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

Bob Bowen and his cycle shop have tirelessly campaigned for the completion of the cycle path since 1998 when they first started hiring cycles at Dawlish Warren. It is no exaggeration to say that without his efforts there would be no cycle path as is the situation in Teignmouth. It has always been the intention to move back to the Warren and do so once the cycle path was completed. We therefore started discussions to this end. When the toilets came up for tender it was a natural extension to bid for this. The council in their wisdom has decided to award another business the cycle hire premises at the closed toilets at Dawlish Warren. As Dawlish is now one of – if not 'the', most depressed coastal towns in Devon we feel that enough is enough. Many of our local businesses and traders have gone. It is not hard to see what can be done with the support of the local authority – one only has to look to Teignmouth to understand this. We feel the award of this contract to another business from outside our town is irresponsible and does not take into consideration the needs and feelings of our local community. I am puzzled as to how a local authority can take an idea and give it to someone else! We therefore urge Teignbridge and it’s officers to rethink this decision and award the tender of cycle hire at Dawlish Warren to Bob Bowen and Braking Wind Cycles.

Challenge prejudice against people on benefits. Mark Wood, 44, of Bampton, Oxfordshire, starved to death in 2013 weighing just 5st 8lb after assessors Atos declared him fit to work and took away housing benefit and employment support allowance.

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

We acknowledge that Stirling's Religion programme, as the only place in Scotland where it is possible to study religion without being a part of a Christian faculty of theology, is recognised worldwide as both innovative and highly interdisciplinary, and thus impacts on multiple sectors. Yet there has been no consultation with stakeholders. This raises serious questions about the robustness of the university’s governance structure and about academic freedom. We express deep concern that students, both undergraduate and postgraduate, both existing and new , now face uncertainty about their degree programme. We therefore urge the University to halt the current proposal, consult meaningfully with staff, students and the representative union, and to reconsider completely their precipitous move to withdraw a programme of critical teaching and research that is becoming increasingly vital in world so wracked by a misunderstanding and debasement of religious thinking. For more information, please visit: http://criticalreligion.org/events/august-2015-religion-at-stirling-under-threat/

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

The Camberwell Cemeteries are rich in biodiversity. Over 10 acres of rare designated Grade 1 SINC woodland are immediately under threat in Camberwell Old Cemetery. These woods are full of flora, fauna and protected species, as well as Ancient and Veteran Oaks and Hawthorns. Southwark council also want to fell a virgin native broadleaf wooded hilltop in Camberwell New Cemetery, another rare landscape for London. Over 9,000 people have signed a petition online and on paper to declare the Camberwell Cemeteries Nature Reserves. These biodiverse areas of Metropolitan Open Land on the Green Chain Walk are hugely valuable social and environmental assets - for mental and physical health and wellbeing, access to wild nature, cleaning the air, absorbing storm water, cooling the city, and providing beautiful, historical places to be in nature. Southwark's proposals will cause enormous negative impacts to nature and people. They have done no Environmental Impact Assessment, no Public Consultation, no CAVAT or I-Tree assessment, no Cost Benefit Analysis or financial, social or environmental comparison with alternatives put forward by the community. Many other vital pieces of information are either being withheld or are unavailable. These woodlands and graveyards should be valued and protected as Memorial Park Nature Reserves, and treated with the sensitivity and respect they deserve for future generations - not destroyed for a few years of inner city burial not accessible to all faiths. Help us save these woods and create natures reserves for all of London. For more information and means to object: www.savesouthwarkwoods.org.uk

The Blue Fin Tuna is one of the worlds most beautiful, large and yet endangered fish species. During August 2015 a shoal of upto 500 blue fin tuna was spotted off the coast of Cornwall.Due to their high demand as a good delicacy each fish could be worth over a million pounds. Current EU legislation whilst prohibiting UK fishermen from landing the Blue Fin Tuna permits French, Spanish and other European trawlers to land these fish. With warming of the worlds oceans the blue fin is being spotted more frequently in UK waters. Large industrial trawlers could decimate their numbers in hours. The UK government should push the EU to make UK waters a protected zone banning the fishing of blue fin. the will send a message to the world of the importance of marine conservation and that the UK and EU wish to make real progress in protecting the blue fin.

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.

Cote has been accused by campaigners of “misleading” customers with its “outrageous” policy that the 12.5% charge goes straight to the company instead of being kept by workers at the restaurant where the diner ate. According to workers, staff are told to tell customers who ask where the service charges goes that it is given out between workers. You can read more here: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/restaurant-chain-c-te-takes-entire-service-charge-instead-of-giving-it-to-staff-a2918366.html

To protect sordid and unnecessary harm, suffering and the ultimate extinction of wild animals. In the 21st century there is no excuse or valid sensible or justifiable reason to hunt wild animals to obtain their skins, heads or horns.

This will not be allowed in 2016 under new regulations . If this is passed now it will mean the erosion of Hampstead's heritage in a special part of London . It is also dangerous with regard to the shifting sands on which it will be built and the disturbance of numerous water courses which constitute the start of eg the River Westbourne . The original listed building will be defaced by the removal of a porch and the insertion in a different place of a new front door. It is also extrememy dangerous with regard to its neighbour Admirals House , a six storey listed building built in 1700 without foundations.