14th-18th Dec 2015: over 350 individuals came to Loaves and Fishes Charity in East Kilbride for food for their family. They were desperate - mothers crying because they had nothing for their children to eat. Some were walking 3-4 miles with children in the rain. If it's happening in E.K. then it's happening in other areas. We get constant cries for help from social work & welfare depts because they can't help them. Their only crime is being poor. At least during World War 2 our mothers payed for their food. 2016 they come to food banks because they have no money

The dire state these animals live in is shocking and appalling. Please help to save their lives from starvation and isolation. They are kept under cruel and inhumane conditions. https://www.rt.com/news/329620-armenia-zoo-abandoned-animals/

Because one doesn't want to feel we are wasting our GP's time. And that they are really listening to each person and dealing with their medical problems appropriately.

In 2013 the homeless population in Stockport was around 124; a year later this increased rapidly and as of 2014 there are now over 340 (according to Manchester evening news). Homelessness can happen to anyone; it is important that in hard times such as these that we remember those which are less fortunate than ourselves. We need to remember that there are 340+ people, in our own town, who may be going without a warm meal or a safe place to spend the night. Imagine spending a night in an ally way, an underpass or even a cave... Maybe you wouldn't mind for a night but a month? A year? This is the harsh reality that people have to deal with. Currently there are charities in Stockport that aim to help the homeless, however these depend solely on public donations. The sad truth is that this is simply not enough... This is where this campaign comes in, if together we can get enough votes to raise awareness of this issue perhaps we may be able to get government funding for some of these charities.

We are a tolerant and humane and very fortunate society and it is important for us to show human compassion, kindness, generosity and practical help to our less fortunate neighbours. We need to do more faster than we are at present. The Government's pledges and time scale do not match the public mood. We want to help, not to feel powerless and overwhelmed by the human misery we see on our TV screens daily. We have the ability, the will and the means to make it happen so let us just do it. David Cameron announced we’ll welcome 20,000 more Syrian refugees. But there’s a catch. This will take 5 years, leaving thousands of refugees in limbo. It’s now up to us to show that in cities, towns and villages all across the country we’re ready to welcome people now. 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.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

Families especially those with small children in nappies cannot possibly go two weeks without overfilling a smaller General waste bin. There will be an increase in vermin as people will have bags of rubbish that won't fit in the bins in their gardens. Fly tipping will increase as people will just dump additional waste. Single person or couples only households would probably embrace having a smaller General waste bin, but for families it is just not a viable option.

