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To: Councillor Randolph Conteh

Stoke-on-Trent City Council, stop persecuting the homeless

(1) scrap plans to fine the homeless

(2)provide funding to homeless shelters to manage homelessness throughout this winter

Why is this important?

Stoke-on-Trent has the dubious distinction of being called the Monkey Dust capital of the U.K. A blite on the reputation and economy of Stoke-on-Trent.

We the undersigned, are disgusted and ashamed that Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Staffordshire Police, rather than tackling the supply and use of drugs and other street crimes, are focusing on the homeless and fining them £100.

This proposal is not only sadistic but increases the pressure on the police, courts, probation services as well as council resources, during a time of peak demand and will do nothing to reduce genuine homelesses.

We demand that as the Councillor responsible for Communities, you take immediate action to stop the persecution of the most vulnerable people in our city and drop plans to fine the genuinely homeless.

This is the second year in a row that Stoke-on-Trent City Council has attempted to victimise the homeless and profit from their misfortune In a move so disgusting that Scrooge himself would be ashamed by it.

Homelessness will not end by hiding the problem nor profiting from their misery but by acting with compassion, decency and vision.

To be clear, we have no objection to the prosecution of criminals, who feign homelessness to take advantage of the public or aggressively beg for money, however, we seek an acceptance and protection for the genuine homeless.

How it will be delivered

To e-mail the completed petition to Councillor Conteh to be considered as part of the consultation regarding the policy. Updates will be posted both to this site and to the Facebook page.

Stoke-on-Trent

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Links

Updates

2018-10-07 13:47:01 +0100

Before lunch, I e-mailed all of our city councillors to invite them to sign our petition and to promote the petition.

2018-10-06 23:17:25 +0100

1,000 signatures reached

2018-10-05 20:29:29 +0100

As at 20:28 975 signatures demanding that Stoke City Council drop plans to fine the homeless.

2018-10-01 22:16:48 +0100

As at 22:15 we have 860 signatures. 140 more signatures needed to reach Wednesday's target of 1,000 by midnight.

2018-10-01 20:52:55 +0100

As at 20:44 841 signatures!

Today, I have raised our campaign with other media services, the Comunities Secretary, the Shadow Communities Secretary, the Parliamentary Committee for Communities in addition to raising our profile with local homeless groups.
We remain on target to achieve 1,000 signatures by midnight on Wednesday. However, we can't sit on our laurels. In addition to my efforts tomorrow, can you also continue to ask family, friends, colleagues and contacts across you social media platforms to join our campaign and sign our petition.
https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stoke-on-trent-city-council-stop-persecuting-the-homeless

2018-10-01 15:59:16 +0100

We have now reached 803 signatures :)

2018-10-01 13:12:35 +0100

We've narrowly missed our target of 800 signatures by 1pm. The current total is 782. Our new target will be 1,000 signatures by midnight Wednesday.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stoke-on-trent-city-council-stop-persecuting-the-homeless

2018-10-01 11:49:27 +0100

Stoke Council's pernicious plan to fine the homeless has been discussed on the radio this morning and the Guardian, over the weekend. Our campaign is not only just but is gaining traction across the city and the media.

I ask all 777 of you to discuss this with your family, friends and colleagues and urge them to sign our petition.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stoke-on-trent-city-council-stop-persecuting-the-homeless

2018-10-01 08:24:44 +0100

Overnight, our signatures reached 720 signatures. As we start Day3 of our petition, we are in a commanding position to achieve our new target of 800 signatures!

2018-10-01 00:16:50 +0100

This weekend, I have promoted our campaign across social media, with the media and with supporters of previous campaigns. Onwards....

2018-09-30 22:06:15 +0100

Currently we have 650 signatures. Let's see if we can get 700 by midnight. https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stoke-on-trent-city-council-stop-persecuting-the-homeless

2018-09-30 20:40:53 +0100

We have just smashed 600 signatures, demanding that Stoke-on-Trent Council drops plans to FINE the homeless.
Remember, at work, playground or lecture theatre, ask your friends to join us and tell Stoke-on-Trent Council and Staffordshire Police, where they can shove their fine!

2018-09-30 17:29:58 +0100

Tomorrow we will awake refreshed from a good sleep, in a warm comfortable bed and read to face challenges at work or school.
Tomorrow, the homeless will awake cold after a short nap and relive the nightmare of another day. He will be shood from a doorway as staff arrive for work and look for scraps left by revellers the night before. Moved on, the find a bench and what the world go by. Cold and emptiness and loneliness return. The school children mock him on the way to school and leave him alone once more. People walk passed him and look through him. A spectre to an uncaring world.

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stoke-on-trent-city-council-stop-persecuting-the-homeless?source=whatsapp-share-button

2018-09-30 17:26:16 +0100

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stoke-on-trent-city-council-stop-persecuting-the-homeless

2018-09-30 17:26:03 +0100

500 signatures reached