BAE Systems is a sponsor of the 2019 Festival of Making, ‘a family celebration of making and manufacturing’. But BAE Systems is not a family-friendly manufacturer. BAE is the world's fourth largest arms producer, selling fighter aircraft, warships, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery, missiles and small arms to over 100 countries including repressive regimes. BAE has sold billions of pounds worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia, and is currently finalising a deal to supply fighter jets despite Saudi-led airstrikes in Yemen, a conflict that is taking a particular toll on children. Thousands of children and civilians have died in the conflict, while millions more face famine and disease with the destruction of infrastructure. Save the Children say 12.3 million children in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance. A recent parlimentary report says that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are causing ‘significant civilian casualties’ in Yemen and are probably illegal. Yet BAE Systems continues to sell weapons to the regime. Last year we forced BAE Systems to withdraw as a sponsor of the Great Exhibition of the North. We need to show that BAE Systems is not welcome at any family festivals until it stops arming repressive regimes. The 2019 Festival of Making must #dropBAE

I am a British citizen, my family comes from the Chagos Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the Indian Ocean. My family - and everyone on Chagos - were forcibly removed from the islands in the early 1970s to make way for an American air base. My mother was given no compensation and abandoned in Seychelles, where I was born and grew up in extreme poverty. Only those born on Chagos or who had a parent born there can get a British passport. So because of the deportations which ruined my mother’s life, my daughters who have lived in the UK since 2014 are not entitled to British citizenship - And now they - like my mother - are facing deportation to a country where they would they’d be alone, with no family support and few opportunities. In 2016 the Government told Chagossians we can not go back to our homeland. But how can it be right for the UK government to say we can not go home and we can not stay here in Britain either? A Bill before Parliament would give my daughters - and thousands of Chagossians in the same position - the right to live in the UK. The Home Secretary Sajid Javid has said he’ll consider making these changes but so far has done nothing. The government have apologised for the removal of my mother’s generation from Chagos. But if they are really sorry, they will take action to stop my children suffering the consequences today.

Pauline and I have been together for 3½ years and happily married for 16 months. Pauline, a Jamaican national, has lived in the UK for over 17 years under a series of home office approvals. All her family are here with settled status. Pauline has British grandmothers and her grandfather fought with the Royal Navy in World War 2. A cheerful and likeable person who always puts others first, Pauline has contributed positively to British society, including previously as a qualified carer for the elderly. Voluntary care she has provided has allowed my aunt to continue living in her own home following a serious car accident. Our application for a spouse visa was refused in September 2017 despite meeting all the eligibility criteria and Pauline was immediately taken to Yarls Wood Immigration Removal Centre. She was held there for 24 days until we managed to secure bail with help from the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID). Just 3 weeks beforehand the Home Office had given us the go ahead to get married! The matter has been front page news in the local press (first “Shrewsbury bride’s hopes dashed” and then “Wife loses battle to stay in UK"). We were finally able to get married a week after Pauline’s bail. Pauline was subject to serious abuse as a child and has been diagnosed with some debilitating mental health conditions though she always puts on a positive face. Whilst in detention she lost 1½ stone and was placed on suicide watch. The G4S medical team did nothing. Our solicitor submitted a further human rights application which was recently refused and Pauline was told to immediately leave the UK or face severe punishment. They said no new information had been submitted and there was nothing to stop us from living together in Jamaica, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Their decision relied on a previous decision more than 5 years out of date. It completely ignored clear advice from NHS professionals and the fact that my specialist work helps add millions to the regional economy! Our solicitor immediately recommended a Judicial Review. Pauline's GP is so concerned at her poor treatment that she has referred the matter to the British Medical Council. Dozens of people are being profoundly affected, including vulnerable children and adults. As the wife of a British citizen Pauline in theory meets all the requirements for a spouse application submitted from Jamaica but like her previous applications this could take another 16 months to determine with no guarantee of success. Given her current condition I doubt she would last a single day in Jamaica, isolated and cut off from her home and loving family. Is this the way to treat someone with the potential to make such a positive contribution to the UK? Immigration rules must be interpreted with flexibility and compassion. Forcing Pauline out of the country and potentially destroying so many innocent lives is a very severe punishment for someone who has committed no real crime. It has absolutely no regard to human rights. We call on the Home Office to stop interfering with the lives of the thousands of normal people targeted by the indiscriminate hostile environment policy and to reverse this cruel and inhumane decision.