The Landfill Communities Fund is at risk. The Landfill Tax A landfill tax was introduced in 1996 and has been very successful in reducing the amount of waste we send to landfill. It has been a big help in driving more recycling. The tax is paid by the waste companies who have contracts with local authorities and businesses. These Landfill Operators pay £84 per tonne of waste they deposit in the ground. And HM Treasury receives around £1.3 billion in tax revenues. The Landfill Communities Fund Most brilliantly of all, Landfill Operators can choose to re-direct part of their tax bill to local communities near landfill sites rather than paying it to the Treasury. In 2016-17 they can divert 90p of every £25 of tax they owe; so long as £1 goes to a community project. The local community normally fundraises for the missing 10p in every pound. To date, most Operators have jumped at the chance to do this and since 1996 local communities near landfill sites have been able to invest over £1.4 billion in 51,000 projects. These projects have had an amazing impact on Churches and Community groups: from building extensions to Churches, to providing resources to start-up play groups, to funding community wildlife projects, etc. there is no doubt that both our Churches and local communities are richer for the help they have received. HOWEVER the scheme is under threat. Urgent action is required to ensure local community projects don’t lose £39 million every year. The Threat The Government is proposing to change the legislation so that Community Groups are no longer allowed to pay the missing 10p. Instead only Landfill Operators would be allowed to pay this. This may seem a small detail but it would in fact close down the scheme as we know it. This is because the scheme is a voluntary one – and the cost to a Landfill Operator of having to find the 10p match funding would be significant. One major operator estimates this would amount to it having to find £500,000 of additional money each year. As a result, nearly all the main landfill operators have said they will not be able to find such money. They would therefore stop using the system of tax credits. Yet Churches and local community groups have found this missing 10p in the pound time and time again. Finding match funding has never been a barrier to spending from the Landfill Communities Fund - in fact it is already oversubscribed at least twofold. So, for no good reason, Churches and Community groups stand to lose millions (£39m in 2016-17 to be precise). And the country stands to lose a great ‘polluter pays’ scheme that is one of the biggest sources of funding for community projects. More Background In light of the economic conditions, the Treasury has been keen to ensure that the Landfill Community Fund is spent as quickly as possible - to pump money in to the economy. The Treasury therefore challenged Landfill Community Fund bodies to reduce the amount of grant funds they were holding in their banks. Most funders met the challenge, with a minority failing to largely because of funds committed for longer term projects not yet being released. But despite their efforts the Treasury’s overall spending target was not met. The Treasury was not happy and so last year HMRC ran a consultation asking for ideas for increasing the speed of spending. Some of respondents to the 2015 consultation highlighted the regulatory bureaucracy around the 10p for every pound they were finding. Others said it would be great not to have to fundraise for this 10p at all. No-one said they would prefer nothing to a 90% grant for their project. Yet these consultation responses are being used by the Treasury to justify the new proposals - proposals which would all but close down the scheme. How you can help Write to your local M.P. expressing your concern about the potential loss of the Landfill Communities Fund, asking your M.P. to raise this matter with the Exchequer Secretary of the Treasury, Damian Hinds M.P. urging him to allow local communities to continue to cover the 10% third party contribution. or Respond to the Treasury consultation on the statutory instrument, as proposed by HMRC and required to implement the changes. See https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-legislation-the-landfill-tax-amendment-regulations-2016. The deadline is 3 February 2016. The clauses in the statutory instrument that related to this change that should be removed are – clauses 6,8(a,bii,biii,c,&d), 9 and 10.

Because some people don't want to have a romantic relationship but still have a close bond with a person.

Queen Square is one of the finest Georgian Squares in Europe and was restored with the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2007. The idea was to re-establish “peace and breathing space” in this part of the city allowing us, our children and visitors to enjoy the tranquility, nature and freedom of the park. Since 2008 Bristol City Council have developed a programme of events and activities which now fully occupy the square from March through to late October. These events create a negative impact on the square, with increased risk to the park landscape and it’s heritage features. These events are also contrary to the original standards agreed with the Heritage Lottery Fund. The square now can only be used as a green park during the winter months effectively denying children, all Bristolians and visitors use of the park unless they are prepared to pay for the privilege during spring, summer and autumn. Erection and dismantling of these events turns the Georgian Square into a construction site. Restricting and preventing access to customers and employees of businesses on the square and neighbouring streets. Residents’ lives are blighted not only by the chaos and noise caused during the construction but also by noise & disturbance created by the events which continue until the early hours. We the Friends of Queen Square are asking Bristol City Council to reduce the number of events and restore Queen Square to a safe, quiet and peaceful haven that all Bristolians, local residents, businesses and visitors can enjoy throughout the year. We need YOUR SUPPORT! Please sign this petition and show local and wider community support for this initiative.

If you are not aware, the decision has been made to remove the second fire engine and retained Firefighters from Oakham Fire Station on the 31/03/16. Removing the second fire engine and retained Firefighters from Oakham Fire Station will mean slower response times to emergencies, which will have a significant impact, putting life and property at greater risk in Rutland and surrounding areas. There is also a very high likelihood of the Heavy Rescue Unit (HRU) also crewed by Oakham retained Firefighters and used for incidents involving larger vehicles also being removed. You may be aware that Uppingham are now recruiting retained Firefighters…..! This is because they are under crewed and struggle to keep their fire engine “on the run” (available for calls). If the second fire engine at Oakham is removed, the fire engine at Uppingham in most cases will be the fire engine to cover Oakham when the first fire engine (Oakham’s first fire engine) is on a call. When Uppingham are not available it could be a fire engine from Melton or Leicester covering. We all understand that money has to be saved, but removing front line services in not the way. We all pay our council tax with a proportion of it going to Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Combined Fire Authority (check your council tax demand notice for details). We do not mind paying this as we all feel that if we are unlucky enough to be involved in an accident or a fire, with rapid response from the fire service hopefully the outcome will not be too severe. If the removal of the second fire engine goes ahead leaving a greatly reduced service, putting life and property at greater risk in Rutland and surrounding areas, do you think we will then be getting a discount in our council tax to reflect the change…? I doubt this very much, so we would be paying the same for a greatly reduced service. We cannot let this happen, we need to keep all the people of Rutland and surrounding areas as safe as possible and respond to emergencies as quick as possible. This will be your last chance to make your opinion count; I fear that if the second fire engine is removed there will be no chance of it returning. Please sign the petition.

