Many many thanks to the Manchester Evening News for their campaign to stop the cuts by the City Council to the School Crossing Patrol Service. The paper set up it's own easy to access on-line petition and showed that the weight of public opinion was very much in favour of keeping the service.
I have been contacted today by campaigners from Southwark looking for advice and support. Perhaps someone can persuade the Evening Standard to do for London what the Manchester Evening News has done for the children of Manchester. In the meantime please support the national petition by pressing the red button above.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Monday, 28 November 2011
Dorset County Council Has Seen The Light But Elsewhere The Battles Continue
Last week it was announced in the Manchester Evening News that the City Council are reviewing 156 crossings in an attempt to save 80% of the budget. The newspaper has launched a petition to try and save the service.
On Friday the story in the Northern Echo was that Darlington Council planning cuts to save £300,000 and
On Friday the story in the Northern Echo was that Darlington Council planning cuts to save £300,000 and
The authority’s 36 lollipop men and women received letters advising that a switch to a voluntary service was being considered.It has been stated many times on this site that this is not a role for volunteers and it says on the Volunteer England website that volunteers should not be put in positions of danger. In the past 12 months one lollipop lady has been killed in Scotland and more than half a dozen have sustained injuries requiring hospitalisation. For more details of these incidents please look at the 'In The Press' page.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
The One Show and Lollipop People
If you were unable to catch the piece that The One Show did about Lollipop People last week you can follow this link and watch it on You Tube. We may have saved the majority of our Lollipop People in Dorset but across the country they are still under threat and this needs to be debated at the highest level. Please, sign the petition and ask your friends to as well.
Wednesday, 5 October 2011
HURRAY!
We have Won the campaign in Dorset and we have Saved Our Lollipop People or at least the majority of them.
At The Cabinet Meeting this morning it was decided to uphold the recommendation of the Panel that all crossing patrols should be retained and paid for except for 5 that no longer meet national criteria and another 5 that are on pelican crossings.
It is a victory for common sense and the rights of our children to be safe on their way to and from school. Special thanks to Dorset Councillors, Janet Dover, Karl Wallace and David Harris who spoke up in support of my campaign at the Cabinet meeting back in January and continued to work towards a successful conclusion.
Also thanks to Dorset MP's Annette Brooke and Richard Drax for speaking to the Transport Minister Norman Baker. Also a 'well done to us' to Liz Norman and Liz Howard campaigning from Ferndown.
At The Cabinet Meeting this morning it was decided to uphold the recommendation of the Panel that all crossing patrols should be retained and paid for except for 5 that no longer meet national criteria and another 5 that are on pelican crossings.
It is a victory for common sense and the rights of our children to be safe on their way to and from school. Special thanks to Dorset Councillors, Janet Dover, Karl Wallace and David Harris who spoke up in support of my campaign at the Cabinet meeting back in January and continued to work towards a successful conclusion.
Also thanks to Dorset MP's Annette Brooke and Richard Drax for speaking to the Transport Minister Norman Baker. Also a 'well done to us' to Liz Norman and Liz Howard campaigning from Ferndown.
Monday, 3 October 2011
The ONE SHOW Tonight
The One Show tonight at 7.00pm has a piece about the campaign in Dorset and the threat to the Lollipop People across the country. A tribute to the Lollipop People I hope.
If you have seen the show and followed the links please, please take the time to click on the red button and sign the petition to get the Lollipop People's future discussed in the House of Commons. Make democracy work for us.
If you have seen the show and followed the links please, please take the time to click on the red button and sign the petition to get the Lollipop People's future discussed in the House of Commons. Make democracy work for us.
Friday, 30 September 2011
One Step Closer
The campaign to Save Our Lollipop People in Dorset was one step closer to success last night as the Overview Committee voted to uphold the recommendations of the Panel that the county continues to fund all those sites that meet the national criteria. The Committee also agreed to fund the 5 patrols that were on pelican crossings.
The decision of the Committee will have to be approved by the full Cabinet on Wednesday 5th October before we can rejoice.
To read the press coverage follow these links BBC, Dorset Echo,
This is still a national issue and although many other authorities will hopefully follow Dorset's lead there is still a threat to the service and the safety of the children around the country. Please sign the petition to get the matter debated in the House of Commons.
The decision of the Committee will have to be approved by the full Cabinet on Wednesday 5th October before we can rejoice.
To read the press coverage follow these links BBC, Dorset Echo,
This is still a national issue and although many other authorities will hopefully follow Dorset's lead there is still a threat to the service and the safety of the children around the country. Please sign the petition to get the matter debated in the House of Commons.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Almost There?
Today the recommendations of the Dorset County Council Policy Development Panel (set up to look into the future funding, of the school crossing patrols service), will be considered by the Environment Overview Committee. They will then report to the full Cabinet on the 5th October. The full cabinet were originally to have met in December so we are fortunate that the fate of our Lollipop People is being decided sooner rather than later.
If you are interested in reading the recommendations this is the link but the gist of it is that the Panel recommends that DCC continue to fund the service as there in no funding available at the present time, from either schools, parish councils or sponsors. They do however, recommend that DCC do not fund 10 sites where either the crossing no longer meets national criteria or there is an alternative means of crossing safely.
I hope the glorious weather we are experiencing is making the committee feel generous and they will endorse the recommendations. The rest of the country are watching to see what Dorset will do.
If you are interested in reading the recommendations this is the link but the gist of it is that the Panel recommends that DCC continue to fund the service as there in no funding available at the present time, from either schools, parish councils or sponsors. They do however, recommend that DCC do not fund 10 sites where either the crossing no longer meets national criteria or there is an alternative means of crossing safely.
I hope the glorious weather we are experiencing is making the committee feel generous and they will endorse the recommendations. The rest of the country are watching to see what Dorset will do.
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