My family and I are running out of time and we don't know where to ask for help. My case has been on going for three years now and I am scared of their unchanging views because it means for me to be separated from my family again. My dad has been working here in the UK for almost fourteen years where ten years he was apart from us. My mom, sister, brother and I came here in 2015 to be together with my dad. Then, we had to renew our visas last 2016. We did our biometrics together but for some reason mine was a late submission and that's where it all started to crumble. We were put in a situation where we don't have anything to show for and we have been in two firms, one of which is still representing me but I am starting to lose faith. Multiple Administrative and Judicial reviews have been sought out but their decision was maintained.This battle has drained us financially and emotionally and we are running out of options. I hope we had better knowledge of what we should have done and trusted the right people, maybe it wouldn't have come to this. We are seeking any kind of help. I don't want to leave United Kingdom as it is my dream to be here ever since I was a child. This is where we belong. If I were to be given another chance, I will work harder and earn the right to prove myself. My home is where my family are and I don't want to be taken away from my home.

"Over 30,000 people are locked up in prison-like conditions every year, with no time limit on how long they can be held. This is not for having committed a crime. It is purely because they do not (yet) have the correct immigration papers. The majority of people detained are eventually released, but many never really recover from the trauma. It’s a terrible waste of money (£125 million a year), and a waste of lives. Immigration detention is a wholly unnecessary, unjustifiable practice, one of the most harmful aspects of the UK’s “hostile environment” for migrants and a shameful civil rights abuse that cannot be ignored." Quoted from the 'These Walls Must Fall' Campaign Website (http://detention.org.uk/)

Cole Thomson is only 6 years old and has uncontrolled focal epilepsy of which he has now become drug resistant. He has tried 16 different types of medication and had his first brain surgery when he was only 2 years old. To date nothing has been able to stop his seizures. Unfortunately there has been a steady decline in his health since May this year. Coles speech, vision, movement and memory are all continuing to deplete and he has also developed Todd Paralysis, which is extremely distressing for his 9 year old brother Dylan when he takes an attack as well as his parents, grandparents, other family members and especially 6 year old Cole himself. Currently the next step in Scotland is invasive testing, which for Cole would potentially be in the first quarter of 2019. He has a 1 in 100 chance of not surviving the operation, to see if he is a suitable candidate for further exploratory brain surgery. We are looking for your help to enable a step in between which could negate the need for surgery by allowing him legal access to cannabis based medicine. After speaking to Coles mum we became increasingly concerned at the amount of unlicensed, untested products being offered to her on the black market to apparently “help Cole”. Coles parents are unwilling to take the risk with any of these products. This does not take away from the fact that they’ve been offered unlicensed products by numerous different sellers and shows that currently there is a market feeding off of the fears of vulnerable families, who are desperately looking for answers to improve their children’s quality of life or indeed save it. We are looking to support the family by putting a campaign forward to you The Scottish Government to enable Cole to gain legal access to prescription cannabis based medicine. This would be the step before invasive surgery which would give him the opportunity to try a more natural drug which has a very high success rate for children like Cole all over the world. Please support our campaign to Save Cole Thomson by allowing him to get prescription cannabis based medicine.

Soldiers of the Hong Kong Military Service Corps and the Hong Kong Royal Naval Service did not receive a UK passport prior to the handover of Hong Kong to China from the UK in 1997. Hong Kong soldiers stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Britain throughout two world wars, as well as alongside Britain in France, Burma, Korea, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, China and the UN for King, Queen and country. The Government should recognise that the decision not to have asked each serviceman to freely transfer their nationality from British-Hong Kong to Hong Kong-Chinese was unjust and an error that should now be rectified.

Five IUCN member conservationists, including members of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), have been charged with ‘corruption on earth’, the highest penalty for which is execution. The five environmentalists from IUCN Member organisation Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation (PWHF) are Niloufar Bayani, Taher Ghadirian, Sepideh Kashani, Houman Jowkar and Morad Tahbaz. Taher Ghadirian and Houman Jowkar are members of the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group; Taher Ghadirian is also a member of the IUCN SSC Bear Specialist Group. They undertake vital conservation work including efforts to conserve the Critically Endangered Asiatic cheetah. "Monitoring and researching species that live in remote landscapes, such as the Asiatic Cheetah, is a challenging task,” said Jon Paul Rodriguez, IUCN Species Survival Commission Chair. “As their numbers have dwindled, Asiatic cheetahs have become elusive, making it difficult for researchers to observe them directly. Novel techniques such as camera traps have proven indispensable in helping researchers gain valuable insights into the status and biology of threatened species worldwide.” The five conservationists had been detained by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in January along with four others and charged with espionage. Human rights campaigners and Iran’s government have said the charges against them are unfounded, according to media reports. The four others detained in January are Amir Hossein Khaleqi, member of the IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group, of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication and of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, Sam Rajabi, AbdolReza Koupayeh, and Kavous Seyed-Emami. Kavous Seyed-Emami died in prison for unknown reasons following his detention. IUCN has called for an independent inquiry into his death. Iran is facing environmental challenges including drought, water scarcity and dust storms, which have led to nationwide protests this year.

