1 in 4 mothers did not get a midwife when they needed one (according to a a survey by the Royal College of Midwives and Bounty) . http://protect.rcm.org.uk/news Pressure on staff leads to low morale and nearly one third of midwives with less than 10 years’ work experience are intending to leave the profession within a year. Over half of obstetric units do not employ enough consultants to ensure appropriate cover at all times. Evidence suggests quality of care is less good at weekends. The rate of babies who are stillborn or who die within seven days of birth compares poorly with the other UK nations and some European countries – and this is just not good enough. http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/maternity-services-report/ Do something now. Sign the petition before conditions get to the point where many experienced midwives are no longer there to train the students and to give appropriate care. Sign before we end up with more than 1 in 4 mothers getting little to no support at one of the most important times in their lives.

A popular community green space, owned by SCC (Shropshire County Council), is under threat of being developed as a sporting facility, By OCC (Oswestry Cricket Club) We are petitioning to Shropshire County Council for Brynhafod field to maintain a beautiful, green urban environment, inclusive to ALL members of the community, including toddlers, wheel chair users and dog walkers.

In his portfolio as Care minister, Norman Lamb made strides in parity of esteem for mental health, but promises need to be kept. In April 2015, maximum waiting times standards for mental health were introduced, but how are specialist services going to meet these targets? Without the targets, very ill patients are waiting over a year for an assessment. There simply isn't enough appointments, services or professionals. Secondly, the NHS England specialist criteria dictates that patients can only receive treatment when they have reached a critical point. This contradicts all evidence on early intervention. 1.6 Million people in the UK suffer with an eating disorder. This evidence is based on NICE research carried out in 2004. Recently reports have highlighted that numbers of hospital admissions amongst teenagers have doubled in two years. Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses. 1 in 5 people can die from complications or suicide. They have the highest mortality rate of all mental illnesses. However sufferers are also able to recover. Like with cancer, if an eating disorder sufferer is able to access treatment early their chances of making a full recovery are greatly increased. If treatment is delayed or intermittent treatment can become costly leading to hospital admissions, additional complications and costs to other areas in their life such as work, school, housing and social relationships. I, have first hand experience of this, and know many others who have been turned away from treatment to devastating effects. I have often said that you wouldn't turn a patient with a broken leg away from A & E and expect them to wait till the other leg was broken. My own case study saw me relapse with my eating disorder. I had previously had intensive inpatient treatment for anorexia nervosa, but sometimes you just aren't fixed straight away, or you haven't learned to cope alone fully, which is what happened to me further down the line. I was strong enough to recognise that things were going wrong, but having waited a year for a referral and my mental wellbeing falling off a cliff I was getting desperate. When eventually I did get my assessment, I was told my condition wasn't serious enough to meet the criteria, and was discharged. During this process, I lost a lot more weight, and ended up in A & E with malnutrition. I have since received private outpatient treatment, which my parents have supported me with and am now in a stable place. I still have bad days, but I am a lot stronger and am positive in my ability to recover. My outpatient therapy lasted a year and 3 months, and cost £25 a week for a therapist (trainee to keep costs low) and £105 a fortnight for a dietitian. I saw a consultant at a reduced rate of £50 for 30 mins 3 times over a year. This should be the minimum for eating disorders outpatient treatment, and yet I would not have got both even if I had got outpatient treatment through the NHS. For eating disorders you need to tackle the physical and the mental side by side in recovery. I haven't gone into too much detail about BMI and criteria, but when I was told I didn't meet their strict criteria for treatment, I did a lot of investigating and was able to deduce what this meant via NHS England (official source). Due to a lack of funding the criteria is only set up to treat patients when their illness requires a physical intervention. This focusses more on severe anorexia nervosa and occasionally bulimia nervosa. However, the challenge is that by the time patients reach this point inpatient is the only option, and a lengthy admission is needed to save a life, becoming A & E for eating disorders. The crisis is when someone requires a bed, and there are no beds available, before a person is ready for discharge. The current method is not focussing on prevention, but focussing on interim solutions. If the NHS wants to save money, it needs to be innovative and focus on a criteria which is preventative, backed up by all the calls that early intervention is cost effective and saves lives. Furthermore this approach reaches a broader number of diagnosis's which the current criteria ignores. PLEASE SIGN THIS IMPORTANT CAMPAIGN http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/jun/14/eating-disorders-long-waits-nhs-treatment-lives-risk#comments

This decision was taken at a time when Wrexham is facing severe cuts and public services are under threat. We feel that the local communities in Wrexham should be put first and these funds should be spent on local communities and not councillors allowances.

