Forcing wild animals to perform in circuses causes needless suffering. Beautiful wild Animals – like tigers, lions and zebras – are shunted around the country in trailers, kept alone in small cages, and forced to perform. The best circuses have long abandoned this cruel practice and wow their audiences with talented acrobats and clowns. We aim to finally tackle those few dodgy circuses that still exploit wild animals. Animal welfare experts like the RSPCA and the British Veterinary Association all back a ban on circus animal cruelty and they and many other animal welfare organisations have done fantastic work campaigning for a ban on wild animals in circuses. We were expecting a ban to be announced in the Queen's speech - but this was recklessly dropped at the last hour. For more information: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dismay-as-proposed-ban-on-circus-animals-is-left-out-of-queens-speech-9487481.html

The tribe are fighting with the Brazilian government to try and stop the deforestation that is leading to the destruction of the Rainforest, the place they have called home for many many years. If we could make this happen, it would help hugely to draw attention to the pressing matter of Amazonian Rainforest destruction and to help to conserve the rich cultures of the native Amazonian people that protect the land. In an open letter to the England Manager, Roy Hodgson, the Kayapó leader (Chief Megarón) said: "We live beside the Xingu River in the eastern part of the Amazonian rainforest. Our village is very traditional and we still live as our forefathers, so this would be a great opportunity for you to see how we live"

There are already many millions of visitors to the area each year, hikers, cyclists and motorists, a number which Scarborough Borough Council's Tourism Strategy is seeking to increase. The removal of public toilets in this area will leave many people in distress and will discourage tourism in the area.

UPDATE 17/10/14: Please join us for the public meeting about Good Hope Hospital at Sutton Town Hall on Thursday, October 23rd at 7pm: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/events/save-good-hope-public-meeting We'll meet beforehand at The Royal Hotel, Sutton Coldfield at 6pm. Our Campaign Group, `Save Good Hope's Local Services', is a group of local people who use and care very much about our local Hospital, Good Hope in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands. We are independent of any political Party. Our aims are simply to ensure i) the Heart Of England Trust hold a Public Meeting to explain to their very worried patients from all areas covered by the Hospital what the proposals for change are in detail and so to also enable the patients to voice their concerns and maybe even be reassured; ii) Saying NO to any closures of key departments within the Hospital, as some of the proposals for change allegedly involve the transference of certain key services from Good Hope to other Hospitals within the Trust, Heartlands and Solihull; both great distances to travel for many people and particularly difficult for Carers and those they care for; the elderly, very young and disabled. We were very close to achieving the first aim earlier this year, when the previous Chair of the Trust (who is apparently leaving this month!) along with another Trust official, asked some of our Campaign Group who attended meeting with them in January of this year, to jointly organise such a Public Meeting with the Trust in March. That meeting was suddenly stopped after local MP's met with Trust leaders. Since then, we continued campaigning. However many people are very anxious about the future of their local Hospital, particularly after today's Newspaper headlines, stating the axing of 1000 beds in Hospitals under this Trust across the city (of Birmingham). The Trust have stated several times in the media that they would consult with the public, but so far have refused to name a date for any such consultation/meeting. Therefore, we are asking for one asap, because of the great anxiety regarding details about the Trust's proposals. We and many others feel that now openness and transparency from this Trust towards the huge number of patients it serves, is urgently needed. It is greatly lacking at present and we are asking the Trust to start to `think like a patient' and honour their promise.

A planning application (Mendip District Council reference 2013/2608/OTS) is outstanding on a field that lies between Packsaddle Way, Frome and the hamlet of Spring Gardens. The application for 107 properties would effectively link the two communities together and would mean building on land beyond the town boundary, in open countryside – thus setting a dangerous precedent for future planning applications in the town. Whilst the date for objection to this planning application has passed (March 2014) we remain concerned about the potential outcome. By signing this petition, we wish to record our objection to this application and ask the authorities to reject this proposal. This petition is coordinated by PROD, a local group whose objective is to protect the fields and valley lying to the north of Packsaddle and Mendip Drive estates, stretching to Innox Hill and Spring Gardens, from residential development.