Shankea lives in constant fear of having to leave the country she has called her home for 18 years. “I was 12 when I came here. I was a young girl dependent on my parents" Since leaving school, she has not been allowed to work. “I’ve never claimed benefits and I don’t have a criminal record. I was not given the opportunity to obtain my degree, to work. What’s the point in existing? I’m a strong woman, but it’s hard. It feels so cruel.” Shankea contributes to her community by doing voluntary work. Her mother passed away in Jamaica. Shankea missed her Mother’s funeral in Jamaica as she feared she wouldn’t be able to return to the UK. Her most recent Home Office application was declined on the grounds that she could maintain her relationships in the UK online. This inhumane treatment is a result of the Government's hostile environment towards Windrush families. As a UK community, we can stand by Shankea and support her by making our voices heard through this petition. UPDATE ON SHANKEA Thanks a million to everyone who has so far signed the petition to help my friend Shankea. It's amazing to me how she has coped with her unstable situation throughout her 20's, and incredible that the Government can contemplate sending her to Jamaica; a place she doesn't know any more. The Home Office say her Father can visit her in Jamaica but they are not taking his illness into consideration. Shankea lived with her Father as a child in London. She eventually moved to Peterborough to live with two Aunties who were able to support her. She has lived here ever since with an incredible 'surrogate Mum,' someone who has 'literally taken me under her wing,' many cousins, friends and a church community. The Government wants to deport her to Jamaica. A place where she has no close relatives and nowhere to stay. She asks "Where would I live? Where would I start? What would people think of me? I don't think I would fit in there. I am very outspoken here in England, but this is frowned upon in Jamaica." How would it feel to be sent away to live in a strange place away from everything & everyone you have grown up with? It is a cruel and inhumane act for any Government to consider, and would lead to psychological pain and suffering. Shankea worked hard at school and achieved three A Levels in Government & Politics, Sociology & English Literature. She applied to University to study Politics and Sociology and was accepted at all five Universities she applied to. She could not take up a place because she couldn't access a student loan due to not having a National Insurance Number. It was at this point, now 11 years ago, that Shankea's fight to remain in the UK started. Shankea has no way of earning a living. She desperately wants to work in the country that provided her education, but she hasn't got the correct papers. Her 'surrogate Mum' provides for her. Her Aunts, church community and friends help her afford to live, but she is constantly living on the breadline. She lives by a strict budget, on 'sheer blessings & luck.' She volunteers as a youth worker and attends access courses. Shankea is a proud young woman who deserves better. She says, " I could have got myself pregnant in order to stay, but that's not me, I don't want to do it that way." The judge has told Shankea she 'doesn't have enough family life here.' BUT WHAT IS A FAMILY IF IT'S NOT A CLOSE KNIT COMMUNITY OF RELATIVES AND FRIENDS? Shankea signs a list every month to prove to the home office she is still in Peterborough and complying. She insists on doing everything 'aboveboard.' All her important documents are with the home office: birth certificate; Jamaican Passport; school papers; leaving certificates; medical records; everything to mark every year she has been here. Part of Shankea's identity is in a file miles away. Shankea has made her life here and wants to stay. All her friends and family want her to stay. Please help her by signing and sharing this petition to every one you can think of so it flies off the scale! TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Thank You

SSE is a privatised utility building Scotland's flagship renewable energy project. They are in receipt of £2.6bn of taxpayers' money. The ITF union and RMT union have discovered that HM Government has relaxed the rules for migrant workers in order to allow SSE to import workers from Indonesia and Russia and pay them less than the minimum wage, let alone the going rate for British offshore workers and seafarers. Furthermore, this is happening in a region that has already been hit by the downturn in North Sea oil production. Thousands of offshore workers and seafarers have been laid off in the last couple of years so there are local men and women eminently qualified to take up these roles. That opportunity has been denied to them because the UK government is collaborating in importing non-EU workers to undercut local workers and the UK minimum wage. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/oct/21/migrants-building-beatrice-windfarm-paid-fraction-of-minimum-wage

British tax payers are being required to work longer and pay NI & tax but state pension not increased, over 60’s who have worked all their lives have paid their tax dues to the country, majority never claimed a penny in benefits but are punished with state pension age being changed and likely will change again to pre war 70 years of age. It is not feasible for the majority of over 60s to stay in their current jobs I.e emergency and armed services, manual workers etc. When we do receive state pension it is another slap in the face that it is taxed, disgraceful country.

Both the Hope Centre and NAASH offer an unmatched and undeniably crucial role in providing vital services to the towns homeless and vulnerable community. No other organisation be it housing, charity or council come near to the services provided or the compassion and heart they are provided with. To allow a business who's bottom line is about profit to take over this service in conjunction with other organisations that are only interested in control rather than compassion is not in the best interest of the homeless community in this town.