For people in one of the wealthiest societies that has ever existed to be sleeping in the open in winter is inhumane. It's also inexcusable when we have so many empty buildings.

It is simply important because no one should sleep rough at any time of the year let alone Christmas, when others are spending time with their loved ones, and during the Winter, when conditions can get bitterly cold. This move would be important because it would provide respite for those homeless people who may have endured months and years of sleeping rough. It would provide them with somewhere warm to stay, somewhere where they can be in the company of others over Christmas/Winter time and most importantly, they would be safe from outside elements, which are no good for the healthiest of people to endure for a long period of time, let alone someone who is homeless. It is our duty, as human beings, to look after other human beings, especially in times of need. Helping others is something we pride ourselves on; we see acts of kindness all over the world, why can't we do the same for the poorest in the city of Leeds? Please, let's use buildings that are no longer in use to good effect and show that the city of Leeds is a compassionate place. A move like this can change public perception of homelessness overnight and we can then move on to getting homeless people off the streets and into homes, into work and living a happy healthy life in society.

I cannot imagine sleeping rough in driving, biting winds, snow, ice and winter rain. It's inhumane. It's also inexcusable when we have so many empty buildings. I'm not asking for permanent shelters; just somewhere warm and dry for our homeless to sleep in winter. Please sign this petition. Tag the friends you feel would like to see this. Thank you so much. Charities are doing the best they can, with limited resources and funding cuts. There are many empty buildings that can be offered, purely for winter shelter. Maybe these places can also then be used to facilitate targeted help to those in need of it - for support, help with housing, health care, advice and general care. Charities' resources could be used for support rather than spending their resources on providing the actual shelters. This is a necessary resource and if we pull together we have more than a great chance of being an influence.

Christopher Clinton Wilkinson – who was said to be sleeping in the woodland surrounding a hospital because it was the only place he felt safe – was hauled before Doncaster magistrates. Representatives from Doncaster-based charity The M25 Housing and Support Group said using anti-social behaviour legislation to criminalise people sleeping rough was a ‘significant concern’. Wilkinson, aged 40, was given an absolute discharge after pleading guilty to failing to comply with a Community Protection Notice on October 5 – but told the offence would stay on his record. Prosecuting at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court, David Sheppard said it was the second time Wilkinson had been found sleeping in the grounds of St Catherine’s Hospital in Tickhill Road, Balby, after struggling to find accommodation. Mitigating, James Gray said: “His situation is an unfortunate one. “He suffers from mental health problems and is clearly out of the care of mental health services at the minute and not receiving any medication. “He told the police he felt safer being in the grounds of the hospital sleeping rough than anywhere else. “He was in his sleeping bag when police woke him up.” Mr Gray said Wilkinson had struggled to find accommodation but was hoping to receive help from Doncaster Council and M25. Community Protection Notices and Orders are issued under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act – legislation introduced last year to stop ongoing environmental anti-social behaviour. Specialist housing advisor Vince Bell of M25 said: “It is of significant concern that the police and local authority are using what can only be described as Dickensian measures to tackle rough sleeping in Doncaster. “Using anti-social behaviour legislation to address issues such as rough sleeping is not going to help but will hinder their situation. “Dragging a vulnerable rough sleeper in front of the courts to give them a criminal record serves only to exacerbate their situation. “This would appear to be a new mindset which undermines all the hard work M25 has done to dispel myths and convince communities that rough sleepers are not to be feared and can be supported to change their lives.” Mr Bell said the police should be offering support to those who find themselves sleeping rough rather than criminalising them. He added: “Considering the person in question suffered with mental health issues and was sleeping in the woods within the hospital grounds because it felt safe, then it would appear we have lost all sight of humanity and good sense. “If you judge a society by the way it treats its most vulnerable then I believe we have failed in this instance.” http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/news/crime/doncaster-man-prosecuted-for-sleeping-rough-1-7513585 and.. Dr Jane Martin, Local Government Ombudsman, said: “I am concerned that a vulnerable young girl, who has repeatedly asked for help from Doncaster council, has been told at every turn that she is ‘not their responsibility’. “The law is clear on this, a child does not have to be ‘ordinarily resident’ in a council’s area – and Doncaster council should have assessed the girl’s situation when she came to them and presented as homeless. “I hope this case reminds other councils of their legal position when considering children in need who are from outside their area.” http://www.lgo.org.uk/news/2014/mar/homeless-teen-turned-away-doncaster-social-workers-when-she-turned-help/ From tme to time people will need help. Not prosecution or avoidance of the responsibility to help.