Fracking is known to cause Sink Holes, and even earthquakes. It uses many chemicals which leach into the ground and our water supplies, and some of which are known to cause cancer. Taken from Clean Water Action "Fracking: The Dangers Fracking uses a toxic chemical cocktail known as fracking fluid. Companies using fracking fluid have resisted disclosing the contents of fracking fluid, claiming the information is proprietary. However, samples from well sites indicate that the fluid contains: formaldehyde, acetic acids, citric acids, and boric acids, among hundreds of other contaminants. It has recently come to light that, despite the illegality of the action, companies have been caught using diesel fuel in the Fracking fluid. Fracking removes millions of gallons of precious freshwater from the water cycle. Each well uses between two and five million gallons of locally-sourced freshwater which will be permanently contaminated by ground contaminants and toxic chemicals contained in the fracking fluid. About half of this water returns to the surface, where it is stored in steel containers until it can be injected deep underground in oil and gas waste wells. No one is entirely sure what happens to the other half of the water used in the process. Our best guess is that the water remains underground, though there are indications that at least some of this toxic cocktail makes its way back into the water supply. Fracking causes a range of environmental problems. At least eight other states have reported surface, ground, and drinking water contamination due to Fracking. In Pennsylvania, over 1,400 environmental violations have been attributed to deep gas wells utilizing Fracking practices. Pollution from truck traffic, chemical contamination around storage tanks, and habitat fragmentation and damage from drilling to environmentally sensitive areas have are all related to Fracking.

Pre application planning consultation shows Austerity design is worse than anticipated due to Lewisham council not putting funding in to this which they could from the redevelopments that are causing need for school places. Sir Francis Drake Primary school is in one of Lewisham boroughs most deprived areas Evelyn Ward, it a local one form entry community school with capacity for 210 children. 52% of school pupils are have English as a second language, 41% are on free school meals and the proportion of disabled pupils and special educational needs is above average. Despite the disadvantages -Currently it is in the top 8% of school in the country for the 2013 SATS and recognised by the DFE as in the top 250 schools in the country measured by the progress made by disadvantaged pupils. The RT Hon David Laws MP Secretary of State congratulated the school for "being exceptionally effective in educating disadvantaged children providing them with a good start in life and a strong springboard into secondary education". Ofsted: Pupils thoroughly enjoy school and this is reflected in their attendance, which is above average. The school provides a very positive and vibrant learning environment, and pupils therefore feel safe and secure. All pupils are equally valued, as the school motto indicates, ‘Everyone is valued and all succeed.’ This ensures that the school strongly promotes equality of opportunity, and does not tolerate any form of discrimination. Pupils have extremely positive attitudes towards learning, and engage thoughtfully in all activities. Their behaviour around the school is often exemplary. They get on well together, and show considerable respect and care for each other. Despite its success the school has become earmarked for demolition and on its tiny site the plan is to rebuild it as a 3 storey "Pilot" Austerity "baseline design" school with reduced classroom space to provide 30 reception places for 2016 and doubling the capacity of children to 420 on the same small site. Baseline Design schools (Aka Austerity schools) The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is seriously concerned about the unproven ‘Austerity School’ scheme.RIBA President Angela Brady said: 'Our students, teachers and local communities deserve great schools - environments that are beneficial to the best-quality teaching and learning. In these times of austerity of course we need to cut our cloth on all spending; however, the government's proposals for the design and construction of future schools are far too restrictive with too much focus on short-term savings. They say that the scheme’s overall space reduction is ‘ignoring the safeguarding of environmental comfort’ and it is ‘not ensuring discipline and student wellbeing’. They maintain that there is ‘a failure to create functional spaces for excellent teaching’, that ‘students and teachers will be deprived of quality environments that are proven to support teaching and learning’ and the scheme is ‘disregarding statutory requirements for accessibility and inclusion’. The RIBA believe that it does ‘not deliver long-term sustainability and value’. Only time will tell the success of this scheme but for now, the children of SFD will become the first ‘guinea pigs’ for the success or failure of this type of building development. Why is this happening? The council is allowing private developments to build new homes without adequate primary provision. Instead the council has over the last four years opted to enlarge 75% of their primary schools instead. Locally we have 1432 new homes being built but the council says it has no sites to build new schools. Demolishing Sir Francis Drake will not resolve the need for primary places for the developments the council has agreed but it will permanently disrupt and change it irreparably. The council says "The Mayor and Cabinet report (April 9th 2014) provides evidence that there is a need for a school in this locality looking forward to the end of this decade. The due diligence conducted by the government's Education Funding Agency, which would manage the new build, also confirms this." We are asking the council to build a new school that they truly need- a new school would bring an additional 60 reception places in to the locality. We say no to the demolition and rebuild of our successful well maintained, inclusive and diverse little community school so that's it "exceptional work" can go on.

All children deserve to be treated equally, if this is deemed a necessary public health measure, then it should apply to all. Children unable to have dairy milk are just as in need of the calcium etc if not more.

