For people in one of the wealthiest societies that has ever existed to be sleeping in the open in winter is inhumane. It's also inexcusable when we have so many empty buildings.

It is simply important because no one should sleep rough at any time of the year let alone Christmas, when others are spending time with their loved ones, and during the Winter, when conditions can get bitterly cold. This move would be important because it would provide respite for those homeless people who may have endured months and years of sleeping rough. It would provide them with somewhere warm to stay, somewhere where they can be in the company of others over Christmas/Winter time and most importantly, they would be safe from outside elements, which are no good for the healthiest of people to endure for a long period of time, let alone someone who is homeless. It is our duty, as human beings, to look after other human beings, especially in times of need. Helping others is something we pride ourselves on; we see acts of kindness all over the world, why can't we do the same for the poorest in the city of Leeds? Please, let's use buildings that are no longer in use to good effect and show that the city of Leeds is a compassionate place. A move like this can change public perception of homelessness overnight and we can then move on to getting homeless people off the streets and into homes, into work and living a happy healthy life in society.

Christopher Clinton Wilkinson – who was said to be sleeping in the woodland surrounding a hospital because it was the only place he felt safe – was hauled before Doncaster magistrates. Representatives from Doncaster-based charity The M25 Housing and Support Group said using anti-social behaviour legislation to criminalise people sleeping rough was a ‘significant concern’. Wilkinson, aged 40, was given an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to failing to comply with a Community Protection Notice on October 5 – but told the offence would stay on his record. Prosecuting at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court, David Sheppard said it was the second time Wilkinson had been found sleeping in the grounds of St Catherine’s Hospital in Tickhill Road, Balby, after struggling to find accommodation. Mitigating, James Gray said: “His situation is an unfortunate one. “He suffers from mental health problems and is clearly out of the care of mental health services at the minute and not receiving any medication. “He told the police he felt safer being in the grounds of the hospital sleeping rough than anywhere else. “He was in his sleeping bag when police woke him up.” Mr Gray said Wilkinson had struggled to find accommodation but was hoping to receive help from Doncaster Council and M25. Community Protection Notices and Orders are issued under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act – legislation introduced last year to stop ongoing environmental anti-social behaviour. Specialist housing advisor Vince Bell of M25 said: “It is of significant concern that the police and local authority are using what can only be described as Dickensian measures to tackle rough sleeping in Doncaster. “Using anti-social behaviour legislation to address issues such as rough sleeping is not going to help but will hinder their situation. “Dragging a vulnerable rough sleeper in front of the courts to give them a criminal record serves only to exacerbate their situation. “This would appear to be a new mindset which undermines all the hard work M25 has done to dispel myths and convince communities that rough sleepers are not to be feared and can be supported to change their lives.” Mr Bell said the police should be offering support to those who find themselves sleeping rough rather than criminalising them. He added: “Considering the person in question suffered with mental health issues and was sleeping in the woods within the hospital grounds because it felt safe, then it would appear we have lost all sight of humanity and good sense. “If you judge a society by the way it treats its most vulnerable then I believe we have failed in this instance.” http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/crime/doncaster-man-prosecuted-for-sleeping-rough-1-7513585 and.. Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “I am concerned that a vulnerable young girl, who has repeatedly asked for help from Doncaster council, has been told at every turn that she is ‘not their responsibility’. “The law is clear on this, a child does not have to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in a council’s area – and Doncaster council should have assessed the girl’s situation when she came to them and presented as homeless. “I hope this case reminds other councils of their legal position when considering children in need who are from outside their area.” http://www.lgo.org.uk/news/2014/mar/homeless-teen-turned-away-doncaster-social-workers-when-she-turned-help/ From tme to time people will need help. Not prosecution or avoidance of the responsibility to help.

Professor Sir Bruce Keogh, NHS Medical Director for England has opened a £75 million super hospital in Northumberland. It is his vision of the future for all hospitals in the U.K. Sir Bruce explained: “This is all about ensuring patients with complicated needs or life threatening conditions get to a centre with the appropriate expertise in place.The challenges facing A&E services across the country are immense and OUR VISION FOR THE FUTURE is very much in line with what Northumbria Healthcare have already been developing with the opening of the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital to look after THOSE WITH SERIOUS, LIFE THREATENING EMERGENCIES." (Please see photo / http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-whistleblower-fears-patients-die-6875670 .) “It is testament to the clinical teams at Northumbria, who began thinking about their NEW MODEL OF EMERGENCY CARE many years ago, that the North East is now well ahead of other parts of the NHS in making THE NATIONAL VISION for urgent and emergency care a reality for patients." (See photo.) “I very much look forward to returning to the North East to see first-hand progress with the hospital which will be at the forefront of emergency medicine.” My name is Martin Jackson and I work for a North East Ambulance service and I would like to invite Bruce back to the North East to see first-hand the progress. At least 3 local A & E units, from North Tyneside to Hexham have now changed into 24/7 'Urgent care centres'. This super hub which you have created may work for parcels or pizza delivery but we are talking here about peoples’ lives. This is one result of your vision for the future of all hospitals... 120 mile emergency round trip passing Berwick, Alnwick, Ashington and Cramlington Hospitals. This is a fact which can be verified by the Ambulance service. The Ambulance service uses a TerraFix system. It is a sat. nav. which logs the location and time of every ambulance in the North East. We had just cleared at your new super-hospital in Cramlington and got a shout to a sick baby. Driving in fog up the A1 on blues and twos 60 miles north to Berwick hospital. The infant was in a hospital with a mild case of croup. The Berwick hospital could not cope and wanted the child to be seen at Cramlington. We blue lighted the infant to Cramlington and fortunately arrived before 11 o'clock because paediatric A & E closes at 11. If the call had been life threatening we would have had to continue an extra 20 minutes to Newcastle. This must raise several serious questions. My main question is to Jeremy Hunt and Sir Bruce Keogh: If this was your child with meningitis, would you be happy with this service? A 2 hour stretcher wait before even being booked in? This is happening NOW. This is a fact which can be verified by the ambulance service TerraFix system. Thinking about the "Golden Hour", so crucial to stroke patients. This is your NHS. Is this what you want? This is not the desolate North East. Please take a second to stand up and be counted. Please click this petition and feel good for the rest of the day. Thank you! martin The views expressed in this petition do not necessarily reflect the views of the North East Ambulance service.