Increasing numbers of us have no option but to rent from a private landlord. That shouldn’t stop us having a place we can call home. Landlords have the legal right to evict tenants with only two months’ warning and without giving a reason. Not all landlords exercise that right, but a family has no idea if their landlord will until they get the eviction notice – and there is nothing they can do about it. They might have been living in their home for twenty or more years, like Helen and Jason, a teacher and gardener who live with their two teenage daughters as valued members of their south London community. They have paid rent to their landlord for all that time and now face a no-fault eviction with no prospect of any security in the place they move to. This imbalance of power is severely disrupting the lives of thousands of families and playing havoc with the education of increasing numbers of children. It’s time the law started protecting tenants from the whims of unscrupulous landlords. Sometimes landlords need to take back their property, either to carry out refurbishment, or to sell it if they are unable to keep their business viable. In such cases, the landlord should be required to help rehouse the tenant, including a longer period of notice than two months. But landlords don’t even need to use the eviction process to force tenants to move. They can just raise the rent to an exorbitant level. The government needs to protect tenants from this as well, and should therefore bar landlords from raising the rent by more than inflation. There are 11 million private renters in England – and counting. None of them should have the rug pulled from under them.

To plead to Bradford Council to open its empty buildings to the homeless in winter. I have slept on the streets myself, in order to raise money to help local churches to do this. While they provide a fantastic service, they only help a fraction of our homeless - there just isn't the room. I cannot imagine sleeping rough in driving, biting winds, snow, ice and winter rain. It's inhumane. It's also inexcusable when we have so many empty buildings. I'm not asking for permanent shelters; just somewhere warm and dry for our homeless to sleep in winter. Please sign this petition. Tag the friends you feel would like to see this. Thank you so much. Charities are doing the best they can, with limited resources and funding cuts. There are many empty buildings that can be offered, purely for winter shelter. Maybe these places can also then be used to facilitate targeted help to those in need of it - for support, help with housing, health care, advice and general care. Charities' resources could be used for support rather than spending their resources on providing the actual shelters. This is a necessary resource and if we pull together en masse we have more than a great chance of being an influence.

Andrew and Claire Stoddart have been farming in East Lothian for 22 years. During this time they have invested heavily in infrastructure and buildings on their farm at Colstoun Mains, creating a profitable and well-managed business. The Stoddart family are an integral part of the community. Andrew and Claire are well liked, and their 3 children go to the local school, as do the 4 children of their employees. The Stoddarts have been asked to leave the farm by the end of November. Once evicted, the Stoddart family will be forced to move from the local area, laying off their two employees, and taking their children away from school and friends. They are to be given very little recompense for the investments they have made over their lifetime, leaving them both homeless and unable to buy a farm elsewhere. I urge you all to show your support by signing this petition to ask the Scottish Government to intervene and stop the forced eviction of the Stoddart family. I address this petition to Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland, and Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian. Some of the issues around this eviction are highlighted in the channel 4 news item below. You can see what Andrew Stoddart has to say at 6:33 minutes. https://youtu.be/E-6DzKzmFtA Thank you for your support.

