On Friday 12th April the Herald newspaper published an article about the proposed rent increase faced by Stills and the impact this will have on the delivery of our programmes of work. We have been overwhelmed by the messages of support following publication of the article. Thank you! Our lease negotiations are still ongoing and so we have set up this petition to harness your support as we think this will help during the next stages of our talks with the Council. Stills is a registered charity and one of the longest established photography venues in the UK. It is the only dedicated public venue for photography in Edinburgh. For over forty years, Stills has been a venue where all can enjoy, experience and learn about photography. This year we face an almost trebling of our rent, from £16,000 a year to £47,000, which poses a huge threat to our future. If we are unable to renegotiate this lease, staying on Cockburn Street and continuing to deliver our current programme of work will be unsustainable. Our city centre location is crucial to making our work as accessible as possible – people travel from all over Scotland and further afield to access what we do, whether that's our exhibitions programme (which is always free), public-access photography production facilities, creative learning work or artist-led photography courses. Our work is unique and vital to Scotland’s cultural ecology. Stills makes a vital contribution to what makes Edinburgh and Scotland such a great place to live, work and visit.

The A596 is a main artery through North Cumbria. For 5 months the Heathfield Railway Bridge has had a single lane light controlled traffic flow resulting with inconvenient delays. With the news report of at least another 2 months of disruption it's time to sign this petition as so that the appropriate departments take action to eleviate this unnecessary inconvenience to residents.

This fine building is the last Educational Building within the Old Meadows,. After loosing Trent Bridge School the Community needs places for people, community/education spaces for all ages and not just more homes. This could become a wonderful Cultural Centre, with Community Kitchen, Cafe, or be returned to Educational use for the local secondary schools who are now desperately in need of more space.

A number of cities, counties, states and countries throughout the world have taken steps to either restrict or ban glyphosate the active ingredient in weed killer (such as Roundup). Glyphosate has been designated as a probable human carcinogen by the World Health Organization (WHO). It has also been linked to the decline in populations of the honey bee and other insects. Some of us remember when driving our windscreen would be covered with insects. It is now well documented that we are facing an enormous loss of insect life in the UK, some estimate an 80% loss in the last 30 years. This is due to pollution, loss of habitat, global warming and particularly to the over-use of pesticides/insecticides. The glyphosate used in weed killer has been linked to a decline in insect populations including our pollinators. We understand that on average four times yearly, Reading Borough Council sprays glyphosate weed killer around our park benches and at the base of many of our parkland trees and trees around our town. We, the undersigned would like Reading Borough Council to cease the use of Glyphosate products and allow weeds to grow around the base of trees as have they have for millennia as part of natural biodiversity and to use the money saved by doing this to use alternative methods for cutting back grasses close to park benches.

This affects us all – if a child with additional needs or disabilities is unsupported in a classroom, it can put unreasonable demands on teachers' time, compromising the learning of all children. The numbers of children in Waltham Forest being REFUSED an assessment for an Education, Care and Health Plan (EHCP), which would provide them with ESSENTIAL EDUCATIONAL SUPPORT, has increased 3800%* in the period between 2015 and 2017. Waltham Forest reject more applications for Education Health and Care Plans than any other borough in London (except Southwark). This means hundreds of our children who have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) are being left to struggle alone at school, often with DEVASTATING CONSEQUENCES for the child and their whole family. We believe this practice is being carried out covertly to save the borough money in a time of austerity. Even those children "lucky" enough to get an EHCP, less than half (47%) got that delivered in the time period required by law. This delay means our children are being left for extended periods without the support that is vital for them to thrive and succeed in school. This can often lead to school refusal, suspensions and have a detrimental impact on both the child’s education and their mental health. In a time of austerity and education budget cuts, children with additional needs are often the ones who suffer the most. Taking away support that allows them to access an education is denying them their basic legal and human rights. Families of children with additional educational needs and disabilities in Waltham Forest are also routinely ignored by services, such as officials at the Disability Enablement Service. We often find it excessively difficult to get appointments with professionals, such as speech therapists, occupational therapists and paediatricians. Local community child mental health services are still telling parents to come back when their child is self harming or suicidal. Our families are still experiencing practices that were exposed by BBC Panorama last year. Families are made even more fearful for their children’s future by the fact Waltham Forest has a forecasted shortfall of £3.8 million by 31 March 2020 in their high needs education pot. The Education Health and Care Plan processes in Waltham Forest are unclear and inconsistent. They include practices we believe are unlawful under the Children and Families Act 2014. This includes refusing to assess children when there is an indication of need, refusing to name schools on some EHCPs, and the still common belief that schools have to spend £6000 before they can apply for a Plan. It feels like Waltham Forest Council has gone to war with SEND families, making our children a scapegoat for tightening budgets. In Richmond-Upon-Thames, local councillors have launched a campaign to fight back against the cuts. They are working WITH parents, and indeed the whole community, to fight austerity. They have launched petitions, letter writing campaigns and pulled together a coalition of local MPs to raise questions in Parliament. Waltham Forest have remained silent. Our Council's solution to the cuts is to refuse to grant support to our most vulnerable children. Many of us are being forced through distressing court battles with the Council. Although between 80-95% of parents win these cases, it comes with huge emotional fallout for our families, and unnecessary cost to the taxpayer. Many more will not be able to face the stress of going to court, or simply do not have the resources to do so. These children are the ones who are lost to the system completely. Tell Waltham Forest Council to stop fighting us. Call on them to: 1. Hold a scrutiny committee on the policies regarding Education Health and Care Plans to ensure they are fair, equitable and lawful. 2. Significantly improve the numbers of Education Health and Care Plans which are issued within the 20 week deadline 3. Stop refusing vital support for children with a clear need and improve access to vital services 4. Launch a SEND Funding Crisis campaign, which will help the Council access the funds that are so desperately needed to support our children The SEND crisis effects everyone. If your child is in a classroom with an unsupported SEND child, their education is also compromised because the teacher's time is stretched too thinly. Even if you aren't a parent, but a taxpayer, your money is being wasted in costly and unnecessary court cases that the Council mostly loses. It doesn't have to be like this. Instead of blocking vital support and fighting with parents, Waltham Forest Council could join with us to highlight the catastrophic impacts of education cuts and find ways to tackle special educational needs budget deficits. They could emulate councillors in other boroughs who are showing what is possible. We must work together to ensure that the most vulnerable children in Waltham Forest get access to the support they need. * Figures are based on stats from the Department of Education between 2015 - 2017. At time of writing 2018 figures had not been released