A company called Progress Power is applying to the government for permission to carry out plans to build a Power Station on Eye Airfield industrial estate. Eye is an ancient town with over one hundred listed buildings and about 2,000 inhabitants. Progress Power say they posted the area with 17,000 information leaflets last year, yet not one entered my postbox. An awareness group has been formed locally called Common Concern http://commonconcern.onesuffolk.net through which I first heard about this power station. It is almost too late for protest as the government is about to give Progress Power the go-ahead, partly because very little local protest was voiced. Of course, this is because it seems to have been kept carefully under wraps. We have seen no plans for mitigation and, in fact, the plans that are available from Progress Power are out of date and unreadable. Each visualisation is a bird's eye view and the enormous size and height of the buildings is completely understated. The airfield already has four large wind turbines, which can be seen for miles around, a waste disposal site and a chicken litter power plant, along with many other light industries. I think this is more than enough of a contribution to energy and conservation from the people of Eye. We don't want a huge power station in Eye, it seems totally unsuited to the site. The A140 road, beside which it will be built, is already heavily overloaded with traffic and the hazards created by the building and servicing of this site will cause even more danger. We want Progress Power to think again about the site they choose, if indeed the power station is necessary at all. It is apparently only going to run 60 days a year as a back-up source, but the inhabitants of Eye will have the huge eyesore for 365 days a year, plus noise and light pollution. Switching a power station on and off causes more pollution and noise than continuous running. After 25 years when the power station becomes obsolete, it will be left standing as the safest form of closure. Eye, so far, is a place of quiet and dark nights, where the night sky can easily be seen. This is not the right place.

Here is a link that describes what happens. I'm not a fan of the daily mail, but a friend sent me the link to read - I felt sick and I cried; this is just barbarous. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2646004/Kittens-skulls-cracked-opens-electrodes-inserted-brains-shocking-series-experiments-University-College-London.html#newcomment I understand these pictures were taken in the US, but it's happening HERE and, as a nation of alleged animal lovers, we MUST stop it - NOW. I am a pet owner; I used to volunteer at a local rescue where traumatised animals, especially dogs, were an every day occurrence. All my pets have been rescues, including cats; I've SEEN what they FEEL and how they can suffer. My older dog has been with us for six YEARS and is STILL traumatised by his experiences; can you imagine what THESE kittens suffer before they're killed?! It's not even what I would call 'proper' medical assessment (though I don't agree with that either); it's universities carrying out animal torture....plain and very simple. I feel VERY strongly about this and I can't be alone surely?

Zane died in his home on 8 February 2014, a day after his home in Chertsey was hit by severe floods. His parents Nicole and Kye were hospitalised in a critical condition. Evidence suggests the cause of Zane’s death was hydrogen cyanide, a toxic gas that can lurk in unregulated landfill - like the one by their house - released from the ground by mixing with floodwater. But it took Public Health England 14 weeks to confirm to the family that hydrogen cyanide was indeed found in their flooded house. And despite this the pathologist was never told to test Zane’s blood for hydrogen cyanide. Nicole and Kye are bereaved parents who deserve to know what really happened to their son. They have been left ‘broken’ by the death of their son and frustrated by the lack of answers. Zane's father Kye, who was left paralysed from the same incident and whose diagnosis is paraplegia due to Hydrogen Cyanide poisoning, says: “We really want to push and find answers because it is wrong that these risks can occur. Ideally this is something we would like to be able to highlight nationally. This deadly gas has come from somewhere, the authorities need to admit its presence, investigate its source and act to prevent more deaths and illness.  We miss Zane every second of the day and all those who spent time with Zane commented that Zane was a truly remarkable boy. We would not want anyone else to experience this pain and burden of a living hell”.

More houses on Sheppey means more people on Sheppey. It is obvious that these ‘new’ people need jobs, medical services, pre-school and school places, better transport to get on and off and around the island, and many other facilities. Despite promises from previous developers, the considerable amount of new housing which has already appeared has not been accompanied by any such new infrastructure. Sheppey people are therefore unhappy at the expansion of Sheppey so far; traffic congestion, in particular, is truly awful. Bus and train services are not good enough to persuade residents to abandon their cars. There is not enough work for the existing population, most of whom commute on and off the island every day, compounding the traffic problems. This is all very bad for the environment and, ultimately, for the economy. The Facebook page “Sheppey NO more houses” offers photographic evidence for this congestion. It also demonstrates considerable disquiet at the way Kent County Council, Swale Borough Council and developers are perceived to see the Isle Sheppey as a profitable ‘dumping ground’, especially for London overspill.