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  Stop the Transfer Test

  Our children's mental health is being put at risk by the failure to put them first, and drop the transfer test. Young children of 10 and 11 should not be made to sit tests in the midst of a pandemic. The absence of the formal education setting means that those impacted by poverty will be even more disadvantaged, and put under additional mental health stress.

  29 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Nicola Browne
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  Stop Peat Removal at Lough Neagh

  McCann Bros are consulting on their proposals to carry out peat extraction on the shores of Lough Neagh. This should be stopped because: - This beautiful bogland is a finite resource, vital for wildlife and as a carbon sink. Contrary to the consultation the extraction will not be 'temporary' and to say so is a gross misrepresentation of the application. You cannot temporarily dig out a bog – when its gone its gone. - The proposal flies in the face of the Strategic Planning Policy Statement which protects peatlands. - This peatland is within an Area of Constraint on Minerals and within the Lough Neagh Ramsar site which means it is a wetland of international importance – this rich nature reserve should not and cannot be mined for horticultural peat that no gardener needs. - A two week consultation that finishes on New Years Eve at a time of Christmas and Covid is a cynical abuse of the planning system.

  122 of 200 Signatures

  Created by Nicola Browne
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  Make Sick Pay Mandatory in Ireland

  The pandemic has exposed big failings in how workers are protected against loss of income when they have to take days off work due to sickness. Ireland is completely out of line with European norms in not requiring all employers to continue to pay our wages if we are forced to miss work because we fall ill. We ask that a guaranteed period of paid sick leave of no less than 2 weeks and paid at 100% of the worker's wage is mandatory. Hundreds and thousands of low paid essential workers do not receive sick pay and face being financially compelled to keep working when sick.

  34 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Nicola Browne
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  Protect families and close the social security loopholes

  Hundreds are unprotected from bedroom tax and over a thousand unprotected from the benefit cap due to loopholes in the current welfare mitigations. The 9 month benefit cap grace period will come to an end at Christmas, impacting 46,000 people who began claiming Universal Credit in March at the start of the pandemic. All those affected are families with children and 77% are lone parents, losing around £200 a month. The loophole can be closed but the Minister for Communities must act now.

  1 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Nicola Browne
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  Free period products in NI schools #MenstruationMatters

  Unlike England, Scotland and Wales, NI still does not have a budget or scheme in place for free period products in all school toilets. Yet again, we have been left behind. Schools already provide free toilet roll, hand soap, hand towels and sanitary waste disposal bins in toilets. What makes period products any different? We firmly believe that any toilet that requires toilet roll, requires period products in exactly the same way. In June 2020, a Plan international UK study showed how 3 in 10 UK girls have struggled to afford or access sanitary wear during lockdown, with over half (54%) of these girls having used toilet paper as an alternative. There is no doubt that period poverty has been exacerbated as a result of the current pandemic and the need to maintain good hygiene has never been more important. Due to extensive job losses, an increase in people using food banks, and many other local support services being cut, families have been hard hit and are under more financial pressure than ever. At the Homeless Period Belfast, we have seen an exponential increase in demand and requests for our own period packs. In April – June 2020 we received 3 times the demand than previous years. Now, more than ever, a free period products scheme in schools across NI will relieve the financial pressure on parents and students purchasing these items. It will also alleviate the pressure of school students having to remember to carry period products in their bags when there are many other things to worry about and remember to bring (exams, books, homework, hand sanitiser/masks, bus passes etc.), meaning students can go about their daily lives without getting caught out. Free period products in schools will ensure that every young person can learn and be their very best, without the worry of their next pad or tampon holding them back.

  5,293 of 6,000 Signatures

  Created by The Homeless Period
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  Pay Student Nurses in Northern Ireland

  During the last peak of Covid-19 when students were heavily depended upon to help alleviate pressure on qualified nurses, the Department of Health recognised their efforts financially. No such payment is available this time, which has left students feeling massively undervalued. They have also been told not to speak to the media. https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/coronavirus/ni-student-nurses-risking-lives-without-pay-in-coronavirus-battle-39708516.html

  41 of 100 Signatures

  Created by Nicola Browne
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  AccessNI checks on all staff working in B&B's where young people aged 16-17 are placed.