As a mum with a child in a primary school in Penarth, I am horrified to learn about the desperate measures our schools are having to take given this funding crisis. In the Penarth Cluster of schools, head teachers are cleaning school facilities at weekends to earn rent; there are redundancies and teachers have to take on other paid work. At least one local school’s governing body is looking into the possibility of closing on Friday afternoons which would create difficulties for working parents and teachers. Next, we hear our children’s health and safety may be at risk. I am shocked at the unfair and outdated formula used for school funding which seems fundamentally against The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, "A more equal Wales - where everyone has an equal chance whatever their background". School funding is in crisis across Wales, yet the Welsh Government is expecting the introduction of a new curriculum; a new additional learning needs bill and for schools to produce 1 million Welsh speakers. We already know that children in Wales achieve lower PISA scores than children anywhere else in the UK and have done for several years. But it's not just about academic achievement - our schools should be able to provide all-round education and support for all of our children to thrive.

Castle Mill Stream is a poorly managed backwater of the Thames in Oxford, a stretch of which is owned by Network Rail, who have no use for the land. However, it currently provides a much-needed home for those who live and work in a city in the midst of a housing crisis. These individuals are currently under threat of eviction, and no promises have been made by any organisation to properly manage the area as residential moorings. Please show your support by signing this petition. To find out more, read our story below. ---- Our Story: We are five resident boaters at Castle Mill Stream that runs alongside the Oxford Canal in Jericho. One of us has lived here 19 years and three of us for 4-6 years. We have been informed that the stretch of bank we are moored on (from the south end of William Lucy Way to opposite Combe Road) belongs to Network Rail. For years they have ignored it, but under pressure from Oxford City Council they put up signs on February 12 and attached letters to our boats on February 21 warning of eviction. In a statement the City Council have welcomed their action, linking boats on Castle Mill Stream to a long list of anti-social behaviours which they say the area has seen "in recent years". They are presumably including a much wider area than where we are moored. Only one incident has occurred on this stretch in the last two years - the presumed arson of an uninhabited plastic boat this winter. The fire service put it out but no-one cleared up the mess until we took half a ton of debris from the burnt hull and from a sunken boat to the dump. We agree that Castle Mill Stream requires proper management to prevent a cycle of abandoned boats appearing. However, we believe that the area and surrounding community is better off for the presence of permanent residential moorings. Stationary live-aboard boats provide the area with individuals who have a vested interest in the safety and upkeep of this otherwise dark corner of central Oxford. Charging mooring fees will prevent boat abandonment and make any anti-social behaviour less likely. The City Council have talked about possible future moorings on this site, perhaps financed by Canal & River Trust, but we are sceptical about how long this could take. We therefore believe that these moorings are best managed by the boaters themselves. This would ensure the area does not fall into further disrepair and attract more abandoned boats while waiting for C&RT to take action. It would also keep moorings affordable, preventing any further strain on the housing situation in Oxford. Official sites such as the Hythe Bridge Arm and the Agenda 21 moorings in North Oxford began as unofficial moorings. We have formed ourselves into a non-profit company, have applied to Network Rail to buy the land, and are preparing a planning application for residential moorings, including floating pontoons, a water tap and a sewage disposal point, all to be financed by our mooring fees.

