Successful Campaigns

No parent should have to hold their children and comfort them as they die, or be told that their child has been harmed by someone who is supposed to love them. But that’s exactly what I had to experience 10 years ago when my sons Jack and Paul were killed by their father after a family court judge granted him unsupervised contact with them, despite my warnings. For the past nine years, I’ve been campaigning with Women’s Aid to ensure children are at the heart of every decision made in the family courts and their voices, wishes and feelings are heard. I’ve been to Downing Street and the Houses of Parliament to help get key changes through in the Domestic Abuse Act.  In 2017, we saw new guidance published for judges making decisions about child contact in cases of domestic abuse. And in 2020, the Government committed to make the family courts safer for adult and child survivors. But years later, we’re still waiting for true reform to keep children safe now and for generations to come.  That’s why I’m calling on the new Labour Government and family courts to ensure, once and for all, that decisions made about parental contact do not allow known abusers to have unsafe contact with children that puts their lives at risk.

Wilko scraps plan to cut sick pay for 21,000 staff! https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/coronavirus-wilko-scraps-plan-cut-21745338

We won! British Gas reversed their decision to increase the minimum top-up amount for customers on pay-as-you-go tariffs. They’ve slashed the amount from £5 back to £1. This means people will no longer be forced to decide between spending their last £5 before payday on heating their home, or putting food on the table. And it’s thanks to the 91,000 of us who signed a huge petition, and thousands of us who spoke up and shared our experiences directly with British Gas. The 38 Degrees staff team met the British Gas CEO, and took these stories straight to him. Preet Kaur Gill, the MP who started this campaign on the 38 Degrees website, said: “This is a vital win for the thousands of people affected by British Gas’s decision to raise the minimum pre-pay top-up. I am so thankful to 38 Degrees and the 91,000 people who signed our petition. It would not have been possible without them.”

We won! On Friday the 11th of October after more than 80,000 of us piled in we managed to get these cleaners the real Living Wage!

A recent tweet from the DWP says this will not be government policy! But we'll be keeping an eye out to make sure, in the event of a snap election, plans to raise the pension age don't make it into any party manifestos.

TransPennine Express have reopened the gate! https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/hull-east-yorkshire-news/hull-paragon-reopen-anlaby-road-3193164

The Electoral Commission will be awarded powers to issue bigger fines – up to £500,000 from the current £20,000.

It's been confirmed that after 27 years, BP’s sponsorship of the British Museum’s exhibitions has ended! This is a HUGE win for the movement for fossil free culture and everyone who has played a role in this campaign, including climate activists, culture campaigners, arts workers, youth strikers - and particularly those frontline groups directly impacted by BP that we were honoured to work with. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/jun/02/british-museum-ends-bp-sponsorship-deal-after-27-years

02/05/18 A message from Grahame: Thanks so much for signing Pauline's petition. I am really pleased to let you know that Pauline has just been granted 30 months leave to stay! So people power really can work! We still have some mountains to cross but we can at last relax a bit now and admire the view! Over 100,000 signatures in less than 10 weeks is amazing. Knowing there are so many good people out there has given us great strength. Apparently the Home Secretary received some 16,000 tweets from petition signers over just the past 2 days (LOL!). Thanks also to 38 Degrees who have been brilliant! Without this support I'm sure Pauline would have been just another case to brush under the carpet! Whilst the decision does not mitigate for the injustices Pauline has suffered (as clearly described by our barrister) it will at least allow the long recovery process to begin. We can now start planning the rest of our lives - including a long-awaited honeymoon! I really hope that lessons can be learned so others don't have to go through the same nightmare. I for one will one work tirelessly to this end. Keep well and thanks again. Grahame (& Pauline) x

10/12/21 FINALLY, A WIN FOR WILD ANIMALS After decades of campaigning and years of waiting, Born Free welcomes UK Government plans to end the legal import of trophies from hundreds of wild animals, shot for ‘fun’. Read more here: https://www.bornfree.org.uk/news/uk-trophy-import-ban