Successful Campaigns

UPDATE: 25/10/18 Your support has helped gain concessions from government with the creation of a £60,000 fund to complete the mapping of pollinator habitat in England. Buglife welcomes this as a first step towards securing the future of our pollinators. This is real affirmative action in the battle to preserve the buzz of life. Once mapping is completed more resource will be needed to deliver the on-the-ground action to turn the maps into landscapes full of wildflowers for pollinators.

Thousands of 38 Degrees members signed this petition, which triggered a debate. Then I occupied a toilet for 3 days, securing nationwide coverage. After all that people power, Bath Council agreed to our demands. The toilets remained open, so thank you for all your work.

12/12/17 - We Won! Great news! Michael Gove, the Environment Minister has drafted a new law to specifically recognise animal sentience. The result of our campaign is fantastic news, this will keep standards of animal welfare, at the high levels we have come to expect, from a nation with a reputation for compassion and care. I am grateful to the Government for listening to us, and I think we should all be very proud of this achievement. - Dave Babb - Petition Starter Sky news say: "Mr Gove has been forced to act after social media campaigns by 38 Degrees, Compassion in World Farming and other groups targeted Conservative MPs, calling on them to reverse their vote against recognising animal sentience." The bill proposes ministers "must have regard to the welfare needs of animals as sentient beings in formulating and implementing Government policy". Unveiling his plans after visiting Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, Mr Gove claimed: "As we leave the EU we will deliver a Green Brexit, not only maintaining but enhancing animal welfare standards...Animals are sentient beings who feel pain and suffering, so we are writing that principle into law and ensuring that we protect their welfare." Thank you so much to everyone who signed and shared the petition! Read more here: https://news.sky.com/story/government-draft-tougher-animal-cruelty-laws-after-sentience-row-11167159

21/12/17 We won! Thank you for signing the petition No industrial fish farm in the Sound of Jura, and fantastically it worked. So from all of us here at the Friends of the Sound of Jura, many many thanks this is a huge deal. More infromation below: Friends of the Sound of Jura (FoSoJ) learned with relief today that Kames Fish Farming Ltd has decided to withdraw their application for a 12-cage fish farm at Dounie Bay, south of Crinan. Under pressure from the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage, they had broadened their original assessment of the farm's environmental impact, and concluded that that it would damage the important wildlife of this Marine Protected Area. The proposal had attracted much concern from a wide spectrum of the local community, many of whom rely on the Sound of Jura to support environmentally sustainable local businesses. Mark Smith, speaking on behalf of FoSoJ said “We have always maintained that this industrial-sized fish farm should have no place within a Marine Protected Area. The wildlife of the Sound includes the rare Flapper Skate, Porpoises and Otters, as well as smaller rarities like the Northern Sea Fan. They have been spared being smothered in thousands of tonnes of fish faeces laced with pesticides every year. The wild salmon and sea trout which migrate to the River Add have been spared the catastrophic burden of sea lice associated with fish farms. We will continue to promote the Sound of Jura as an important resource for use by the local community, anglers, creel fishermen, scallop-divers, sailors, tourists and all of us who value and depend on the good health of the marine environment.”

Update 16/11/17 We won! Homebase says it intends to end the sale of plants grown that have been treated with neonicotinoid-based pesticides by the end of 2018. They said: "We have been working closely with our suppliers and seeking advice from other stakeholders about the use of neonicotinoids and we have committed to stop using these insecticides on garden plants, as well as removing neonicotinoid-based garden care products from sale by the end of 2018." Read more here: https://www.hortweek.com/homebase-bunnings-stop-selling-neonicotinoid-treated-plants/retail/article/1450434

09/08/18 We Won! We won! Women's Refuges have been saved from disasterous funding changes. The government has listened to the hundreds of thousands of people who joined Women’s Aid, in calling to stop planned changes to how refuges are funded. We told Ministers that these disastrous planned funding reforms would have put women and children’s lives at risk. Refuge managers warned these plans would have “been the end”. We are delighted that the Government has acted; rent in refuges will continue to be funded through housing benefit, which is the very last secure form of income for our national network of services. Up and down the country survivors and refuge services are breathing a sigh of relief. Refuge doors will stay open for the women and children escaping domestic abuse who so desperately need their help. Domestic abuse refuges save lives. With on average two women every week being killed by a current or former partner in England and Wales, refuges provide lifeline. Our campaign is not over; our next battle is to ensure that the funding for the support refuges provide to a survivor and her children - from therapy to help with housing and finances - is secure. We hope you will continue with us on our campaign to win a sustainable funding future for these life-saving services. Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/aug/09/plans-to-remove-womens-refuges-from-uk-welfare-system-dropped

16/05/18 - We won Bristol Council has agreed to roll back plans to put "large scale, high impact" advertising in parks after our public campaign. https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/bristol-parking-charges-go-up-1522617

21/03/18 Downing Street said officials who decide pay across the public sector had been told they no longer had to limit recommendations to 1% rises. A No 10 source said: “The independent pay review bodies will make their recommendations in the normal way. We have said as a Government that the arbitrary 1% pay cap is no longer in place.” https://home.38degrees.org.uk/2018/03/26/nhs-pay-cap-victory/ https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/theresa-urged-give-public-sector-12227879

UPDATE: We've won the campaign! Robert Gordon University have just announced that they are revoking Donald Trump's honorary degree. They say: "In 2010 Robert Gordon University awarded an honorary DBA to Mr Donald Trump, in recognition of his achievements as an entrepreneur and businessman. In the course of the current US election campaign, Mr Trump has made a number of statements that are wholly incompatible with the ethos and values of the university. The University has therefore decided to revoke its award of the honorary degree" Click here to email the university to say thank you: https://speakout.38degrees.org.uk/campaigns/donald-trump