Hundreds of thousands of people are addicted to gambling in the UK, and every day someone takes their life due to gambling. A recent study found up to 3,500 gambling logos were visible during a single televised Premier League game. Another study found fans received 11,000 gambling messages during the opening weekend of the Premier League last August. Children, and everyone who watches the Premier League, do not need to face this advertising barrage. The gambling industry spends £1.5 billion on advertising and marketing every year and studies show a clear link between exposure to gambling advertising and increased gambling. Last year the Premier League said it would phase out front-of-shirt gambling sponsors by the 2026/27 season, but this won’t remove the vast majority of ads that appear around stadiums. During Mental Health Awareness week, the Premier League talked about a “mentally healthy culture across the game”,  encouraging young fans to talk about their mental health, but didn’t mention the adverts with links to mental health-harming gambling products.  Tell the Premier League, if it’s serious about mental health, to remove the ads from all its stadiums. Let's make the next season the first to be gambling ad free!

Football is the beautiful game. It is full of stories of unlikely heroes, of last minute comebacks and underdogs upsetting the odds.  But for too long now, the joy of our game has been sucked away with the use of unnecessary and convoluted technology. Instead of celebrating goals when they’re scored, we now wait…  and wait… and wait… for lines to be drawn on a screen, for millimetres to be checked, for someone sitting in a box miles away to make a decision.  And worst of all, even with all this technology, there’s still loads of mistakes. If it produced immediate and accurate results, that would be great. But it doesn’t. And it’s ruining the spirit of the game. So VAR has got to go.  If at least 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs vote in favour of scrapping VAR, then it will be gone for good! 

We, the MFA Fine Art students, have created this petition to express our profound disappointment and frustration with the lack of communication, support, and attention we have received throughout this academic year. Despite our investment of time, money, and effort into our education, we have been left feeling neglected and undervalued by the administration and academic staff. There has been a consistent lack of communication from the administration and academic staff regarding course requirements, expectations, and support systems. Important information has been withheld, leaving us feeling confused and unsupported. MFA students are consistently overlooked and marginalized in favor of BA students. We are unable to access essential workshops and resources due to the prioritisation of undergraduate students. Despite our attempts to seek assistance and support, academic staff members have been unresponsive to our emails and requests for guidance. This lack of engagement has left us feeling abandoned and alone in navigating our academic journey. In summary, joining the campaign for change is important because it promotes solidarity, upholds educational standards, impacts future generations, holds individuals accountable, and contributes to the well-being of the university community as a whole.

The Boardwalk allows people to view nature upfront and live, it also adds pleasure to the walks around Ferndown. The Slop Bog is on a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Local Nature Reserve and Special Protection Area. The Boardwalk provides accessibility for users who might otherwise not be able to access the heathland. If the Board walk is removed it will deny us the ability to view Nature in all its glory. It will also put an end to beautiful walks in the Bog area, it is a beautiful tranquil place to walk on summer evenings, as the sun sets! PLEASE,HELP US SAVE THE BOARDWALK ! Sign NOW

Frome is one of the largest towns in Somerset. Barclays, HSBC and Natwest have all closed their branches in our town. Whilst many people now use internet banking, a lot of elderly do not. Frome has many elderly residents, therefore potential customers if previously with Barclays, HSBC or Natwest. Frome has many small businesses, charities and the like who would really appreciate face to face banking facilities. So come on Fromeites and people of Frome. Let your voice be heard. Sign the petition to keep a bank in Frome!

This is extremely important because the people of whom claim PIP rely on the benefit's cash income for everyday use. Including those who find it difficult to get around unfamiliar places independently, those who find it difficult to walk long distances without support, mental health problems (which in some cases is highly severe) and those with hidden disabilities who rely on the income to purchase items to help them with everyday life. If the benefit is reformed, it will impact a lot of disabled people and those with mental health problems who would lose their money for being unable to work due to either their disability or very severe mental health. This petition is to tell the work and pensions secretary to scrap the proposals to reform PIP because so many people rely on it and they need it to survive financially if they're to get anywhere in life. Charities such as Scope have grave concerns about the situation surrounding the proposals and they are very worried that those who are in desperate need of their financial support will lose out on vital benefits. The situation is very stressful and concerning for the families and claimants on PIP who could potentially have sleepless nights over the fact that their financial support through PIP would not be there for them if the proposals were to take place. Mental health problems could get worse and the proposals would have a very serious impact on those who are claiming PIP for various reasons wether it is mental health related or disability related. These people really need their income.