This is a subject close to the hearts of many in Pembrokeshire. Many of us have had seriously unwell children who have had to travel over an hour to the closest hospital. This puts tremendous strain on us and our family's. My name is Jasmine McGinley, and two of my children were born prematurely. One at 27 weeks and one at 30. Both of my children were saved by our local hospital. Freddie, born at 27 weeks was the last baby born in our SCBU before the changes came into effect. If he was born only 3 days later he would of died after birth as he wouldn't of made the hour long journey. My other son, is now traumatised due to being away from me and his father for so long. This put tremendous strain on me and my family. If we could have been in a hospital only 20 minutes away he could of been with me. Everyday, we had to make a 3 hour round trip to see our son. This is not only stressful but also adds a huge financial strain. Shortly after being discharged from hospital Daisy, born at 30 weeks she was admitted into hospital with hypothermia, a virus and chest infection. Due to the services being taken away from us here in Pembrokeshire the local hospital did not have the equipment to help my tiny baby. A nurse stood by her side for 6 hours tickling and shaking her to stimulate her to breath and her heart to stop dropping because of the lack of equipment. This continued for 6 hours due to not having a local ambulance to transfer babies and sick children. The closest ambulance that can do so is located in Bristol. This ambulance covers from Ceredigion in west Wales to Oxfordshire. Twice within a week this ambulance had to make the long journey to collect Daisy. This is unacceptable as there is a local hospital that if we didn't face these changes she could of been treated in. We spent Christmas away from our other children due to being an hour and a half away. That in itself was heartbreaking. There are to many heartbreaking stories from our local people due to the services being cut. These changes are unacceptable and we need our services back. Please sign and support this petition to help save our babies and children. Thank you.

This is a subject close to the hearts of many in Pembrokeshire. Many of us have had seriously unwell children who have had to travel over an hour to the closest hospital. This puts tremendous strain on us and our family's. My name is Jasmine McGinley, and two of my children were born prematurely. One at 27 weeks and one at 30. Both of my children were saved by our local hospital. Freddie, born at 27 weeks was the last baby born in our SCBU before the changes came into effect. If he was born only 3 days later he would of died after birth as he wouldn't of made the hour long journey. My other son, is now traumatised due to being away from me and his father for so long. This put tramedous strain on me and my family. If we could of been in a hospital only 20 minutes away he could of been with me. Everyday, we had to make a 3 hour round trip to see our son. This is not only stressful but also adds a huge financial strain. Shortly after being discharged from hopsital Daisy, born at 30 weeks she was admitted into hospital with hypothermia, a virus and chest infection. Due to the services being taken away from us here in Pembrokeshire the local hospital did not have the equipment to help my tiny baby. A nurse stood by her side for 6 hours tickling and shaking her to stimulate her to breath and her heart to stop dropping because of the lack of equipment. This continued for 6 hours due to not having a local ambulance to transfer babies and sick children. The closest ambulance that can do so is located in Bristol. This ambulance covers from Ceredigion in west Wales to Oxfordshire. Twice within a week this ambulance had to make the long journey to collect Daisy. This is unacceptable as there is a local hospital that if we didn't face these changes she could of been treated in. We spent Christmas away from our other children due to being an hour and a half away. That in itself was heartbreaking. There are to many heartbreaking stories from our local people due to the services being cut. These changes are unacceptable and we need our services back. Please sign and support this petition to help save our babies and children. Thank you.