Forty one years ago Michael Sobell had a vision. A vision of a hospice where people would be able to spend the last few days of their life with all the staff and facilities that were needed to hand, in an environment that was as pleasant as possible. An environment with beautiful plants growing indoors as well as in the peaceful, tranquil gardens, a calming aquarium, and an aviary where colourful, birds flit from branch to branch and sing. An environment far removed from the usual, purely functional, antiseptic hospital ward, and a level of 24 hour care far more effective than that which could ever be provided at home. In 1977 Michael Sobell was moved enough to donate £1 million of his own money so that his vision could be achieved. A building was erected which provided an environment that was as homely as possible, friendly, and even inspirational, but a building with an expected life span of only 20 years. It has been tended and cared for by a dedicated team of staff and volunteers for 41 years. But now here we are and the inevitable day has finally arrived and the building needs to be demolished, and yet there is no plan in place to allow this much appreciated facility to continue. “Care in the community” undoubtedly has its benefits, but the phrase often seems to be used in a cynical way to slash costs and justify closing facilities. But it is totally inappropriate and unacceptable for end-of-life care. We are in danger of letting down not only Michael Sobell, the inpatients, and their families, but also the trustees, staff, and volunteers who have tended and cared for the hospice all these years - not to mention all those who have sacrificed their time, and risen to many a challenge, to raise funds in support. We must not lose sight of Michael Sobell's vision; the NHS needs to demonstrate that it still has a heart and soul. Otherwise we will just end up where we started 41 years ago. We cannot allow hospices to be closed up and down the country. We must not short-change all those people for whom the cards of life played out badly. This issue should be of NATIONWIDE CONCEN, we cannot stand by and allow the humanity to be taken out of decisions that effect us all, no matter what the financial pressures might be. Now is the time to mobilise public opinion while the powers that control the NHS contemplate how best to use their £20bn “birthday present.” We need to petition East and North Herts NHS Trust and make our feelings known before a decision is made that wipes the Michael Sobell Hospice off the face of the earth for ever. The NHS would then lose the ability to provide the sort of care for end-of-life patients that the community works so hard to support. It stands to lose the services of the dedicated people that tend the gardens, and look after the aviary and aquarium, and all the people that strive to raise funds to provide all manner of small comforts for the inpatients. The NHS stands on the brink of losing the additional funding generated by the Charity that supports the hospice which allows its limited resources to go that little bit further. But most importantly we need to show the NHS the strength of public opinion before it makes an irreversible decision that will deny many of our loved-ones access to the final demonstration of our community’s love and compassion that is offered by our hospices. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxoOXs6i9gI ANY VIEWS EXPRESSED HERE ARE MY OWN AND OTHER PARTIES MAY WISH TO EXPRESS DIFFERENT VIEWS! The Board of Trustees of the Michael Sobell Hospice Charity have announced that they have set up an Advisory working group as part of their “listening and engagement” exercise. In order to help them in their desire to “spread a wide net to capture not only local views but also consider the national picture for palliative and end of life care’”, we have compiled a short survey. To complete it copy and paste the following link into your browser. https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2VX8ZMJ You are also able to find the SURVEY on the newly created Save My Safe Haven website: www.savemsh.co.uk where we will be posting the results. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE try and complete the SURVEY in time for the meeting the Michael Sobell House Charity has planned for later on in August. Any questions please email us at [email protected]

North Lanarkshire Council intend to close the plant nursery in September 2018. This would be a great loss for the whole of North Lanarkshire, and would mean putting plant containers, bedding and floral displays out to tender to the private sector. Also, this would put an end to job placements and horticulture in this area, as well as the loss of visitors in Coatbridge. The nursery has over 100 years of service within this authority, and is used by several vulnerable groups, who would no longer have access to the support they get here. We recommend the council steps in to stop this closure and keeps the complex open to the public and available to the community. More than 1300 people have already supported our campaign by signing the petition available in the cafe at Drumpellier Country Park, please sign this petition to show the strength of support in the community for retaining this service.

It is a much valued and popular focus in the shopping centre, for both food and outlet bargains. If the store closes it will mean a very long journey for many locals to access their nearest M&S at Torbay.

This is important because closing the toilets is another way to penalise the vulnerable in our communities. For example people with long term health conditions who need to use the toilets regularly will be prevented from entering Burton or Uttoxeter. Closure would also affect families with young children, the elderly, pregnant women and those with disabilities. This could have a negative impact on the confidence of those people affected and more widely to Burton's economy if people feel they can not enter Burton because of the lack of toilets.

School Librarians are a critical part of any school’s professional staff. Their skills are needed now more than ever. With vast online resources there is no shortage of sources of information. However, the more important skill is now understanding and evaluating these sources. Pupils need to learn how to sort out fact from fake. This decision will prevent pupils from reaching their full potential. Librarians have professional skills that support children of all abilities to learn. Replacing essential staff with the unpaid labour of pupils is an absolute disgrace. Scottish Borders Council should hang their heads in shame. Follow the story: Pressure grows on education officials over school library plans http://www.bordertelegraph.com/news/16272089.Pressure_grows_on_education_officials_over_school_library_plans/ Scottish Borders Council slammed for using pupils as library staff says it will teach them leadership http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/16271266.Scots_council_slammed_for_using_pupils_as_library_staff_says_it_will_teach_them_leadership/ Playground pressure mounts on council to reverse school library cuts https://www.peeblesshirenews.com/news/17233450.playground-pressure-mounts-on-council-to-reverse-school-library-cuts/

