My father booked a holiday this time last year for May 2016, but sadly 6 weeks ago was diagnosed with cancer in his throat. He contact first choice who transferred him to many different departments before he was given two choices. The choices were to cancel the holiday, losing a large some of money with the cancellation policy to claim the remaining money through insurance or they would hold the money for a year and he could rebook. My argument is that these travel companies do not know people's financial backgrounds, how long they have been saving or if the person will be able to work again and holding onto nearly £2,000 that possibly will be needed in the following year is greedy. My father has full documentation of treatment and illness so I think companies should allow a full refund! Also, they do apparently have a 'department' for these occasions but are only contactable via email, I emailed them about this 3 weeks ago and have never received anything back!

The NHS is under fire from its ideological opponents and the media too often carries bad news which are not balanced with stories of its successes. We need to celebrate it being the best in the world

On 4 April 2016, Hartwig Fischer became the new Director of the British Museum. One of the first decisions he needs to make is whether to renew its five-year sponsorship deal with BP. Please help make the call to #DropBP the biggest noise he hears as he begins his new job. Why #DropBP? This partnership with the British Museum is allowing BP to clean up its dirty image by associating itself with Britain’s most popular tourist attraction – for the annual cost of about two hours’ profit for the oil giant. BP is violating human rights, destroying ecosystems and actively driving the world towards climate catastrophe: • It is going after new sources of highly-polluting fossil fuels in the tar sands and the Arctic, despite opposition from local Indigenous communities and knowing that we need to keep 80% of known fossil fuels in the ground to avoid dangerous climate change. • It is trying to drill dangerous new deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico and Great Australian Bight, despite the devastation BP’s Deepwater Horizon spill is still wreaking on the Gulf Coast’s residents and wildlife. • In countries such as Iraq, Egypt, Russia, Azerbaijan and West Papua, it is fuelling conflict and repression and undermining workers’ rights. • It tops the list of firms lobbying against effective climate policies in Europe. • It dodges taxes and takes billions more in UK tax breaks, in this time of supposed austerity. It donates only a tiny proportion back to the arts, in return for high-profile branding. The movement for Fossil Free Culture is gathering strength. Tate recently parted company with BP after 26 years, following intensifying protests and public pressure. Now the British Museum, and other BP-sponsored institutions, including the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Opera House, the Science Museum, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Edinburgh International Festival, must follow Tate’s lead and #DropBP. This petition is jointly hosted by the PCS Union and the Art Not Oil coalition.

Public health. No carcinogens in our national drink. Changing fat for cancer is shortsighted. Some of us control our sugar intake and dont want stealth chemicals added instead. If you think I should avoid sugar in my childrens drink and replace it with a proven carcinogen then it really is april the first

We're told to recycle every tin can, banana skin and plastic bottle we use - yet there are thousands of empty buildings in London and the UK, tons of wasted materials and thousands of people with spare time and skills that could easily be used by local groups and organisations to tackle local problems. Problems such as: Homelessness Austerity cuts Rising prices Lack of creative space Closure of public spaces and venues Energy and food waste Social issues like community cohesion and access to facilities A lack of creative space In difficult circumstances a bit of space and time to create solutions can make all the difference. The Hive Dalston has proved that empty buildings and wasted resources can be brought together intelligently to help make a real difference to people's lives. Now we want to help create a system that encourages other groups to try the same solutions. This system encourages easier access to recycling really important things in our environment - like skills in the community and wasted spaces. At the Hive Dalston, in two and a half years, we've seen over 30,000 people, held numerous performance, environmental, political and cultural events and helped over 70 charities. We've enabled people to start businesses, learn new skill and even had an indoor skatepark! We held a yearly conference, featuring academics, politicians, planners, activists and local councillors - including the now Mayor of Hackney, Philip Glanville. Our landlord was so pleased with our progress he extended our tenancy four times! Watch a short video introduction to The Hive: https://youtu.be/yj1cGzoic2g The Hive is the blueprint for a system of reuse called "Holistic Urban Regeneration", that benefits councils, landlords, developers, businesses and communities together - discussed in more detail in Radio 4 Documentary, "A Waste of Space". Watch a short video of our recent conference and hustings where all the mayoral parties agree to support the petition: https://youtu.be/UqICZgyVrwc Please lend your voice to that support so that we can help create hundreds of Hives and similar projects in areas of need all over the country. The Respace Classification will help make this a reality. Sign our petition and join a growing movement to start to fix our broken Britain ourselves. For more detailed information about the classification - check our webpage: https://hivedalston.wordpress.com/the-respace-classification/ Thank you and please take a moment to sign ...

