stop the government from taking disabilty benefit people

Responsible department: Department for Work and Pensions

This petition is to ask the government to stop its current work on changing and removing disability benefits from disabled peoples lives before it gets able-bodied unemployed people and people it put on the disabled list to massage figures from 1980's-present day and to leave disability benefit for those that deserve it and re-instate it for those that deserve it and have lost it. Possibly they could change tactics and chase bankers with huge pensions, tax dodgers and thieves that stole tax payer money to recover the money they are trying to take from disabled people during a time that the cost of living is rising to an all time high in the middle of a recession.

 http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/36522

"Royal Mail: Stop the closure of Glasgow's Cubie Street sorting office" on Change.org.: Update: Response Email to Royal Customer Services

Dear Royal Mail,

I thank you for your email of 06.11.2012 regarding the closure of Cubie Street Delivery Office.

I would like to take you up on a few points mentioned...
1. 'Whilst I understand your concerns I would like to reassure you that Royal Mail has amalgamated offices before and we will be working to ensure that there is a smooth transition'. This indicates that the decision is irreversible and any consultation that has or will be completed is entirely irrelevant. This is not the mark of an organisation that truly does concern itself with its customers. Nor is it a mark of an organisation that is meant to be a public service.
2. 'If you are unable to visit your nearest Delivery Office to collect undeliverable items, we can arrange a redelivery back to your address or an alternative address within the same postcode area free of charge or to a local Post Office for a small fee (please note Special Delivery items cannot be delivered to an alternative address)'. Your point stating that you can arrange redelivery back to the requested delivery address is not satisfactory unless this redelivery can be made on a specific day and time when the person expecting the delivery can be present. If it is just a specific day this requires the person expecting the delivery to be present all day and also available at the required time during that day, is unsuitable for most (whether through having to work, other activities or rest). To expect people on limited incomes to pay extra to have the item delivered to a post office close to where they stay is also not satisfactory - what if they do not have any spare money so that this can be carried out?

Therefore the only option for serving your customers adequately within the Cubie Street delivery office delivery area is for that delivery office to remain open and for the operational changes and new technology to be employed within the existing facility and for the relocation to be cancelled.

In addition the recent vast increase in the cost of stamps for letters will further discourage people from using the postal service. This is at a time when the Royal Mail have stated that the volume of letters being sent is reducing. Is it any wonder when the speed of delivery has vastly deteriorated? It used to be possible to post a letter in the morning first class and be certain of the time of uplift and subsequent delivery. It was even possible to be almost certain that it would arrive the same day in some cases using first class. Now you can't be sure that it will arrive the following day prior to the open of business, or even on the following day at all.

I know in my family for the first time this year the cost of postage is barring the sending of Christmas greetings and parcels by mail when it has never done so before. So if the vast increase in prices was to ultimately improve services and therefore encourage people to use the mail service then it has failed.

I continue to look forward to hearing that Cubie Street delivery office will remain open and its services to its customers unaffected.

Yours faithfully

Christopher Crawford

Royal Mail: Stop the closure of Glasgow's Cubie Street sorting office - Update

Further to my post of 03.11.2012 I decided also to email Royal Mail direct regarding the Cubie Street closure and the below is what I received back from them. I have today subsequently responded which will follow in a separate post...

Dear Mr Crawford

Thank you for your e-mail in relation to the closure of Glasgow Cubie Street Delivery Office. I am sorry if this has caused you any concern or inconvenience.

We do not take operational changes such as this lightly and give them a great deal of thought including a 6 month consultation period with our trade union colleagues. All parties are in agreement that it is vital that we change to enable investment in new technology and equipment and upgrade operational facilities. This helps to ensure we have a world class organisation which will provide the most efficient and effective network for delivering the post and a safe working environment for our people.

Whilst I understand your concerns I would like to reassure you that Royal Mail has amalgamated offices before and we will be working to ensure that there is a smooth transition. We appreciate any changes may impact on our customers and our planning activities always give due consideration as to how we can best protect and serve their interest. This will continue to be a top priority during any operational changes. Such considerations include the way we collect mail for delivery and how customers can collect undelivered mail.