This public house as been the heart of the community since being built in 1928. Its steeped in local history dating back to Robert Ireland Blackburne after whom the pub is named after. The links to Orford Manor and the old Orford Hall (now Orford Park) partnership with Warrington Memorial Bowling Green whose Trustees actually own most of the surrounding land and of course the adjacent Playing Fields allotments. Its grounds is also a habit for protected species such as newts, toads and other wildlife that can be found with the grounds.

Brighton & Hove is in the top ten local authorities in the country for numbers of rough sleepers. These are just the ones you can see. There are thousands more people living in tents, cars, boats, hostels, and emergency and temporary accommodation. All people, homeless or not, are free and equal in dignity and rights. But in truth, rough sleepers are treated at best as a problem and at worst as a nuisance to be cleared away. The Homeless Bill of Rights (www.homelessrights.org.uk) tries to make human rights real for those of us who are unfortunate enough to be homeless, by giving them respect, dignity and help in their struggle to survive. The most important right is the right to housing; but at the very least no-one, ever, should be forced to sleep rough. It has been adopted by six European cities including Barcelona. We want Brighton & Hove to become the first British city to adopt the Homeless Bill of Rights.

SCHAC (Save Care Homes And Centres) RCT Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council are proposing to close many of their 11 residential care homes and their 5 ‘day centres’. We believe these proposals are not a ‘modernisation’ as they are described by RCT but an attempt to reduce costs to, in their words “... deliver care services more efficiently to maximise the benefits and manage cost pressures.”. We do not believe that ‘extra care’ sheltered housing is an acceptable alternative for people who are assessed as requiring residential care. In closing council owned and run residential homes, RCT are pushing people into the increasingly financially insecure private sector. Our SCHAC response to the RCT proposals can be read here: https://schac-rct.blogspot.com/2019/04/schac-save-care-homes-and-centres.html?view=magazine And RCT proposals here: https://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/EN/GetInvolved/Consultations/CurrentConsultations/CurrentConsultations.aspx We request that RCT: End the paragraph 6.14 restrictions on entry to residential care immediately Not one closure - keep all 11 residential care homes and the 5 day centres open Refurbish all 11 residential care homes to highest legal and care quality standards Give priority consideration to RCT owned residential care homes and day centres in the allocation of funding support following an assessment We propose that RCT think through again what they are proposing in relation to day centres, provide details of organisational structures, aims, strategies and a detailed operational plan then issue a new statement and start the consultations again. Open the books - RCT to disclose how the closure proposals will cut its annual spending on adult care both in terms of revenue and capital spending, together with comprehensive details about how these amounts were arrived at. RCT should defend and speak out for the older people of RCT and prioritise council owned provision. RCT should directly request that the Assembly and UK government provide the financial support needed to provide improved provision of adult care and supported housing without making cuts or privatisation - the money was found for the banks, it can be found for our older people who need care and support.

"Too many horses are being killed or injured." Sylvia Clelland. The 2023 Grand National meeting at Aintree racecourse, resulted in the death of three horses including one in the main event of the weekend. Despite changes being made to the course for safety over the years far too many horses are dying as a result of racing. Sixteen horses have died in the showcase race since 2000. Safety measures could easily be implemented to improve the safety of the Grand National. These include having smaller and fewer fences, fewer participants and a shorter distance.

Cannock Chase is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty that is used freely by thousands of visitors each and every year. Visitors are not only from the local area but nationally and internationally. Users include families with children, ramblers and walking groups, cyclists, runners, dog walkers and horse riders, who not only enjoy the benefits of the Chase but support local businesses and the local economy. Cannock Chase is particularly unique in the area due to the beautiful open landscape that is safely accessible by all, without restriction. All users have the benefit of the large area which allows them the freedom to safely enjoy their activity without encroaching on others. Any proposal to alter this access will have a significant and detrimental effect on the local community, residents, visitors and local economy. Allowing the free roaming of cattle within areas that will be used by families, children, horse riders, dogs and cyclists will put the safety of all at risk. Cattle are large and powerful animals who can take to flight easily and without warning. The proposals to fence off large areas of Cannock Chase has been undertaken without any proper, open and public consultation and without consideration of the detrimental impact upon the area and the risks to public safety. We request a full open and public consultation and the disclosure of all consultation meeting minutes, decision making reports, cost schedules, wildlife and natural beauty impact studies, local business impact studies and public safety impact studies.