The effects of the new economic breakdown are already being felt throughout the country, and students are not exempt from it. As businesses and workplaces are getting shut down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, several students will no longer be able to pay the rents for their stay at the University. Likewise, on behalf of several of my University colleagues, I am asking you to pass a law for Universities to stop charging students living on their campuses for rent until the pandemic crisis ends. There is another petition that demands landlords off campus to stop charging for rent, so this petition is directed at Universities' on-campus accommodation policies. I firmly believe that all categories of society members need help in these difficult times, and that the United Kingdom should follow the example of other countries; particularly the one of France, where all accommodation rents are to be suspended during the crisis. As a Biomedical Science student in his final undergraduate year, I am significantly concerned about the future number of cases throughout the country, and several people will very likely require not just treatment, but also a great amount of psychological and emotional support, as people of all ages have already been exposed to the pathogen. Hence, I kindly ask you for the appropriate support so that students will not be exposed to financial hardships and suffer even more, besides their profound anxiety and uncertainty, not just about the lives of their loved ones, but about their lives as well. Moreover, I'm asking you to pressurize all UK Universities with accommodation campuses to permit students with existing health conditions to break their contracts, as there are many of them who are currently sharing flats with as many as 15 other colleagues. They need to be isolated during the crisis, so that their lives will not be put at risk.

Two years after the Windrush Scandal, the independent report commissioned into the appalling failings that took place has finally been published. But with so much going on, we can’t let the lessons go unnoticed. The Home Office can no longer ignore the true scale of the scandal and its impact on people - from being made homeless or unemployed to being denied access to the NHS or unfairly deported. The Home Office must urgently stop any racial discrimination and to learn from the lessons published, so this never happens again. This includes full implementation of all recommendations - with an action plan to do this quickly, appointing an independent group to review progress, and doing more to support survivors now. You can read the full report here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/windrush-lessons-learned-review

It is important because the whole country is in this together and the NHS and key workers are the forefront of the fight to stop the pandemic. They are also people too with families, children, elderly relatives to support. This would show support to them as well as help them at this critical time as the NHS cannot shut its doors, so please be kind.

As of the 19th of March, South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture’s casual workers have been told there’s no more work for them within leisure and culture and those on low hour contracts will have their hours drastically cut as many of them work far beyond their contracted hours. This will mean we may have to go for anywhere up to twelve weeks with no pay, meaning many of us won’t be able to pay our unavoidable bills such as rent and food. This is a disgrace. It shows that the trust shows little to no regard for their staff, who often work long shifts for the benefit of their centre. We have been told that we can work on a casual basis for the NHS and social care during this time, provided we replied to an email within a time frame that was less than a day, however we have not been informed as to whether those with underlying health conditions will be able to carry out this work or what will happen to those who miss the deadline. While we would be more than happy to help our communities in this way, we will be switching us from one precarious situation to another. We have not been told how often we will be able to work, nor whether we will have to pay for any additional travel ourselves. On top of this not all casual staff received the email notifying them of the opportunity to support our NHS.

We are students living at the University of London residence halls. Under the current pressure of COVID-19, the University of London is now considering to consolidate all remaining residents into one of the Intercollegiate Halls, so that the University can continue to provide core services. This request is against the UK Government's advice about reducing all but essential travel. It will put all resident's health at risk for the sake of continuing to provide so-called "core services." No one can guarantee every resident is healthy. Especially for COVID-19, the asymptomatic infection cases have been reported all over the world. Also, a crowded environment will accelerate the speed ​​of infection, as indicated in the case of Diamond Princess in Japan. It's every student's right to stay where he/she wishes to be in the face of this unprecedented global crisis. And the University should be here to support us rather than making new troubles. We consider the University's sudden advice about consolidating students together as irresponsibility and can't see any respect from the University towards the tenant agreements we sign with them. We urge the University of London stopping the consolidating action at once!!!