If you are unable to visit your nearest Delivery Office to collect undeliverable items, we can arrange a redelivery back to your address or an alternative address within the same postcode area free of charge or to a local Post Office for a small fee (please note Special Delivery items cannot be delivered to an alternative address). This can be arranged by calling the number on the 'Something for you...' card we leave or by visiting www.royalmail.com/redelivery.

Thank you for contacting us about this matter and we hope you will find our reply both helpful and informative. Please accept our apologies once again, and if we can be of any more help, please get back in touch.

Regards

Diana Reid

Customer Service Advisor

Proposed Modernisation of Marr College

Proposed Modernisation of Marr College

Further to my post on 16.11.2012 I did some digging and found an information sheet from South Ayrshire Council that confirms that they are indeed in negotiations to buy the Marr College school buildings and grounds from Marr Trust.

Reward for incompetence

Thus South Ayrshire Council are indeed going to to be entirely entrusted with maintaining the Marr College buildings and grounds in future when they have proved themselves time and time again completely incompetent even when they had Marr Trust to oversee them.

Please see the document below which can also be found on the school website at... http://www.marr.sayr.sch.uk/

Proposed Modernisation of Marr College

Information Sheet

In July of this year the Council submitted a bid to the Scottish Government’s Schools for the Future Programme to modernise Marr College and I am pleased to inform you that this bid was successful.  Key to the success of the bid was the way in which the Council engaged and involved staff, the parents, pupils and the wider community in the development of the future strategy for secondary education in Troon. As such the project is considered in a state of readiness to be taken forward.

It is envisaged that the project will deliver state of the art learning and teaching facilities which will revolve around the modernisation of the original Marr College building and the provision of new learning and teaching accommodation within the grounds of Marr school site.  Accommodation will be available for the community to use and the creation of a museum area to display the many artefacts that have been gifted to the school over the years including those from C.K. Marr.

The external areas will be developed to create exciting and pleasant areas that encourage social interaction and the delivery of outdoor learning. Important features of the project will be the provision of enhanced sports facilities including an all-weather pitch which will be located in the grounds of the current Marr Playing Fields.  

The project will be delivered in partnership with the private sector through South West Hub which has recently been established by the Scottish Futures Trust, overseeing the Schools for the Future programme.

Following the announcement of the funding by the Scottish Government, the Council are now entering into formal discussions with the Marr Trust regarding the acquisition of the Marr College site and the potential for relocating the Marr Resource Centre into the new facility.

Written notification has still to be issued by the Scottish Government on the level of funding that will be allocated it is understood that two thirds of the overall project will be provided with the Council providing the remainder.  The final figures will be established once the brief for the project has been agreed and designs produced.  This process, including preparing the project for delivery through the SW Hub, is expected to take approximately 18 months followed by a further 18 months to build the new accommodation and modernise the original school.  The timescale may need to be lengthened as the original school is listed, but the aim is to complete the project by the end of 2015 or early in 2016 if possible. 

Undertaking the project while the school remains operational will be a challenge but the Council has significant experience in delivering projects in this way while and minimising the disruption to learning and teaching and ensuring the safety of staff, pupils and visitors at all times.

I know that you will be excited by this news and will be given opportunities to contribute to the delivery of the project as the moves forward through the different stages.

Every effort will be made to keep all stakeholders informed about the project but regular updates will be posted on the Council’s web site at www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk under ‘schools – planning for improvement’. 

Harry Garland

Executive Director for Children and Community

Whispering Woods

http://www.whisperingwoods.co.uk/

The Whispering Woods is a collection of original stories about Scotland's native trees that weave together threads of mythology and lore, herbal medicine, uses of timber and wood, woodland ecology and imagination to produce unique tales that are appealing to adults and children alike. These stories will both entertain and inform. Whilst entering into the imaginary world of the story, the reader or listener will also start to become more familiar with the features of our native trees and their associated flora and fauna, leading to a deeper understanding of how species, including ourselves, depend on one another and the environment for survival.
These beautifully illustrated stories evolved through a fortuitous, accidental meeting between the author and a teacher searching for original stories to read to children in the forest ~ stories that would both capture their imagination and enhance their understanding of, and respect for, the woodland environment.
They will bring pleasure to all who love the natural world.