Under government law, it is compulsory for all children including those with special educational needs to study maths and English to the age of 19 alongside any other course until they reach grade 4 and above. Many SEN teens find this a huge trigger for overwhelm and anxiety. Many are bright creatives, musicians and artists who are finally able to focus on a course that suits them after years of school environments that have failed them. They are forced into retaking maths or English over and over despite trying the best they can and constant failure can seriously impact on self esteem and mental health. If the lack of one or the other of these qualifications are a barrier in life then the opportunity to come back to them without the added pressure of the clock ticking would be far more valuable than the way things currently stand. Metaphorically speaking, it’s time for this government to stop judging fish by their ability to climb trees. They are damaging our bright creative neurodiverse kids as a result. We want our bright, neurodiverse kids to have the best chance at an education that works for them. Currently it does not!

2 years of training does not qualify Physician Associates (PAs) to diagnose or treat patients. The promotion of PAs within medical settings has a number of negatives: - PAs are not experts in any medical role; unlike nurses or paramedics, their role does not compliment that of doctors, but rather seeks to mimic it at a vastly inferior level - PA courses are not accredited, unlike all other health professionals’ courses - Medical expertise cannot be learnt ‘on the job’ without the basic medical knowledge - PAs lack training/expertise in ethics, communication skills, etc, as well as medicine - Student PAs share and dilute the opportunities afforded to student doctors - The supervision of medical students after 4 years’ study is far more rigorous than that of PAs who have completed only 2 years’ training - PAs have no professional body to regulate their safety or behaviour, meaning they cannot be ‘struck off’ or required to retrain - There are numerous examples of PAs failing to diagnose or treat conditions correctly - They are not responsible for their mistakes because they should be supervised by doctors - Doctors do not have time to supervise and repeat the work of PAs - Repetition of patient history and examination by a doctor is a waste of both patient’s and doctor’s time - Doctors are made responsible for the work of PAs, even where they do not choose to employ them - In numerous NHS Trusts and GP surgeries, PAs undertake doctors’ shifts without supervision - GP practices are reimbursed by the NHS for employing PAs and other health professionals, whereas employing doctors is a cost to the surgery - PAs have a net cost beyond salary and oncosts, because of the supervision requirement - Patients are often unable to access a doctor, but are seen by a PA instead - Patients are often unaware that they are seeing a PA rather than a doctor - The status given to PAs undermines doctors who train for 10+ years and are highly regulated - PAs often have better pay and conditions than more competent doctors or nurses - The use of PAs is creating friction and further eroding morale within the NHS - There are now numerous unemployed GPs, in many cases as a result of their replacement by PAs Many people believe doctors are being devalued by the introduction of minimally qualified PAs in order to undermine the NHS. The public values doctors and the NHS. The usefulness of PAs is questioned if a doctor needs to supervise and repeat their work. Links: https://www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-support/nhs-delivery-and-workforce/workforce/medical-associate-professions-mapshttps://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/additional-roles-a-quick-reference-summary/#physician-associate https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/government-general-medical-council-british-medical-association-will-quince-nhs-england-b2370453.html https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-66211103 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12710201/Some-physician-associates-paid-90-000-year-twice-junior-doctors-salary-not-regulated.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12630607/NHS-blunders-prompt-call-stop-physician-associate-recruitment.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13149509/physician-associates-nhs-training.html https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-mail-on-sunday/20240505/282415584366403 https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/282729116530778 https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/physician-associates/ https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/dec/13/public-confused-over-physician-associates-working-in-nhs-research-findshttps://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/jan/18/physician-associates-arent-doctors-and-shouldnt-be-regulated-as-such-says-bma https://www.theguardian.com/society/article/2024/may/12/england-locum-gps-doctors-work-surgeries-british-medical-association

