter a stop-and-scan check whilst with my boss or an important customer, they would be able to tell instantly that I had a criminal record, and even if I wasn't fired I'd be looked at unfairly for promotion. Worse still, with UK Border Agency database checks, we know that the Police will disproportionately target ethnic minorities. We have seen how incompetent the UKBA are at dealing with EU applications for permanent residency, and you can be sure that many legal EU citizens will be falsely arrested during these stops. PACE (the Police and Criminal Evidence Act) s61 currently states that the Police can only take your fingerprints without consent after you've been arrested or you're caught red-handed. However, by virtue of having these scanners the Police will intimidate people into giving consent. Please sign the petition to stop this unfair system, which hasn't even been agreed to by Parliament. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/police-trial-new-home-office-mobile-fingerprint-technology https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1984/60/section/61

We were all disgusted when Gloucester City Council put up these posters in Gloucester suggesting people should not give to those sleeping rough on the streets and suggesting they have accommodation. The posters were clearly a 'prelude' to the introduction of Public Space Protection Orders in Gloucester (PSPO's). In other parts of the country, these are being used to 'socially cleanse' cities and towns of rough sleepers so that they are essentially 'banned' from certain areas. Rough sleepers can also face fines if found in these areas. PSPO's give councils the power to remove people for non criminal behavior and the latest Home office advice (December 2017) states that PSPO's should not be used to target rough sleepers. This is a cruel and ill thought out approach to solving homelessness in Gloucester . In Gloucester many vulnerable people have no accommodation and due to 'ideological' cuts to funding, they have little, if any support when they're on the streets. By introducing PSPO's, the council will only move the problem, but not solve it. What's more, the most obvious solution would be for Gloucester City Council to open more shelters and open buildings that they already own for the homeless as there is nowhere near enough accommodation available in Gloucester.

Personally, I often forget to donate to food banks until I see the crate at the exit of the supermarket, and by then I'm all packed up and ready to go home. Of course, I could be more aware, and work on making it become a habit, but at the moment, I'm not very tuned in, although I'd love to be! Anyway, when I do my online grocery shop, which I am now trying to do on a more regular basis, I thought there was a significant change that could be made which would allow me to donate to food banks whilst doing the shop. For example, when I get my two tins of tuna for a discounted price, I could add one of those tins of tuna into a separate 'food bank' list. Rather than delivering these items to me, they could go straight into a food bank deposit system. Obviously it would need to be a simple user interface that doesn't get mixed up and confuse people and suddenly you receive the items you were trying to donate and the food bank receives the full order... So it could be quite difficult to do (I've got no idea, I don't work in systems!). Anyway, this is just an idea that I believe could work really well and could result in some valuable relationships between supermarkets and those in need.

Big businesses need to take responsibility, and stop harming our climate. Throughout the world more and more wildfires, heatwaves, and floods show that we must take urgent action to achieve a safe and healthy climate. HSBC Unlike some other banks, HSBC invests much less in solar or wind energy, which are now good value. You can switch to a less harmful bank. RWE (Npower) Energy generator and supplier Npower is mostly owned by the huge multination RWE, which uses an awful lot of coal. You can switch to another company which uses clean energy. Danone Danone’s brands – including Evian and Volvic – sell bottles made of unrecycled plastic. Once they shape up and commit to making these changes, we'll target other irresponsible companies – and you can suggest some. By signing and sharing this petition you’re telling businesses they must stop harming our climate NOW. Find out more about CLIMATE SERIOUS and how you can get involved: www.climateserious.org #climateserious

Like most large towns we have an ever increasing number of homeless people.This is not the answer, the money would be far better used addressing the problem of the homeless.

For several years Stratford Shopping Centre have stayed open 24hrs a day allowing for those whom are homeless to have somewhere dry and secure to shelter/sleep during the night. However as of today (29/01/2018) they have handed orders to all those currently staying in the centre, ordering them to leave with immediate effect. This means the homeless people are being forced out on to the streets in these extreme weathers, some of these people don’t even own a sleeping bag or adequate warm clothing which means they are at high risk of falling extremely ill. We are petitioning for Stratford Centre/Newham Council to rethink their decision and to continue allowing for our homeless friends to continuing using Stratford as a secure place for them to be during the night as many of them are highly vulnerable and some are also very elderly. Newham Council urgently need to support these homeless people with their housing/accommodation as these people cannot continue living on the streets.

Under current proposals Leicestershire County Council want to close 24 Children's Centres and one family centre and merge their services with all other family and young people’s services. These would be Supporting Leicestershire Families (SLF) scheme, Early Help Information Support and Assessment (EHISA) and the Youth Offending service (YOS).* Vulnerable families and children in need will be forced to make extended (and in some cases prohibitively expensive) journeys to the remaining centres. In addition they may feel stigmatised for going to a building that also houses Youth Offending. It will undoubtedly be children of the most vulnerable families who will be the ones least likely to attend the new centres. In addition to the council's own services many other agencies operate out almost exclusively out of Children' Centres, for example Health Visiting services, Breastfeeding Support, Child Health Events and many volunteer led groups such as Breastfeeding groups, Parent Carer Well-being, Sling (babywearing), Multiple-birth (twins etc) support groups, Childminder groups, singing and music groups. Finally the centres are also well used by the council's own GO LEARN service providing valuable education programs for parents in need. This will shift a sizable financial burden on to the NHS, while other services will often not be able to afford the rent on alternative accommodation and most of the groups will close. The Children's Centres and other buildings under threat of closure are: • Cobden, Loughborough, • Shelthorpe, Loughborough • Warren Hills in Coalville, • Mountsorrel • Barwell • Desford • Hinckley Westfield • Hinckley West • The Cove, Melton • The Edge, Melton • Ashby • Ibstock • Moira • Thringstone • Braunstone Town • Countesthorpe • South Wigston • Anstey • Broughton Astley • Fleckney • Bushby • Bagworth • Vale of Belvoir • Fairmead • Market Harborough Young People's Centre Finally the council's own report, Early Help Review, details the risk of Capital Clawback under this proposal, meaning that the council may have to pay back up to £5.8 Million in previously awarded grant money if the closed centres are not used as per the wording of the grant award. Children's Centres (formerly known as Surestart Centres) have transformed the lives of young children and their parents across Leicestershire. The important role that children’s centres play in providing effective multi-agency working is widely recognised both locally and nationally. Children's Centres are a lifeline to these families and others, providing support and services to those in need. We cannot allow these services to be cut from the lives of the most vulnerable and we must defend the jobs of the people who have dedicated their careers to assisting our most vulnerable young children. . . . . . *The consultation details can be found here https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/earlyhelp please read the report and complete the on line survey. You can also email the consultation with any additional information that you couldn't get in the survey. Email - [email protected] or you can give your views over the telephone on 0116 305 3416 The consultation closes at midnight on Sunday 22nd April.

Firstly the numbers if victims of these crimes is rising year on year and charities set up to support and work with them are oversubscribed and short of resources. By allocating the Presidents Club funds towards addressing some of the damage done through their activities this will send a strong signal that they knowingly breached charity regulations and equality laws.

We are fully supportive of the initiatives that are in place to help homeless people and would welcome these being publicised in a positive way so that the public are aware as to what they can do to help the homeless. However these posters do little more than attack the individual liberty of city residents and demonise one of the most vulnerable groups in our city. Streetlink is an important organisation but its advertised in small print at the bottom of the page. The current campaign is based on negativity and not the right way to go about things.