We need support in our bid to stop a major redevelopment and Save North Street Mews! Developers HighLaw Ltd claim the space is "underused", "isolated" and in need of "enhancing" with expensive townhouses and 'hot-desk' commercial office space. All 21 units have been fully occupied for the last 20 years, allowing careers to be made, families to be supported and a strong community to be built. HighLaw Ltd have made absolutely no offers or assurances to any existing tenants to be included in the future development or to be supported in relocation. They refuse to acknowledge that they will in fact be kicking out 21 small businesses and their staff, leading to numerous potential job losses and adverse affects on their families. The mews is an asset to the local community which will be lost in the prospect of a redevelopment that will serve the interests of profit, those wealthy enough to buy luxury houses, and large companies who can afford commercial desk space. This development is not a done deal - YET! A planning application will be made shortly and we must take urgent action to garner as much support from the local community and beyond to try and stop this process and Save North Street Mews. You can help us by adding your voice to this petition and spreading the word! Please join our Facebook group at facebook.com/wearenorthstreetmews for more information, videos and photos to see what we create at the mews. Thanks from Ali and the whole North Street Mews community!

There is so much unused space in Birmingham. Just think how many square foot becomes empty and unused at night; all our high rise offices, all of our shops, all of our businesses, and now grand central. At the same time, tens (if not hundreds given the recent explosion we've seen of people sleeping rough in Birmingham) of people have to sleep outside; exposed, cold and often in fear of abuse. Let's stretch out a hand and do a simple thing, which may have a profound impact. Let's utilise our space and create an area in Grand Central where there are beds available to those sleeping on the streets. Let's break down barriers in society, and truly show that we care.

In the last couple of years, through no fault of my own, l became homeless. I am one of the lucky ones in the sense that l have a piece of land. I moved onto it because l had nowhere else to go. During the last 18 months l have been threatened with eviction, surveillance and have suffered abusive and intimidating behaviour from the enforcement officer involved. Plus complaints from various people who, not only have all they need, but also did not even bother to find out anything about me or my situation. Although l have now been given a council bedsit this is shocking and absurd. Someone else who really needed it could have benefited from it if l had been allowed to stay on my field. I am not disturbing anyone and my shepherds hut cannot be seen as it is tucked away behind trees. We have a huge housing problem in this country and the number of homeless people is escalating out of control. While l fully appreciate that, as the housing officer said 'we cannot have the countryside littered with caravans' (who said anything about caravans??), the countryside is already 'littered' with some truly monstrous buildings and, of course if it suits the council they will grant planning for anything. If the planning laws were relaxed and councils worked WITH people instead of AGAINST them, this 'littering' should and can be avoided. Planning restrictions have now been lifted for agricultural barns, but this has meant such an increase in price that most people can't afford to buy them. Once again it is the few rich elite who can. I know many people who want to live on their own piece of land but are unable to do so. This doesn't mean to say that they are unwilling to pay their council tax, as some people are so quick to judge that they are; they are 'normal', resourceful people just wanting a slightly different way of life. What's so wrong with that? Please sign this petition to lobby Brandon Lewis and his colleagues to change planning law to allow people to live on a piece of land if they choose to do so. Thank you.

London and Quadrent over the years have gone from being a caring organisation providing social accommodation to those in need. It seems however that in recent years they have become very much about making profit, investing in redevelopment homes that are part buy/rent. They have been very underhand and lied on several occasions to long term residents of the small estate in Sydenham SE26 and seem to be railroading this development through Lewisham Council.

Aylan, the toddler who drowned fleeing Syria, was just three years old. His town was under attack by Isis. His five year old brother and his mum also died trying to reach safety. Yet our prime minister said ‘we won't take any more refugees’. He thinks that most of us don't care. But 38 Degrees members do care. We don't want Britain to be the kind of country that turns its back as people drown in their desperation to flee places like Syria. So let's stand up for Britain's long tradition of helping refugees fleeing war. Let's show the Prime Minister that we, the people of the UK, are proud to do our part and provide refuge to people in their hour of need. Please sign and share, or start your own petition for your town or city here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/refugees-welcome