At Yarl's Wood IRC in Bedfordshire 120 inmates are currently on hunger strike on these issues and others. The poor care at Brook House IRC has been exposed on Panorama. Detainees in IRCs are among the most vulnerable people in Britain. They require our support.

The Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centre (DUWC) received a grant of more than £41,000 annually and a further £50,000 from Public Health to carry out tribunal representation work for people challenging decisions by the Department for Work and Pensions regarding benefit reductions and withdrawals. But the funding from the County Council will come to an end on March 31. Colin Hampton, co-ordinator of the centres for the past 33 years, said: “DUWC, irrespective of who is in government, gives a voice to those who come to seek our help." “You would think those in power would welcome this feedback but it appears that this authority would rather not hear what they have to say." “The centres have many funding streams and even more supporters. We will be embarking on a massive fundraising campaign to bridge the gap left by the Council’s cynical move.” Thousands of Derbyshire residents use the service, which has offices throughout the county. It also comes at a time when the centres are dealing with the full digital roll out of universal credit. Please visit our website for more information about the service: http://www.duwc.org.uk/

Renters in Edinburgh are struggling. Year in, year out rents go up far faster than wages, and it is reaching a breaking point. Edinburgh City Council has the power to designate areas as so-called ‘rent pressure zones’ and bring in rent controls, to stop landlords ripping tenants off for poor-quality housing. It’s time for them to use these powers.

The Scottish Government is currently promoting the increase of forestry by awarding huge sums of money through the Forestry Grant Scheme. But this is being abused by some landowners. Currently landlords are in a position to legally evict tenants, who are in non-secure leases through no fault of their own, and then obtain large sums of money from the Scottish public purse to plant trees on viable agricultural land. Every farm unit that closes means a loss of livelihood to the tenants, a loss of tenant farmers for Scotland, a loss of farming diversity in a country with the most concentrated pattern of land ownership in the developed world, and a loss of people, skills and trade for fragile rural economies. I first became aware of this when good friends who had farmed as managers for a previous tenant for 8 years, and a further 10 years in their own right, were abruptly told that their lease would not be renewed and their farming ground would be turned over to trees. I have witnessed at first hand how their lives have been devastated. All attempts to negotiate an extension have been handled appallingly by the landlord's estate and even the intervention of MSPs, the new Land Commission, and the local Tenants Association, have failed to halt the imminent eviction.

Wolsingham is a market town in Weardale in the west of County Durham. There has been a secondary school in Wolsingham, serving the Dale and beyond, since 1614. Children of the area have always been able to continue their education to the sixth form and Wolsingham School has consistently had good results. Some families have seen generations of children attend Wolsingham School. Wolsingham School is currently in the top five performing schools in the county and lies in an area of outstanding natural beauty. A recent refurbishment has provided state of the art facilities. The provision of sixth form education in Weardale is particularly important for children who live in the upper Dale, who face significant hardship and long travel times to suitable alternative sixth form providers. Some children will be required to travel for almost four hours per day and will then have to find time to study. Wolsingham School is more than a school. It is central to the sustainability and vibrancy of Weardale, a rural area covering around 200 square miles. As well as catering for the children of established Dales families, the school brings new settlers into the area in search of a rural lifestyle and a good education for their children. Of course, the entire infrastructure of Weardale depends on a stable population – shops, businesses, GP surgery, pubs and restaurants – and a threat to the school is a threat to the very life of the Dale itself. The Board of Governors has taken the decision without prior consultation with parents, students or the wider community, to suspend the sixth form for two years, from 2018 to 2020. Although this is reported to be temporary, closing the sixth form will lead to student numbers declining in favour of applications to schools with access to on site sixth form facilities. Indeed, parents are already choosing to take their children out of Wolsingham School. The Board of Governors can, and indeed should, overturn its decision. If Governors believe that suspension of Wolsingham's sixth form facility is a viable option then this should only happen after a major consultation exercise. We, the parents and wider community are passionate about protecting our school and ask the Board of Governors of Wolsingham School to: 1. Overturn the decision to suspend the sixth form; 2. Undertake a meaningful, open, inclusive and far-reaching consultation programme to present a range of options for the school to the Dales community; 3. Work with the parents and wider community to tackle the very specific issues facing the school to ensure its survival for generations to come.

