In regards to the second part of my post earlier today, I recived an e-mail from 10 Downing street to say my petition has been accepted and it can now start collecting signatures. please visit http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/socialfunding and sign the petition. Please read the post below to understand what the petition is about. Many Thanks!

Hello again. During the best part of last week and the start of this week I have been aiming to make more people aware of the Our Merthyr campaign. It is time that this group gets more support so that we have a good backing when stating our views to Huw Lewis, Dai Havard or any of the local councillors within this constituency. It is important that everyone right across the town has a say on what goes on and what changes are being made. It should not all be down to politicians to what is being done or what needs to be done the people of Merthyr Tydfil should have a say to improve our town to build upon what we already have. This is the reason I began this campaign to begin with I feel that people leave it down to politicians way to much and this is making cause for concern. It is time for change and we need YOU to help us change the way society runs. instead of having the politicians having all the say on what goes on it is time to make the decision making equal between people who live in the town and those who have the power. I have now registered the campaign with a national organisation known as “groupsnearyou.com” this will hopefully make people aware of what is going on and get more people involved with the campaign. If you can think of any other ways of advertising the campaign then please e-mail me on marcanthonyevans@yahoo.co.uk.

The next part of this post is in regards to a petition that I have attempted to set up on number-10.gov.uk. The petition is in regards to petition Gordon Brown to issue extra funding to local goverments right across the United Kingdom for the purpose of developing more social facilities which would be run by local governments. I have written to our Assembly member and our Member of Parliament regarding young people believing that consuming alcohol on the streets is regarded as the only social activity for young people. The other day I received a letter from Huw Lewis our Assembly Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney who agreed with me that young people regard consumption of alcohol as the only social activity avaliable to them despite there being youth clubs across merthyr already. However the initial problem is that young people do not know about the Youth clubs avalaible to them and those who do are not motivated enough by the facilities provided. extra funding would allow better facilities for the community to use and would hopefully get young people off the streets and into a supervised community centre. It is really great that the Rhydycar lesiure complex is being completed which will provide decent facilities for young people however this is only the start we need to keep developing facilities and giving people the reason to join community clubs as well as providing facilities in local areas of the town. In the letter Huw stated that transport would be avaliable to and from the Rhydycar complex however there will no doubt be concern regarding the safety of children going to and coming from the complex on their own during the evening and will transport be free or will we need to pay? There is a major concern regarding money across Merhyr and people may not be able to afford the costs of getting transport. Having better facilities in local areas of Merthyr Tydfil will give people somewhere to go locally and get people off the steets. I will provide a link to the petition shortly.

Shwmai, Well here we are another week, another post! On Saturday during my lunch break I was reading the daily mirror, when going through I came to a very interesting article regarding the governments plans to introduce a smoking licence to smokers which would cost them £10.00 per year. From people I have talked to regarding this topic there has been very mixed feelings with some including myself feeling that in certain aspects that this is a decent idea one of the first decent ideas I have seen come from a Labour controlled government (Westminster I am talking about now). I seriously consider this to be an idea that can go very far in terms of keeping the NHS afloat. Money taken in from licences will be pumped back into the NHS which would then cover the costs of treatment for those who smoke. This also follows onto people not being able to get served tobbaco products if they do not show a licence to the cashier and also police will get new powers to enable them to request to see the licence if they see anyone smoking on the streets. this will really cut back on the number of young people smoking and hopefully it will lead to people quitting alltogether. this will definatly take some of the pressures of the NHS. What do you think of these new plans? post a comment by clicking “post a comment” below the post title above.

Hello again to everyone who reads my posts. Today I have been attempting to get in contact with the management for the Wales Youth Parliament. This organization allows young people in Wales to have a say however I feel that the parliament has gone down hill due to people not taking much of an interest in it. I have seen the great success that has come of the Scottish Youth Parliament which allows young people to have a say in Scotland and have become concerned to why there is not much call for the Wales youth parliament. This is an excellent idea as it allows young people to learn vital life skills such as team building and developing effective communication for any job they wish to pursue later within their careers. It would be excellent if the management for the Wales Youth Parliament could get it up and running again and to get politicians across Wales listening and taking young people seriously upon matters that relate to them such as leisure and sport facilities. This leads on to the second part of this posts title, “E-mailing politicians”. This evening I have sent two e-mails one to Dai Havard our MP for Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney and the other to Huw Lewis our AM for Merthyr Tydfil & Rhymney. The E-mails were regarding the new Rhydycar complex that should be complete by the summer which will defiantly get some of the young people off the streets and into facilities that will improve their health and allow them to socialise within a  safe environment. The complex though will be great for people of all ages right across Merthyr Tydfil and will hopefully improve the health of a majority of people as well as creating jobs and getting people off benefits and into full time paid employment. I did send another E-mail this time to the management of the Wales youth parliament in an attempt to see if the parliament is still running and in an attempt to represent the young people of Merthyr as a member of the Wales Youth Parliament.