as a mother,auntie and sibling of somebody on the spectrum , I know how hard it can be.The reason for my petition is that i believe that the current system of gaining a blue badge for my child is wrong and deliberately discriminates against the condition and displays a clear lack of understanding of the true nature of the condition and the impact it has on its families

One in four people suffer from this horrible, debilitating illness EVERY YEAR. It is a significant and proven cause of job losses, marriage breakdowns, drug and alcohol abuse, violence towards women and children, homelessness and suicide. Talking therapies such as counselling & psychotherapy are by far the best way to deal with mental health problems of this kind. Unfortunately the first step to getting help is talking about the illness, but the majority of sufferers do so in silence due to the stigma associated with mental health issues. This stigma is a direct result of the careless, uninformed and often deliberately offensive remarks of people in high profile positions, such as the Sun columnist Katie Hopkins. Until these people stand in solidarity with brave and outspoken public figures like Stephen Fry and Jon Snow this stigma will continue to cause completely unneccessary pain, suffering and even death for those who are afraid to voice the torment they feel. All it takes is a little education and a modicum of compassion. I implore Katie Hopkins to look up from her self-satisfied, self-righteous life and to see the pain that she and her ilk cause with their refusal to accept that others are less able or less equipped to cope with life's hardships.

Life saving equipment such as automated defibrillators and electric chest compressors are already very expensive, but to have to pay VAT on top is making NHS services less able to provide these. In Rural areas where an ambulance can take a long time to reach a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest, an automated defibrillator can mean the difference between life and death. In the Scottish Borders we send patients to Edinburgh for heart surgery such as fitting of stents. If the person arrests in transit it is not possible for a paramedic to provide effective CPR for the entire journey, particularly in a moving vehicle. An electric chest compressor has been shown to increase survivial rate in this type of circumstance from zero (as it is not possible to physically continue effective CPR for long periods of time), to an amazing 50 percent survival rate. Sadly this piece of equipment is £10,000 plus VAT. Surely it cannot be right for the government to give a budget to the NHS and then claim a substantial part of it back in VAT.

The money paid into these pension funds has already been taxed. Now they want to tax it again. This is nothing short of highway robbery. Why should people who have scrimped and saved all their lives to try and provide themselves with a decent pension (which government fails to do) be penalised? Yet another example of rip-off government in rip-off Britain. There are enough pensioners, and people soon to reach retirement age, in this country to put a stop to this.

Having different levels of pension payment is discriminatory and contrary to the United Nations Social Protocol and the Commonwealth Charter, both of which the British government has signed People retiring overseas to be near their families for their final years each save the UK around four thousand pounds every year through non-access to the NHS and other pensioner benefits People retiring overseas release houses for other families so helping the housing crisis There are thousands of people in Britain who would like to emigrate but cannot afford to do so because of the frozen-pensions' policy. It would benefit the taxpayer to enable these people to emigrate and save the country the #4,000 a year detailed above It would meet the "fairness" criteria which is supposedly the foundation of every Conservative policy.

Help prevent fraud, scams, time wasters and people who are ignorant and hang up when told politely that 'I'm not interested'..

Rotherham Hospice serves many local people, there are paid staff, volunteers as well as visitors. For how many people work there and then visitors there just isn't enough parking space. With little parking this may put people off from visiting There is a steep drive way which is not very helpful for visitors

To prevent these potentially toxic drugs being over-prescribed to under six year olds causing possible neurological harm and consequent serious side effects before a young child's brain has finished developing to maturity. Several professional bodies for child mental health workers actively share this concern about the short and long term risks to the children affected by these increasingly common 'quick fix' medical interventions for behaviour management.

After a 5 year fight, our landlord is demanding a huge sum of money for repairs bills and that we vacate our premises, destroying the business we've worked so hard to build up over the past 6 years. We've established a lovely spiritual community here, employing many therapists who provide help to many in need of healing. All we ask is for justice to prevail.