  We believe it is inappropriate for a vulnerable young person (16-18) needing temporary or emergency accommodation to be placed in a B&B where adults are also placed. However, if the trust need to use these centres we want them to ensure that all employees have been previously accessNI checked prior to placing a young person within. Lisa Arthurs states, "My daughter Gabrielle was only 17 when she was placed in a B&B where she was sexually assaulted. No prior police checks were carried out on those working in the B&B. The sexual assault impacted Gabby massively and when Gabby sought counselling she was told she would have to wait months. Within this time period things began to spiral out of control for Gabby and she was subsequently placed in a number of centres which were miles away from the support of her family and friends. Tragically Gabby is no longer with us to fight for this change, however I have started this campaign #JusticeForGabby to ensure change happens within the care system. Firstly, we want to ensure that the Health and Social Care Trust carry out police checks on all staff working within these B&B's. I want to ensure that no other young person suffers the same fate as Gabby. Gabby was a loving, kind, warm hearted soul who was always looking out for her friends and family. We miss and love her so much everyday. Please support our campaign - change will happen!" FOI - Freedom Of Information Request (from the Belfast Trust) - 13th November 2020; Can you confirm that all staff/percentage of staff (not only owners/managers) working within the B&B or hotel have been access NI checked prior to placing a young person there? The Trust cannot confirm that all staff working in a B&B/ Hotel are access NI checked prior to a young person being placed there and this is outside the Trust’s remit Gabby recorded her story a few months before her death where she highlights the failings within the system. Please see video attached (www.vimeo.com/480947678). Please support our campaign by signing and sharing this petition. This is only the start of #JusticeForGabby.

  1,058 of 2,000 Signatures

  Created by rory doherty
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  Urgent Support for Trans Communities

  Since the start of 2018, no new patients have been seen in the Northern Ireland adult gender identity clinic. There are now over 400 on the waiting list, some of whom have been on this list for over 4 years. While a review of these services was commissioned late last year, progress has been slow, and the Department and HSCB have been unwilling to meaningfully include and consult with trans communities. As a result, the majority of trans people in Northern Ireland who are currently accessing gender affirming care are doing so through private services, including those in England and further afield, or through self-medication. Those who self-medicate have been doing so to reduce the harm that is being done to them by the failure of statutory services to provide support and care while this review is ongoing and in the two years before it was commissioned. There is a mental health crisis in trans communities; while trans-led support groups and advocacy organisations are doing our best to support our communities, these groups are chronically under-funded and under-staffed. There is an urgent need for statutory services to step up and provide support to trans communities who have waited years for action.

  167 of 200 Signatures

  Created by Transgender NI
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  Pay the Nurses Strike Pay!

  At the end of last year, nurses went on strike for the first time ever for fair pay and adequate staffing for the NHS. It has been confirmed that funding was secured to reinstate their strike pay, but it has not been paid out. Nurses are at the backbone of our NHS, and at the heart of the Covid19 response. They can no longer be at the back of the queue when it comes to pay.

  287 of 300 Signatures

  Created by Signe Browne
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  Demand Randox release Covid-19 tests

  Randox received £23 million in public funds through Invest NI in 2018, and benefited from a research partnership with our two universities QUB and UU. Now they are selling at an extortionate price (£120 per test) at a time when people are worried about food and job security and how they'll keep a roof over their heads. Meanwhile our NHS is struggling as they don't have enough tests so that key healthcare professionals can continue to do their vital work on the frontline of the fight against this global pandemic. Demand that Randox releases the Covid-19 tests free of charge to the NHS and stops profiteering from this crisis. See: https://www.randoxhealth.com/product/coronavirus-covid-19-home-testing-kit/ and: https://www.randox.com/tag/invest-ni/

  12,628 of 15,000 Signatures

  Created by Lynda Sullivan