Written by Alan Crawford my cousin.

Just wanted to give him some advertising - the book sounds delightful.

Marr College Update

Having fought to have Marr College maintained for many years it is finally confirmed that South Ayrshire Council and the Scottish Government have allocated funding for this project. As to whether it will ultimately take place remains to be seen and exact details are yet to be confirmed.

Maintenance and refurbishment to take place

Due to the poor stewardship of South Ayrshire Council it is now a refurbishment of the original building and if the original plans are to be believed a demolition and replacement of the 1970s/80s extension. A new wing will be added at each end of the original building.

Poor stewardship by South Ayrshire Council

Amazingly, although this is subject to confirmation (and complete astonishment!), the Marr Trust is proposing to sell the school building to South Ayrshire Council although maintain ownership of the playing fields.  

Reward for lack of maintenance and inadequate stewardship

If this is true South Ayrshire Council would appear to be being rewarded by Marr Trust for not maintaining the school, when under the terms of the original lease/ rent agreement the organisation was to return the school to Marr Trust in ‘pristine condition’. I would like to know if this is indeed true, and if so what are the reasons behind it as it seems a ridiculous proposal.

Royal Mail: Stop the closure of Glasgow's Cubie Street sorting office

I just signed the petition "Royal Mail: Stop the closure of Glasgow's Cubie Street sorting office" on Change.org.

It's important.

I am ill with fibromyalgia, and on a good day can walk to Cubie Street to collect a parcel which the Post Office have tried to deliver while I am out. However if this plan goes ahead I don't know what I will do. I have no transport, and I note that a bus route is 20 minutes walk from the proposed new sorting office at Cambuslang. I also know that you can get parcels delivered to your local post office but this involves another charge of £1.50. On my limited income this is not an option, so the only way is to instruct anyone intending to send me a parcel, is not to do so. It is time that the Post Office started actually thinking about its customers.

Will you sign the petition it too? Here's the link:

http://www.change.org/petitions/royal-mail-stop-the-closure-of-glasgow-s-cubie-street-sorting-office

Thanks!

Christopher

the Chagos Islands, whose indigenous population was secretly and brutally expelled by British Governments in the late 1960s and early 1970s to make way for an American military base

'Stealing A Nation' (2004) is an extraordinary film by John Pilger about the plight of the Chagos Islands, whose indigenous population was secretly and brutally expelled by British Governments in the late 1960s and early 1970s to make way for an American military base. The tragedy, which falls within the remit of the International Criminal Court as "a crime against humanity", is told by Islanders who were dumped in the slums of Mauritius and by British officials who left behind a damning trail of Foreign Office documents.

Before the Americans came, more than 2,000 people lived on the islands in the Indian Ocean, many with roots back to the late 18th century. There were thriving villages, a school, a hospital, a church, a railway and an undisturbed way of life. The islands were, and still are, a British crown colony. In the 1960s, the government of Harold Wilson struck a secret deal with the United States to hand over the main island of Diego Garcia. The Americans demanded that the surrounding islands be "swept" and "sanitized". Unknown to Parliament and to the US Congress and in breach of the United Nations Charter, the British Government plotted with Washington to expel the entire population.

  Stealing a Nation from John Pilger on Vimeo.

 See also: http://johnpilger.com/videos/stealing-a-nation
  Stealing a Nation from John Pilger on Vimeo.

DOES MR CLEGG REALLY THINK WE ARE THAT DAFT?

Mr Clegg’s latest attempt at hood-winking the British public into forgiving for selling him, his party, students, sick and ill people on benefits, etc. etc. down the river really defies belief. Does he really think we are all that daft?

I think its more like that his promises go up in smoke so why is this ‘sorry’ any more valid than his original one shown in this video…

 cdbc81 : Christopher Crawford's blog: Nick Clegg Pledge on Tuition Fees

It doesn’t get him out of his moral high ground shown in this video that I posted on my blog …

cdbc81 : Christopher Crawford's blog: I believe its time for promises to be kept!