Tag Archives: campaign

Campaign launched to tackle arson

Police have launched a new campaign to combat incidents of arson. ‘Connor’s story’, it tells the fictional story of local teenager, who alongside his friends, sets fire to the contents of a wheelie bin. It explodes in his face, leaving him with severe facial burns. They’ll be using social media and putting stickers on bins to get the message out. Well, last year, South Yorkshire Police dealt with six hundred and eighty one incidents of arson. It’s a joint initiative with South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, which will run until the end of the year. Head of Community Safety at South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, Kevin Ronan, told our reporter Kathryn Smiles more about the campaign.

Smithy Woods under threat

Sheffield Friends of the Earth marked its fortieth year of environmental campaigning with a walk around Smithy Wood. The ancient woodland near Chapeltown, home to birds and other wildlife, is under threat from plans for a new motorway service station on the M1.

New fire safety campaign

By Alice Rose

A fire service campaign which intends to make people aware of the danger of electrical chargers has won European backing.

The campaign was started up by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue following a house fire in which five members of the same family sadly lost their lives.

It is thought that the fire was probably caused by a faulty charger.

Linda McAvan, MEP for Yorkshire and Humber, is backing the campaign to help stop fires, such as the one in Netheredge, from happening again.

“We are doing all that we can to reduce fires in the home at a European level. MEPS have legislated to standardise chargers for mobile devices to both reduce environmental waste and to save you money.”

The legislation was voted on by MEPS in March this year and was approved by ministers in April.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue’s Station Manager Darren Perrott, said:“Most people probably have several electrical chargers lying around at home at any given time, but all we’re asking for is a little bit of common sense when charging them.” Mr Perrot continued “What we’re particularly concerned about is unbranded chargers which can be bought cheaply over the internet. You should only buy chargers which are compatible with the device you are charging, and never leave things charging overnight.”

Find a cat – at the click of a mouse!

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Cats Protection

Regular listeners to Sheffield Live! will already know that Cats Protection has launched a new Find a Cat service, which has been advertised across our programmes over the last few weeks.

The new ‘Find a Cat’ function on the charity’s homepage allows people to view all the cats available for adoption within a 30-mile radius of their home.

By entering their home postcode, potential adopters are instantly directed to pages showing pictures and fact-files on all the fabulous felines in their area in need of good homes.

Lee Bishop, Website Manager for Cats Protection, said: “Previously, visitors to our website looking to adopt had to use the ‘find us’ page, search for their local branch or branches, and then visit each site separately for their adoption pages.

“The new tool is an easy to use, one-stop shop for your area, and as we are the UK’s largest feline welfare organisation, it will be the UK’s most comprehensive rehoming web function solely dedicated to cats.”

Cats Protection is keen to encourage people to adopt rather than buy if they are considering getting a cat, as figures from the charity’s national helpline currently show that for every one person enquiring about adopting a cat there are 10 people calling to give up a cat or report a stray. The ratio was one to three in 2009 and indicates a bleak future for cats.

Lee added: “We hope that the ‘Find a Cat’ tool will make it easier for people to adopt a cat from us. Adopting from Cats Protection means you are not only giving a home to an animal in need, but you will also have peace of mind that your cat has been examined by a veterinary surgeon, microchipped, vaccinated, neutered (if old enough) and will come with four week’s free insurance.

“With the launch of the new ‘Find a Cat’ function, we sincerely appeal to the cat loving public to visit the page and consider giving one of our marvellous moggies a loving and responsible home.”

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World Press Freedom Day: 3rd of May

In dozens of countries around the world, journalists, editors and publishers are murdered, assaulted, detained and harassed simply for telling the truth. Their publications are censored, fined, suspended and closed down for daring to voice opinions contrary to those of their governments.

Today is ‘World Press Freedom Day‘ which exists to recognise the sacrifices made in the struggle for freedom of the press and to put pressure on governments that continue to deny their citizens this basic human right. The ‘3 May‘ message is that journalists everywhere must be granted the right to report freely and without fear.

The date marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of principles drawn up by African journalists in 1991, calling for a free, independent and pluralistic media on that continent and throughout the world. The Declaration afirms that a free press is essential to the existence of democracy and a fundamental human goal. The Declaration is a milestone in the struggle for a free press in all regions of the world.

At a time when human rights and democratic development hang in the balance in so many countries, no one can be complacent. 3 May is the day on which the media can remind governments and the public of the importance of freedom of the press and of how the gobal battle to attain it, continues.

This years ‘annual world press freedom’ prize went, posthumously to a courageous sri lankan news editor, Wickrematunge, who was assassinated in January. He wrote his own obituary before he was killed. It was published in his newspaper 3 days later. See, this website for more details

Sheffield Live! fully supports ‘World Press Freedom Day‘ and asks if you are interested in this campaign to check out the website and find out how you can get involved.