Be Free Young Carers has for many years offered a desperately needed service for the hundreds of Young Carers in our community. A study in 2017 estimated there were over 700,000 young carers across the UK, providing 1 to 1 care for sick family members, mostly unpaid and unsupported. Be Free Young Carers has offered a support and guidance service for the hundreds of carers in Didcot and South Oxfordshire for many years, offering mentoring, much needed respite, learning support and guidance. There are currently over 500 young carers this charity supports in our county alone ! My own daughter Courtney Hughes BCAv was a registered young carer for me after I had a stroke. Be Free Young Carers offered her a shoulder to cry on, guidance and support whilst undertaking her exams and many day trips out, to allow her to have some time for her. Sadly due to the increase in young carers and a decline in funding with great sadness they have announced they simply cannot continue to run, due to huge drop in donations. The charity relies on donations alone and is not funded by the Government or local authorities. PLEASE SIGN AND MAKE SOME NOISE TO KEEP THIS VITAL CHARITY GOING.... Please write to your MP, Councillors, local parties anyone with any stature to keep the charity going... Thank you

After a recent spate of crimes on Castle Vale it is clear that the loss of a viable police presence due to national funding cuts is making our community an unsafe place to live.

East Sussex County Council currently runs some high quality after school and holiday play schemes for 5-19 year old children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND). The clubs are due to have their funding reduced and then completely removed over the next 2 years, leaving these children without the support they need. I am working with Jane, a mum of three autistic children, that has Cancer. She has had a breakdown and also lost the use of her left arm. She needs this support to continue caring for her children. She has tried to request foster care for her children out of desperation, but there are no foster carers available. Like many of the children who use the after school clubs service, her children have been refused a social care assessment by the Local Authority - and have been offered these clubs as an alternative. If Jane loses this respite she does not know how she will cope. These cuts will put these families in crisis. The schools are unable to finance these clubs, so it is likely the services will be restricted and many will be closed. There is no "wider market to be explored", there is no other place these children will be safe, or that has space to take them. We believe that in making this cut the Local Authority is breaching its duty of care to vulnerable families. We want to ensure these clubs continue to support these vulnerable families and the local authority upholds its duty of care to disabled children under The Children’s Act 1989 and S2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970.

The reduction in opening hours has led to very long queues and waiting times. It is punishing those people who are trying to recycle and dispose of household waste responsibly. Making it more difficult to use the recycling centre will undoubtedly worsen the existing problem of fly tipping in the area.

Seven Hills pool has only been open for 5 years & is unique in its offering, catering for the children of Sheffield & surrounding areas who have SEN needs. Their hydropool is one of few in the area & very important to the children that use it, helping with movement & pain relief. The pool also offers swimming lessons to children locally & is well used. Following talks with the local council, Seven Hills school propose to close this important facility to replace it with a gym which would be of very little use to the children. They state they cannot afford to keep the pool even though the swim school have offered to contribute financially & make up any difference. Please help us save our swimming pool.

The board of the Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, which manages Pinderfields, Dewsbury and Pontefract Hospitals, approved plans to create a 'Wholly Owned Subsidiary;' effectively a private company owned by the Trust. Essentially, staff and services currently provided in-house such as, Facilities and Estates, will be 'outsourced' to this new arms-length company in a bid to save money. The Trust claims that money will be saved by exploiting a tax loophole. However, the Trusts CEO has given no guarantees that wages, conditions and pensions of current NHS staff will not be affected and it seems likely that the main savings will come from employing new staff on non-NHS terms and conditions with no access to the NHS Pension Scheme, creating a two-tier workforce. This is a form of backdoor privatisation that will have direct consequences on health workers and could potentially affect patient care and service delivery. Why is it that honest, hard-working people, always seem to pay the price? NHS Staff are valued members of our community, they are our neighbours, our friends and our colleagues, who dedicate their lives to helping others. After years of increased workloads and understaffing due to Austerity and nurses using foodbanks due to the pay cap, this latest threat to jobs is their 'reward'. The Mid Yorkshire Unison Health Branch is due to ballot their members for Industrial Action in a bid to protect jobs. The Wakefield Constituency Labour Party believe NHS Workers deserve better than this, especially at a time where there is a need for higher wages and better conditions. We will be standing with Unison members in this fight and we would like to call on your support in opposing these plans.

The Government has for some time been engaged in closing down Fine Art departments all over England in favour of Computer Studies, Maths and Science subjects. Whilst major colleges; the Royal College of Arts, Slade, Royal Academy schools and Goldsmiths are safe at the moment, gradually what is happening is that the feed from the small schools are being cut off too. Also secondary and grammar schools are being affected by cuts in their Art departments. In any period of recession Governments repeatedly cut the Arts as a means of making savings overlooking the fact the Arts (film, theatre, music, books, ballet etc.) produce for the economy £92 billion a year, bigger than oil, gas, life sciences, automotive, and aeronautics combined. This is at a time when our economic growth is of the utmost importance. Furthermore it would appear that in spite of all the troubles and disagreements, countries such as Russia, America, France, Germany, Australia, China and Japan are all sponsoring their Art talents in order that their future generations will benefit. A real danger for the future would be that Arts will become the domain of the rich thus ruling out at least 50% of the world’s real talent. Past history underlines the fact that all Governments ensure us that the Arts are ‘safe’ in their hands, only to make further cuts. Our country needs further investment in the Arts to benefit our future generations, which in turn will help increase our economies revenue.