Crossing Westbourne road at this location as a pedestrian or cyclist can be a scary experience and often involves having to cross in small gaps in constant traffic and sprint out of the way of fast and emerging vehicles. It is hard to judge vehicle speeds coming off Gledholt Roundabout and often vehicles emerge from Grasmere Road without looking for pedestrians crossing the main road as they two are trying to watch for gaps in traffic from the roundabout. This is not helped by the many vehicles that ignore the no right turn signs when emerging from Glebe Street. Personally I have experienced struggling to cross and having to make a dash for it at this junction many times and have heard many others mention similar issues crossing. It is a well known issue for anyone who tries to cross here. It is even scarier for anyone crossing here with children or those less able to cross quickly. This is a busy crossing point particularly for those using Greenhead Park and is in a built up area where the barrier caused by the main road should be reduced as much as possible. This is especially important if we want more people to walk, cycle and wheel rather than jumping in the car for short journeys causing even more congestion on our roads and reducing further the available parking near Greenhead Park. Even worse is the isolation that can be caused by those who don't feel safe not feeling they can get out and about. Amazingly there is already a developed plan to do something about all this. It has already been consulted on twice as part of the A629 Phase 4 project. Unfortunately despite it being 5 years (!) since it was first consulted on in 2019 then again in 2021 the project was paused indefinitely in 2023 on financial grounds. This petition calls on Kirklees Council to fund this particular part of the scheme independently rather than having to wait on funding to become available from the A629 Phase 4 scheme as a whole. It is unknown when, if ever, this funding will become available and the need for work to make this junction safer is immediate.

We object to the plans to remove the bench and the trees and request that the planning application is brought to the planning committee.

Have you ever been charged a fee for not having something? Canal & River Trust announced on 19th September 2023 that from 1st April 2024 it will impose an escalating 5% to 25% surcharge over 4 years on the licence fees of boats without a permanent mooring, and increased surcharges for wide-beam boats. This is on top of above-inflation increases to all boat licence fees over the next 4 years, starting with a 6% increase in April 2024. Section 17 of the British Waterways Act 1995 makes it clear that the licence to use the waterways can be held either with or without a permanent mooring. MORE INFORMATION Canal & River Trust has already raised boat licence fees by 8% in 2022 and 9% in 2023. The 6% increase and surcharges are on top of that already vastly inflated sum. Taking the escalating surcharges together with annual above-inflation increases, we estimate that by 2028, the licence for a narrowboat will cost 64% more, and for a wide-beam 130% more, if they don’t have a permanent mooring. We think this surcharge is unfair. It penalises a minority in favour of the majority. We are only 20% of the boats, yet Canal & River Trust want us to pay a surcharge to keep fees down for the majority of licence payers. The surcharge is a direct attack on our nomadic way of life, designed to pressurise us to move off the water. It will generate 0.6% of Canal & River Trust’s total income. Canal & River Trust says it aims to “balance pricing and affordability” in a way which is “fair” to all boaters. It would be much fairer to add another 1% to all 35,000 licences, instead of picking on a minority of 7,000 boats. The surcharge is not about raising finance, it’s about marginalising our community. Most of us live on our boats, and many will be at risk of losing our homes if we can’t afford the licence fee. Socio-economic change has made living on the waterways without a permanent mooring the only route to affordable housing for many people. We are on the lowest incomes of all boaters. If a boat dweller cannot afford to license their boat, their home can be seized, removed and sold by Canal & River Trust under Section 8 of the British Waterways Act 1983. Please sign our petition and help us to make sure the surcharge is defeated now!

Less congested roads, no stupid risks, and the council wouldn't have to plough so much money on road works and traffic lights because of these monsters huge impact on us who have to sit behind these Disrespectfull Lorry drivers, our stone walls, beautiful bridges and pollution is a HUGE ISSUE. Our poor country roads and bridges cannot sustain these road jamming monster trucks.