Tag Archives: petition

Sheffield Badminton star speaks out over Olympic funding cut

Sheffield badminton and Team GB athlete Chloe Birch has spoken out against UK Sport’s decision to cut funding for badminton leading up to Tokyo 2020. Funding has been cut despite Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge winning bronze to secure Britain’s first men’s doubles medal at Rio this year. Badminton had its funding cut from £7.4m to £5.9m after London 2012, after no players managed the minimum fourth-to-eighth-placed finish that had been targeted. Yet despite the surprise success of Ellis and Langridge, the sport will not get a slice of the £345m of national lottery and government funding which UK Sport has announced will be invested over the next four years. Badminton England are appealing the decision and have started a petition on their website which has over ten thousand signatures. Our reporter Simon Thake spoke with Chloe Birch and Badminton Sheffield Chairman Alan Barber at the English Institute for Sport.

Sheffield Council defends decision to close dementia care centre

Councillor Cate McDonald has defended Sheffield Council’s decision to close the Hurlfield View dementia respite care facility. A petition to save Hurlfield View has reached over five thousand signatures. Petitioners argue that this is the only day services and respite care facility in Sheffield for severely challenging individuals with dementia, including the most complex cases. The cabinet member for health and social care said the decision was “not a cost cutting exercise”. Sheffield City Council is ending the Sheffield Health and Social Trust’s contract to provide dementia services a year earlier than planned. Simon Thake reports for Sheffield Live!

Local minister backs calls to stop unfair lending

Reverend David Dean-Revill of St Christopher’s Church in Gleadless is supporting a campaign for a law to limit interest rates on consumer borrowing. Dean-Revill is concerned that every week many people on low-incomes turn to pay-day loans and other borrowing just to survive and can find themselves deeper in debt. Current legislation allows companies to charge up to 0.8% per day which amounts to 24% per month. A Stop Unfair Lending petition is gathering support and calls on the government to legislate to limit interest rates to a maximum 100% APR including fees. Sheffield Live! reporter Azz Mohammed spoke to Reverend David Dean-Revill.

For more information you can visit www.stopunfairlending.co.uk

Save Sheffield Central Library petition reaches 8,000 signatures

A petition to keep Sheffield Central Library in its existing grade II listed building has reached over 8,000 signatures. Sheffield City Council has opened discussions with Chinese investment partner Guodong UK Limited over proposals to sell off the Central Library to become the city’s first five star hotel. The Council has said the building is in need of repairs which would cost at least £30 million and an alternative option would be to build a new modern library elsewhere in the city centre. Sheffield Live! reporter Simon Thake spoke to Rebecca Gransbury who started the petition.

Petition to save Cobnar Cottage

Over twelve thousand three hundred people have signed a petition to stop the sale of an 18th century cottage in Sheffield. Sheffield City Council expect to receive around eighty thousand pounds from the sale of Cobnar cottage, on Cobnar Road in Graves Park. The money is set to be spent on further investment in the park, including improvements to play facilities and footpaths. Sheffield City Council say ‘The cottage has been vacant for many years, sits outside the park boundary wall, forms a tiny fraction of the park, and has never been part of the public amenity of Graves Park.’ The council have no future use for the cottage, and say they do not plan to sell any other part of Graves Park.

Minister pledges to find new funds for community radio

Support Community Radio! Sign the Petition! Click Here!The Government is to seek additional funds to support community radio, according to Siôn Simon MP, Minister for Creative Industries. The Minister’s comments come in response to a joint letter to the Prime Minister signed by community broadcasters in Sheffield and across the country, calling for a sizeable increase in public funding for community radio.

In the Government reply to the joint open letter, Siôn Simon writes: “the Government recognises the importance of community radio and its contribution to the communities which they serve”. In addition to current Government support, he says: “DCMS will continue to work with other Government Departments and Agencies to identify other sources of funding, specifically where there are community cohesion and social gain objectives, for community radio.”

Steve Buckley, Director of community radio station, Sheffield Live!, said: “We welcome Government recognition that additional funding should be found for community radio but we need more than a vague expression of intent.  We are not asking for the sector to be fully, or even majority, publicly funded. All we want is for Government support to be reflected in a funding settlement that reflects the benefits community radio brings to the communities we serve. Government should implement now the recommendations of the Everitt Report.”

Professor Anthony Everitt, author of the 2003 report, New Voices, whose recommendations formed the basis for government legislation, says the sector is “hobbled by its poverty”, and has called on government to implement the recommendations of his report to provide (matched) grant aid of £30,000 per year per station towards core operating costs. Everitt says “this is a modest expenditure when the benefits community radio can confer are taken into account”.