No two schools are alike. But the government doesn't seem to agree. It wants to rush through plans to force every single school in England to become an academy the type of school paid for by taxpayers, but run by businesses, sponsors or trusts. Many teachers and parents are already standing against the plans, saying that they're "a step towards privatisation", ignore local views, and could force some schools to close. One size does not fit all, and local parents and teachers should have a say in the future of our school. ------ If this isn't your local school, click here to sign your local petition, or start one if no-one else has yet: https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/start-a-campaign-for-your-school

After the recent boxing match between Chris Eubank Jr. and Nick Blackwell which resulted in Nick Blackwell's injury and induced coma I feel it is now time to look at consequences of this "Sport" but mainly in the involvement of junior boxing. My grandson age 8 attends a local boxing club which I am totally against but he and his parents do not feel the same way. They feel it gives him confidence and teaches the children discipline, I am aware the training is beneficial to them in certain ways but I also know first hand how the boys and girls can easily get hurt. On the one occasion I took my Grandson to the club I was only there for an hour and in that time two children received badly bloody noses, one child was crying in pain from a punch to the face and my Grandson was also nearly in tears from a hit to the face which resulted in a very bad bruise the next day. Although the children do wear head helmets and mouth guards these do not stop the punches to the face and head. The children are still growing and developing and I feel the damage they can receive to the face and head (even with helmets worn) could result in serious injuries and health problems. I do realize anyone can get injured in any sport but in other sports it is usually accidental injuries that occur, and it is not accidental in boxing.. Would you please make it compulsory that all junior boxing clubs have set rules whereby NO PUNCHES ARE ALLOWED TO BE AIMED AT THE FACE AND HEAD, whether it be whilst training or in a match. Many thanks, Elaine Brown I fear a child could be badly injured.

The Westway is the only cinema in Frome and has been a loved part of our entertainment and social life for decades. We would like to register the Westway as an asset of community value to ensure its primary use remains as a cinema and entertainment venue, for the benefit of current and future generations.

Because our language is the building blocks of our whole society. Words brought us out of the dredges of despair and enlightened our lives. This so called piece of lexical defecate needs to be stamped out.

Charities are in a privileged position and contributors expect the cash they volunteer to go to the charitable cause, not inflate the pay packet of administrators. If you limit the maximum pay to that of a Member of Parliament-which is still three times the average pay of an employed worker, people would feel that more of their contributions were spent on the cause they support.