because it degrades these people working those hours for no pay and no chance of being employed by ikea they just move on to the next batch of unfortunate people

Mental health services were reduced disproportionately - Art psychotherapy - one of the core mental health services was closed down without adequate measures put in place to substitute the gap in services.

As a single parent I work full time and not only responsible to keep my children fed, clothed and housed I also have £700 nursery fees to pay monthly. Currently absent parents pay 11% of their gross income (CSA) and have equal rights and responsibilities for a child to whom their name is on a piece of paper known as a birth certificate... YET, the responsibilities are significantly cut when it comes to financial support - why? It is punitive to the resident parent and the detriment is felt by the children housed with that parent. Significant changes need to be implemented in respects to parental responsibility to encompass ALL areas of a child's life or none at all - not the areas that the non resident patent chooses. My children and I live renting, in debt and on the poverty line whilst the non resident parent owns a home, car, motorbike and has holidays. Is 11% of their gross income really £41 per week to have such luxuries?

Frizington fire Station has by some reports up to 80 call outs a year. Whitehaven retained fire station and Egremont would not adequately cover Frizington's area which includes Cleator Moor and outlying villages towards Cockermouth. The closure would leave a very large area with inadequate cover. Closure would be a mistake and would put the lives of West Cumbrian people at risk.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender (LGBT) and Black & Minority Ethnic (BME) communities who are also HIV+ are highly vulnerable communities suffering from multiple forms of stigma and oppression. Skyline offers a safe environment where these essentially invisible individuals can be supported holistically through a whole range of physio-psycho-social issues. Without this service they will be further isolated having to negotiate the trauma that is an HIV diagnosis, alone.

This petition is highly important to myself and my family, our friends and the local community. This is because on 6th September 2015 my cousin Jarrad Joseph Grainger took his own life, he was only 21 years old. I am starting this petition on behalf of my auntie Nadine West - Jarrad's mother. We are wanting to stop this from happening to more people as this is an all to common occurrence these days. We need help in reinstating 24/7 care for Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in Kingston upon Hull. Vulnerable patients do often need 24/7 care and sometimes need to stay in units for anywhere between a few days and months at a time, the closest unit to Hull is approximately 42 miles away meaning that when children/adolescents need to stay in the units they are kept many miles away from their families making it hard for them to visit making them feel even more isolated. We need to improve the care that Hull and East Yorkshire currently has to make it ALOT better than it is, patients need better care and for it to be more accessible. People searching for help who contact these Charities are often left for days or weeks without a reply to the shout for help, we need to change this urgently! The stigma surrounding Mental Health and Illness needs stopping, we need to raise more awareness about this to give people a better understanding, the more people that know about Mental Health/Illness the better chance we have at helping those in need. We couldn't help Jarrad and we lost him, we were too late. So we will do this in his memory, we will help those we still can. We will improve the services in Hull and East Yorkshire and we will prevent people deteriorating from Mental Health/Illness and we will save them. Jarrad Joseph Grainger, Forever Young - this is for you xx

The NHS Walk-in service in Middleton Shopping Centre is very accessible to everyone living in the areas of Middleton, Heywood and Rochdale. The service is open from 8am-8pm every day (8am-6pm at weekends), 365 days of the year, including Bank Holidays. The GP and Nurse-Practitioner led walk-in centre sees over 22,000 patients per year meaning many patients can receive on the day access to urgent quality care. An in-house survey has shown that over 60% of our walk-in patients would otherwise go to A&E if the walk-in service was not available. We do not believe that alternative local services will be able to cope with demand should the Walk-in service close and local patients will have reduced choice and access to urgent care. The central location and efficient nature of the service lets patients be seen in a timely and cost-effective manner. We want the CCG to commit to keeping this service open for the future. *The total number of signatories on this petition includes 7000 paper signatures collected at the Walk in Centre and around Middleton.

When the budget is announced carers are a forgotten race and don't get a mention. Carers save the government billions of pounds. A care firm I recently contacted charge £16 per hour to care for an elderly person in there own home - multiply that by 60 hours per week. I personally care for 3 family members I get £64 a week care allowance for over 60 hours. I was recently told that this money is classed as income. and taken into account. Im asking that every carer in the country to join me ,s o we can live with some dignity , we don't get shift pay ,time and a half and double time at weekends, we cant take the same holidays, we work when were ill.