The community radio campaign has gained the support of members of Parliament from all political parties. Lord David Puttnam assured the community radio sector:  “…the weight of public support and technological history are with you.” A petition, at http://allthevoices.org, calling on the Government to support the sustainability and growth of community radio by substantially increasing the resources of the Community Radio Fund, has gathered nearly 3000 signatures.

For further information including a copy of the letter from the Minister follow this link

Lord Puttnam backs broadcasters’ campaign

Support Community Radio! Sign the Petition! Click Here!Lord David Puttnam has pledged his “.. absolute support..” to a campaign by community radio stations in Sheffield and across the country who are pressing the government for access to adequate and reliable funds.

Community radio, acclaimed by industry regulator Ofcom as a “broadcasting success story”, is under constant fear of closure, according to Professor Anthony Everitt, author of the 2003 report, New Voices, whose recommendations formed the basis for government legislation.

The Community Radio Order 2004 is currently under review as are the funding arrangements for public service broadcasting content outside the BBC. Funding for community radio has not kept pace with growth in the number of services. The Community Radio Fund was set up in 2005, with £500,000 per annum when there were only 14 community radio licensees. Today there are around 150 community radio services on air, while the Fund has not grown in size.

Everitt, in a letter to the Department for Culture Media and Sport, says the sector is “hobbled by its poverty”, and has called on government to implement the recommendations of his report to provide (matched) grant aid of £30,000 per year per station towards core operating costs. Everitt says “this is a modest expenditure when the benefits community radio can confer are taken into account”, and it is needed “to place community radio on a sound financial footing”.

Community broadcasters have called on government, in an open letter to the Prime Minister, to implement the funding recommendations of the Everitt report to ensure the sustainability and development of community radio. And a petition to the Prime Minister, calling for increased funding for the sector, is also gathering momentum with over 1700 signatures already confirmed.

Lord David Puttnam assured the community radio sector:  “…the weight of public support and technological history are with you…”

Sangita Basudev, Chief Executive of Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM welcomed Lord Puttnam’s support and said: “Community radio stations around the country have demonstrated their effectiveness in giving voice to and involving local people from diverse communities. But the growth of the sector needs to be matched by increased investment in line with the recommendations of the Everitt report.”

For further information follow this link

Sheffield MPs back community radio campaign

Support Community Radio! Sign the Petition! Click Here!Sheffield MPs are getting behind a campaign for community radio to get a fair share of government funding arrangements for broadcasting. The campaign, launched in July to mark the fifth anniversary of community radio legislation, is led by Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM and by local community broadcasters throughout the UK.

Since legislation was passed, in 2004, more than 200 community radio services have been licensed and around 150 are on air, creating around 400 jobs, involving over 10,000 volunteers, and serving a potential audience of more than 10 million people.

But despite the widely acknowledged success of community radio, stations like Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM are economically precarious with no core funding support. A Community Radio Fund, set up in 2004, has not been increased despite the rapid growth in the number of community radio stations. There is now less than £500,000 per annum to distribute to 150 not-for-profit stations.

Lib Dem Leader and Sheffield Hallam MP, Nick Clegg, who recently visited Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM city centre studios, said: “I am happy to lend my support to your campaign and have written to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport on your behalf”.

Sheffield’s Labour MPs have also voiced their support. Sheffield Attercliffe MP, Clive Betts said he is “happy to support the campaign”. Sheffield Heeley MP Meg Munn, Sheffield Hillsborough MP Angela Smith, Sheffield Central MP Richard Caborn and Sheffield Brightside MP David Blunkett have also confirmed they have written to the Government Minister responsible and are awaiting a response.

Sangita Basudev, Chief Executive of Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM said: “We are delighted our local MPs are with us on this issue. We have over 200 volunteers involved in Sheffield Live! 93.2 FM, but it is a day to day challenge making ends meet in the current economic climate. The Community Radio Fund should support our core operating expenses, but with 150 community radio stations on the air there is just not enough to go round.”

For further information follow this link

Community Radio Online Petition

Support Community Radio! Sign the Petition! Click Here!On 20 July 2009, in an Open Letter to the Prime Minister, community radio leaders, media scholars and experts, including 60 community radio stations, called for a fair settlement for community radio including a sizeable increase in the Community Radio Fund.

Now you can add your voice to their call.

A petition has been launched, backed by community radio stations including Sheffield Live! and calling on the Prime Minister “to support the sustainability and growth of community radio by substantially increasing the resources of the Community Radio Fund.”

Support Community Radio!

Sign the petition!

Tell Your Friends!

For updates follow:
http://twitter.com/allthevoices/

For further information follow this link