It has been an ongoing issue for some time that the MusicLicence (PRS/PPL) charging basis for charitable village halls is unfair, because it is calculated on the gross income of the charity, even though most village halls only have music occasionally (e.g. dance classes or a wedding hire). The fee basis is understandable for music venues or theatre, but not for village halls, where it represents a disproportionate amount of their total expenses . With many village halls badly affected by cancelled hirings because of the coronavirus problem, the Government should come to the aid of village halls by asking PRS/PPL to waive the fee immediately, while they sort out a fairer fee basis for the future.

In the very near future, thousands of private renters across Northern Ireland will face huge reductions in their income and be unable to pay their rent. Being evicted during the Covid-19 crisis will mean being unable to stay safe and healthy - and not spread the virus. The government has announced "mortgage holidays" for landlords and home-owners and cities in the US including New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco have already taken action to stop evictions. Now it's time to give renters in Northern Ireland the protections they need to keep their homes during the coronavirus crisis.

People are unable to work due to COVID-19. Pregnant women, asthmatics and the elderly are being asked to self isolate for 12 weeks. This is going to cause major debt and homelessness nationally. If landlords cant afford mortgages how are tenants supposed to be able to afford rent, which is at a higher cost than the mortgage?

On March 18, the government announced a 3-month ban on evictions, thanks to the efforts of 38 Degrees members, London Renters Union and the renters movement. However, the legislation that the government announced is weak, meaning thousands of people struggling to pay rent could still be chucked out of their homes in just three months. Some evictions are still taking place. The government has also so far failed to take action to suspend rent payments. No one should have to pay rent or get in to debt to their landlord during this crisis. This is a public health issue. If renters have to continue to earn large sums of money to pay rent, they will be unable to stay at home or look after those around them after the end of the current lockdown. Without action to suspend rent payments, large numbers of renters are now entering into debt to their landlord. Tens of thousands of people will be left trying to rebuild their lives while in huge amounts of debt. There will be an evictions crisis. People who already face the worst impacts of the housing crisis are likely to face some of the worst impacts of Coronavirus. The poorest and most vulnerable will be hardest hit. Homeless people need safe and secure homes to keep healthy. There are 216,000 empty homes across the UK. - these should be made available to homeless people to live in.

Thousands of young people every year work for months on end for no pay to gain some work experience to help get a job. Many others – people from poorer backgrounds - lose out because they can’t afford to live without a wage and find themselves blocked from getting the experience needed for good entry-level jobs. . Now MP Alex Cunningham is bidding to change all that and the Second Reading of his Unpaid Work Experience Bill will take place on 27th March. The Bill would ban unpaid work experience that lasts longer than four weeks. The Bill doesn’t ban work experience – it just stops employers getting away with not paying their staff. In 2018 it was found that the average unpaid internship costs the person about £1100 in London just to live – meaning they are essentially paying for getting experience that most people cannot afford. If we are to make the race fair, we need to ensure that everybody starts from the same starting position. Sign the petition now to show your support for the Bill that ensures work opportunities aren’t open just to those who can afford to work for free.

In light of Government advice to minimise the scale and spread of coronavirus many people, especially freelancers, self-employed people and people on lower incomes will be left with little to no money for the foreseeable future. The Government must adopt emergency measures right now to support people across the country, by providing temporary universal basic income so we all have enough money to survive. Universal basic income is a sum of money given to everyone to help pay for essentials like food and bills. Already Labour and Conservative MPs are calling on the Government to do it, and politicians in the USA and other countries are also calling on their Governments to do the same. There is a lot more that needs to be done to mitigate the impact of coronavirus - from helping people get support from their workplace when they are sick, to making sure tenants don’t face eviction. But ensuring everyone across the country has a set sum to get by could save lives. If you think everyone should be guaranteed enough money to pay for basic essentials at a time like this, will you add your name to the petition now? Notes here: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2020/mar/17/boris-johnson-coronavirus-press-conference-rishi-sunak-cabinet-as-rishi-sunak-set-to-announcing-coronavirus-financial-rescue-package-politics-live?page=with:block-5e70afeb8f085e564ad859ba#block-5e70afeb8f085e564ad859ba

Society is facing a huge threat and all funds should be used to fight this threat and support people who may be struggling financially.