This is the follow on from the Southern Link Road, which was always a stealth precursor to the bypass plans. We will be updating this with more info in the coming days, meanwhile tell all your friends and relatives to get on board with this new campaign specially if your property is affected. Highways England have said "under current guidance the building of new road infrastructure could only be justified in policy terms when other avenues such as travel planning and sustainable travel modes had been developed and shown not to address the transport needs and issues identified" (2014). Following public consultation in 2017, Herefordshire Council acknowledged that "improving pedestrian and cycling routes were a priority" for respondents, and that "more reliable and quicker bus journeys were among the top five improvements that should be made a priority in Hereford". One may legitimately ask why they are not acting on this feedback. They obviously have a different agenda that doesn't fit with the electorate's views. We have been aware of the presence of way too many traffic light controls which rather than facilitating smooth transit around the city, are badly timed to seemingly snarl the city traffic on a daily basis ... 18 sets of lights on one junction being the perfect illustration of our point, and if you're a pedestrian you need to be amazingly nimble ... not a city for the weak and slow. We also doubt there is anyone out there who believes this next item was a right way to behave ... Apologies don't cut it when people's homes and lives are at stake. PEOPLE living on the proposed routes of Hereford’s new bypass were not given notice that their houses could be demolished. Many of the residents living on Kings Acre Road only discovered their homes were in the firing line of the western bypass when they saw reports in the Hereford Times or were told by neighbours. http://www.herefordtimes.com/news/15998820.Hereford_residents_left_in_the_dark_about_proposed_bypass_through_their_street/

The Arundel skate park is small and the ground is rough with cracks in it. The ramps are made with metal which is slippery and loud. Benefits of a better skate park: 1. Kids and teens do not have much in the way of recreation facilities in Arundel. This can cause them not to get out as much and maybe stay and in using electronics and computer games too much. 2. Many kids want to learn how to skate but a rough and small skate park can discourage them from learning new skills. 3. Skating can help people make friends and socialise outside of school. 4. A refurbished and improved skate park will go hand in hand with a better recreation area and playing field, both of which are long overdue renovation and redesign.

Our local Nottingham hospitals, the Queens Medical Centre (QMC) and the Nottingham City Hospital (NCH), are struggling to provide patients with adequate care at acceptable standards. Waiting times at A&E are rising, there is a shortage of beds and many patients are either bed ‘blocking’ due to lack of suitable accommodation to move on to, or being discharged prematurely. The same is true of most hospitals throughout England.At the same time NUH Senior Management are demanding hard-pressed and overworked staff members make more cost-saving cuts in the care they provide. This is probably impossible without a drastic deterioration in the standard of patient care. Organised by Nottingham & Notts Keep Our NHS Public through 38 Degrees. Your personal information will be kept private and held securely. By submitting information you are agreeing to us keeping you informed about Nottingham & Notts Keep Our NHS Public campaigns. For further info please contact [email protected]

For everyone living, working and commuting in argyll and bute, the A83 is a very large part of it. But the state of it needs fixing ASAP before people start to needlessly die as a result. It may sound a bit harsh but it is the truth. Even the road outside my house has 6 potholes in it, which is just a fraction of the total amount on fairly small road. The A83 is over 100 miles of running a gauntlet. The Government have already stated that they are going to reduce the budget for road repairs over the coming years when we still have over £1 billion back log of repairs. I have personally almost died on this treacherous road and I have lost count of how many accidents have happened. It is now at a point where something needs to be done before incidents occur that could have been avoided. We need as many signatures as possible to get this to Parliament and a minimum of 10,000. Lets make the difference

Protect the 10 overnight nursing beds at Babington hospital. Babington Hospital faces closure. This means up to 18 beds for rehabilitation, palliative and end-of-life care are being lost. The Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) claim that the nursing beds will be provided at Ashbourne, Ripley and Ilkeston. This presents immense problems for people who have to travel. Furthermore there are questions about capacity and there is no guarantee that these beds will remain available. The strategy is to cut 535 beds across the county in the NHS. There has been no full, open and public consultation over the closures of Babington hospital and the loss of nursed beds. Make no mistake. These nursing beds will be lost if we do not object now. Please make your voice heard by completing the questionnaire in the link below. There is little room for expression other than using the free text box at the end to reject the Engagement Process and call for a full public consultation: http://www.southernderbyshireccg.nhs.uk/have-your-say/engagements/belper-health-services/

This young boy deserves a chance like every other 6-year old of a good life, without it being hampered and potentially cut short.

A bolt of lightning has destroyed part of Castle Moil on the Isle of Skye. The ruin was seriously damaged during a storm on Wednesday. First of all, preservation and restoration plays a cultural role. Old buildings teach us about the history that happened before we were born and promotes the respect for those who lived in different times and different societies. Architectural monuments cultivates pride of our past and heritage . Secondly, economy is an important merit of keeping the old. Architectural monuments are great at attracting tourists. Everyone likes to experience the “spirit” of the place, which most often is represented through architecture. Tourists can provide locals with jobs and extra income. Restoring locally important historical structures generates workplaces for both local people and international experts This Castle ruin dates back to the tenth century .it is of great historical importance to the people of The Isle of Skye. Skye was enhanced by gifts of territory from a grateful Robert I after his victory at the Battle of Bannockburn (1314). They rebuilt the castle sometime between 1490-1513 and it is these ruins that are visible today.