The continued exclusion of overseas pensioners from up-rating adjustments to their State Pensions means that the real terms incomes of those affected falls year-on-year. Over time this leads to hardship, poverty, loss of independence and loneliness. Some individuals have been forced to return to the UK, away from loved ones, just to get by. This policy also creates a barrier to pensioner emigration from the UK, as the prospect of a frozen pension means that many feel they simply couldn't afford to do so. Given the countries involved are largely in the Commonwealth, those in British Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities are disproportionately impacted. There is no dispute about the entitlement to receive a State Pension overseas. All British pensioners who have made the required NI contributions during their working life are eligible. The issue at stake is whether that pension is universally uprated or not. At the moment, the government's policy is inconsistent and unfair, with half British pensioners abroad getting up-rated and the other half excluded. This creates crazy anomalies i.e. uprating in the USA, frozen pensions in Canada. It is time for reform to give all pensioners the full state pension they deserve, wherever they live, and to end this injustice once and for all. A positive, and easily affordable, step forward would be for the Government to include all pensioners in the 2.7% State Pension up-rating to be granted this year, by withdrawing the Social Security Benefits Up-rating Regulations 2016 currently before parliament. CASE STUDIES: Anne Puckridge Former college lecturer Anne Puckridge, now 91, lived and worked in the UK all her working life, paying mandatory NI contributions throughout this time. In 2002, aged 77 she finally retired and decided to move to Canada to be with her daughter and grandchildren who had moved to Calgary in the 1990s. Fourteen years on, Anne, who served as an intelligence officer in the Women’s Royal Navy in the Second World War, is struggling to live on the frozen £75.50 a week rate, she was entitled to when she moved abroad. Anne now feels that she will be forced to move back to Britain, because her pension will no longer cover day to day expenses and she is increasingly reliant on her daughter to get by. Anne says: “It’s the small things, and the injustice, that is really getting to me. I value my independence, but I can’t go on living on the breadline and I don’t want to inflict this on my family. As well as ever-increasingly poverty, I feel a sense of stress and shame, which is affecting my health.” Abhik Bonnerjee Abhik Bonnerjee, now 73, moved from India to Glasgow in 1960. He worked in the UK for 38 years, in shipbuilding, steel manufacture and the food industry. He owned an Indian restaurant for 6 years. Abhik returned to India in 1997 and reached the State Pension retirement age in 2008 when it was paid at £87.30 a week. Having made all the required NI contributions, if Abhik still in the UK today he would get £115.95, 28% more. The decline in his real terms income has left Abhik concerned about losing his home. He now feels he may have to move back to the UK. Abhik says: “The current situation makes me very, very angry. The government are scaremongering… [The Minister] says it will cost a lot of money but it is only a tiny percentage [of the pensions budget]. The government should be doing more, especially for Commonwealth countries and MPs can’t explain why they are not.” Rita Young Rita Young, 78, lives in Peterborough in the UK. She retired in 2002, aged 67, having enjoyed a long career in market research and as a community volunteer. Rita’s son moved to work in Australia some time ago and now has a family there. Since being widowed Rita has wanted to join her son and grandchildren in Australia, but has felt unable to do so due to the prospect of a frozen pension. As she gets older Rita finds daily life increasingly difficult, especially as she doesn’t have a family around who she can call on. She is deeply saddened that she is not able to be with her family during the later stages of her life, and feels that it is a complete injustice that had her son moved to a different country (e.g. France or the USA) she would be able join him with a full UK pension. Rita has spoken at the National Pensioners Convention about the issue and is very active in her community. Rita says: “I worked and contributed to my State Pension all my life. It doesn't seem fair that the government can just stop uprating it because I want to be with my family.” Geoff Amatt Geoff Amatt from Abergele in Wales reached 100 last year. Geoff contributed to the UK economy all his life and fought for his country during the Second World War. Geoff’s daughter Jean emigrated to Calgary, Canada more than 40 years ago, yet Geoff was unable to follow in the knowledge that his State Pension would be frozen at the rate of leaving the country. £29 per week at the time. As a result Geoff has been separated from his two grandchildren and two great grandchildren throughout his retirement. He has lived alone, largely dependent on the state for care, since his wife died seven years ago. Jean says: “Frozen pensions are unbelievably unfair. Canadians get their pension uprated in they live in the UK yet we don’t offer the same for those moving in the other direction. The government is keeping families apart and I worry about my father left all alone in Britain while we’re thousands of miles away.”

This centre is well used and is a vital resource for Arley and our surrounding villages. The Council want to close it due to government cuts and have over exaggerated the running and refurbishment costs of the centre. Please help us stop this vital part of our community being lost and never replaced.