This would help everyone who has breathing problems like Asthma and also clean the air we breath, the country has come under fire on air pollution and this would help in this matter and may save the lives of the ones who struggle to breath more so if connected to Hayfever as well. Please sign and think of these people.

We need to stop these senseless sanctions in order to bring back a peaceful relationship between Europe and Russia. We are sleep walking into a very volatile situation in Eastern Europe which could lead to a massive war. The leaders of Europe and NATO are committing actions which are against what the people want. WE want peace

In January 2015 Cllr Damian White who is the cabinet member for housing announced a proposal to rename buildings in the Highfield Road Estate in Collier Row after commonwealth countries at an estimated cost of £130,000. This is at a time when so many cuts are being made to local services. This proposal has been supported by MP Andrew Rosindell who actually employs Cllr Damian White. This affects all Havering council tax payers and will cause all the residents of this estate a great deal of inconvenience as they will have to change all of their address details with the DVLA, Banks, Doctors e.t.c. Please sign this petition if you do not want this ridiculous proposal to go ahead. It will also help if as many of you as possible leave a comment explaining why you have signed this petition, especially if you are one of the local residents who will have to face the inconvenience of changing all of your details. Please see http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/130_000_to_rename_collier_row_estate_no_thanks_1_3936382 http://www.romfordrecorder.co.uk/news/commonwealth_row_council_confirm_unpopular_plans_to_rename_estate_for_queen_s_milestone_1_4114893

Following our successful campaign in 2015 the County Council is now revisiting its options for the Countryside it owns on our behalf. It is encouraging that the statements in the published papers reiterate the success of this campaign and state that the land will not be sold BUT options do include long term leases potentially with commercial operators. We need the County Councillors to ensure the detail of any management plan, lease or contractual agreements protect the green spaces, the wildlife and the community access. It is ours to enjoy not theirs for profit We continue to call upon Staffordshire County Council to commit to preserving our natural heritage, for the common good. And to reject the notion that a private profit motive should play any part in owning, or managing our much loved green spaces. The original text was as follows *Staffordshire County Council is currently consulting on a range of options concerning their (our) countryside estate. Their options explicitly include "Disposal of sites on the open market", "Land rental for industrial development" and "a private sector partnership". The countryside estate includes Country Parks, picnic areas, country walks (along disused lines etc.) and also sites where public access is currently restricted in aid of wildlife conservation etc. Each of these sites are highly valued green spaces, that are treasured by the local population, and by those from further afield alike. The loss of these areas of natural beauty would be felt by many, and in similar cases they also tend to be irreversible; meaning once these sites are lost from public ownership, they may never be returned.

This is very important because the situation in Syria is disastrous and the number of people who are killed and dispersed is similar to the second world war. Britain generally, Wales and Swansea specifically has along and proud tradition of providing refuge at times of crisis. EU countries have agreed on a quota of 60,000 Syrian refugees to be accepted in each country. Germany has taken 30,000 so far. Where are we in this? Only 187 Syrian people has been accepted so far. People there are killed by three large armies. The government army supplied by Russian artillery, the Isis terrorists groups, and also the American warplanes which is targeting civilian's area anonymously in its search for the Isis and killing the innocent civilians who live there. Most refugees have witnessed horrific violence and many have seen their homes destroyed by bombs or have lost family members. Thousands of Syrians flee their country every day. They often decide to finally escape after seeing their neighbourhoods bombed or family members killed. For all the reasons mentioned above we have to take part in welcoming the most vulnerable refugees in the word, of which the Syrians make the largest part of.