During a visit to my local Costa Coffee outlet in January, I noticed that a lot of sandwiches and cakes remained unsold just 15 minutes before closing time. Thinking of the sustainability policy embraced by Pret A Manger, which sees them donating around 3,000,000 food items to homeless charities every year, I asked the staff if there was an equivalent policy in place at Costa. I was shocked to discover that company policy dictates that ALL leftover food must be bagged up and sent to landfill - no donating it to charity, no selling the food at a discount at the end of the day, no taking home of unsold food by staff. At a time when so many are going hungry and having to rely on foodbanks to feed their families, this policy is completely unacceptable. I have contacted the company on several occasions since that visit, repeatedly asking for someone to send me a copy of this policy in writing so that I might better understand their reasons for having it in place. Emails and Costa Facebook page posts went unanswered so I phoned and spoke to a staff member, who promised that they would email the policy to me. After 2 more weeks, still no email, so I called again (I'm nothing if not determined!) and received the same answer. And still nothing. So I think this petition is the next logical step. I hope enough other people agree that Costa are being needlessly wasteful and that public pressure will persaude the company that a major rethink of it's sustainability policy is in order. Thanks for taking the time to read this. Please can you share it with your friends? All the best, Mandy

An estate agent in Bristol called CJ Hole has been sending out letters to its landlord clients asking "Are you getting enough rent?" and "How do you get more rent?" The letter they are sending to landlords explains that "with rents increasing every week in Bristol, it is highly likely your property is due a rent increase.” It goes on to say that “the demand from tenants is far exceeding the number of available properties and we have never seen such a buoyant rental market." It doesn't once mention the rights of tenants. The letter shows how some estate agents and landlords are seeking to cynically profit from the housing crisis in Bristol at a time when inflation has declined to 0.3% and deflation is predicted. I think there is no justification for increasing rents at a time when prices are actually going down. In addition, real average earnings have fallen by 8% since 2008. Such predatory rental practices are an attack on low income people and threaten the most basic of rights – the security of a home to live in. Bristol's housing supply has been described by an official report as "in crisis." In 2013 just 60 affordable homes were built across Bristol Please sign this petition if you want CJ Hole to stop sending these letters to its landlord clients and if you want your next MP to support rent controls, giving more rights to tenants and building more affordable homes. If you have experienced a rent rise you believe is unjustified please post the details below. I.e. how much was it, was it in response to improvements made by the landlord, and any other points you think are relevant. If you have seen similar letters from other estate agents, please contact me. We will compile a list of all responses and use these as the basis for a later action/petition. Read the full letter below: https://s.bsd.net/38degrees/main/page/-/11096902_10153147467450900_147746140_n.jpg

I strongly believe that this increased distance is to far too expect a child to walk to school, never mind the weather conditions such as the rain and snow. Our children will be tired, cold and maybe even soaked through before they even start school. How can we then expect our children to be able to learn when tired, cold and wet? Thanks to the council amalgamating many schools, the distance that need to be travelled are now much further for many pupils. Many of the children will have to leave the house around 7.30 am to arrive at school for 8.40 and then will not get home until after 4 pm on the days they finish at 3 pm and after 5 when they finish at 4 pm. This would mean that in the winter months they will be expected to walk in the dark under the underpasses and unsupervised as many of the parents will be at work. This is not to mention the overly heavy school bags that they are expected to carry which would also add to tiredness, increased stress and potential health problems such as bad backs, posture and sore feet. Furthermore the children are then expected to complete homework whilst tired and with dramatically compromised concentration levels. Many of the routes to the schools do not have adequate pedestrian walk ways and many areas do not benefit from having regular public buses which can transport children to school. On a normally day the amount of traffic in and around our schools is already extremely heavy. If these plans are approved then there is likely to be more congestion and more danger as parents are forced to transport their children to school themselves. Many parents will simply not be able to ensure that their children can get to school safely as they will have to leave early themselves, to get to work. This will impact family life as the parents may have to reduce their working hours or give up work completely.