Sea Lice numbers in the west coast of Scotland have exploded in recent years as a result of the increasing number of fish farms and their inability to effectively control sea lice numbers. This is not just a seasonal spike, the sea lice numbers have consistently been above the threshold set by the Scottish Government at many locations over the last 8 months, it is now time for the Government to enforce necessary 'cull orders' under section 6 of the Aquaculture Act 2007 Quotes from the Salmon and Trout Association Scotland: "Wild salmon and sea-trout are a key part of Scotland's world-renowned natural heritage, but the latest figures for wild salmon numbers are very poor indeed. We know that wild fish need a huge conservation effort. What we simply cannot afford now is fish-farms like those in Loch Fyne or Loch Torridon pouring millions of mobile young lice into the paths of migrating juvenile salmon and sea-trout. The question for Scottish Government is 'how much more evidence of failure to control lice do you need before you start to use your powers to protect wild fish?'" "Conservation bodies keep being told that salmon-farming is a highly-regulated industry, but regulations only work if they are enforced. Those parts of this industry that fail to control lice must now face robust enforcement action. The statutory powers to control on-farm sea lice numbers to protect juvenile wild fish from lethal infestations exist – they must now be used. Its time for the Minister to tell the inspectors to get tough." The levels are now upto 23 times ABOVE the threshold limit at some locations - action is needed now. Recent evidence shows that one juvenile sea trout was covered in over 500 lice which is unprecedented and almost certainly fatal. further information on sea lice infestations can be found at: www.standupforwildsalmon.org

Listed status would help protect the buildings and green spaces of this world famous and highly significant cultural project, the product of one of the most important socialist design eras of post war Britain and Europe. The estate stands as a pinnacle of positive and hopeful architecture and urbanism across the world, and a reminder that from such catastrophic destruction can be wrought optimism in a system such as the welfare state. The buildings, which offer generously-sized flats that could be refurbished, are of outstanding architectural quality and significant historic interest, and public appreciation and understanding of the value of modernist architecture has grown over the past five years, making the case for listing stronger than ever. The UK's 20th Century Society has submitted a paper setting out why they believe Robin Hood Gardens is a building of special architectural interest, worthy of listing. There is now a real chance to save the building for posterity but only if the Minister hears, first hand, the views of the profession on the architectural merits of these exceptional buildings by Alison and Peter Smithson.

A number of journalists and prominent Conservatives have recently, and gleefully drawn attention to the ease with which it might be possible for malicious elements to influence the leadership elections of political parties (parties to whom they hold no affinity). Upon exploration, I was shocked to discover that the idea was initially conceived (and propagated via Twitter), by an Anglican Priest- the Revd Marcus Walker. The following article provides a summary of the Revd Walker's actions: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11680016/Why-Tories-should-join-Labour-and-back-Jeremy-Corbyn.html , but does not necessarily give indication as to the full ramifications of those actions (indeed- the author seems unaware of those ramifications). The Revd Walker is effectively suggesting that anyone can interfere in the leadership choice of a political party to whom they hold no affinity. It is hard to understand how the Revd Walker could be so stupid as not to recognise the implications of this. Possibly no party will ever be able to hold a democratic leadership election again- this is how serious his actions are. How can a party ensure that malicious elements be kept out of their own process for choosing a leader? There are only two obvious answers to that: a system whereby only MPs are allowed to vote in leadership elections (a solution which would notably impinge upon the democratic process); or- limit the voting to members only and significantly increase membership rates (so that casual saboteurs are not wont to interfere). Surely the horror of this second option is not lost upon you- it would in turn lead to a situation in which, in principle, the wealthiest among us could effectively buy the leadership of all major parties). Regardless of the Revd Walker's political leanings- this behavior, at best indicates deep stupidity, and at worst, indicates a complete lack of moral fibre. Furthermore- beyond the practical ramifications of these tweets- I was also very distressed by the apparent glee with which the Revd Walker seems to be conducting himself. This in particular, I find extremely unbefitting of the church.