Mumsnet campaigns and alliances

[JustineMumsnet]

Morning Mumsnetters,
Following on from something someone suggested a while back, we want to think about how we might use our MN muscle to campaign on things that matter to us - like miscarriage, breastfeeding support, premature sexualisation of children (toddler thongs) etc and also how we go about building links with voluntary sector organisations to increase that muscle. Policywonk and Onebat, dynamic duo that they are - have rashly agreed to collect our thoughts/help out a bit with organisation - so we'd be very grateful if you could let us have your two penneth worth on any and all of this stuff.
Many thanks.

Oh! Oh!

and getting Nuts and their ilk up onto the top shelf where they belong.

Could we get Sarah Brown interested in helping our campaign? (Still convinced she is a secret MNetter) She does a LOT of tweeting for charities and campaign.

Having the most prominent Mum in Britain (aside from maybe Myleen Klass) associated with our campaigns would be a great help.

"It would be easier and fairer to allow childcare to be tax-deductable at the basic rate against a second salary or a single-parent salary. If anyone can tell me why childcare vouchers should NOT be replaced by that system, I would be v. interested."

Well I agree that childcare vouchers should only be allowed to be off-set against basic rate tax, and that they should be available to the self-employed, but I disagree that you can do away with vouchers entirely.

The obvious flaws in your scheme are:

1. There would still have to be some kind of voucher system to ensure that the money being claimed as being paid to the childcarer actually was, and that the childcarer really was a childcarer. Otherwise you'd get huge fraud, or dodgy situations where one parent "paid" another to do childcare, thus effectively getting a tax free chunk of income, or childcarers gave a receipt for more childcare than they'd done, and split the profits with the parent. A salary sacrifice scheme paid through a 3rd party probably saves far more in fraud than it costs in admin.

2. I can see big problems with insisting that only working parents are allowed to benefit from this. What if you are a non-working parent but need childcare for other reasons - health reasons for eg, or to care for a relative, or to set up a business that's not yet generating any taxable income? Why should you be denied the chance to off-set it against your spouse's salary?

Also I think that part of the rationale behind making childcare vouchers an employer-run scheme, rather than a tax-return based scheme, was to make it accessible to the kind of people who would find filling in a tax return difficult or daunting.

One of the biggest problems with benefits and entitlements is the number of eligible people not claiming.

If you don't do a tax return (and most lower-income people don't) then the idea of embarking on one can be very daunting. An employer-run scheme is much more accessible in that respect.

fillybuster, I suspect the rather depressing answer is that as we are now in a time of high unemployment there is no longer any economic reason for the government to encourage mothers to go out to work.

1. I would have to come up with a good scheme for the actual administration

1. I don't think non-working parents should be able to offset it against a working parent's salary actually. I think the POINT should be to generate more income in tax i.e. get more people working.

Oh dear MP...now we have hijacked this thread and it isnt even with a good smutty fisting comment...

So I guess we have 2 options:

1. MP for Prez/PM

1. Try to keep childcare vouchers (but make them fairer/wider)

I know GB is likely to stand down/lose an election at some some, and that MP has a huge fan club (hell, I was at the book launch...I saw them for myself! ) but can I vote for #2 as being more likely this side of 2010?

Ohhh yes, Nuts, FHM etc onto the top shelf. good one.

Yeah we have messed up the thread AGAIN

Nuts AND Salt

Looky look don't they go nicely together. Two campaigns in one efficient slogan.

Ta Daaaa

as in "oi, get your salty nuts out of here"? Perhaps we need something a bit classier...

How about a campaign to make Greggs 'the Baker' disclose that their sausage rolls are nutritionally bereft?

Better training on bfing for MW and HV. Better training for HV full stop?

Law to protect women in Englands right to bfeed

Agree the 4 nappy rule is stupid and would be an excellent campain.

Improving CTC system?? Not sure where you would start though.

Free spa days for mothers of children who don't sleep through the night at 6 months as promised by the NHS's birth to 5 manual?

"Free spa days for mothers of children who don't sleep through the night at 6 months as promised by the NHS's birth to 5 manual?"
Oh yes, forget the 4 nappies thing, that's trivial - this one is much more important!
(Would I get 5, as DS is 2 1/2??)

oooh....spa days....

every disabled child matters

This was linked to me the other day as a good starting point

Anyone mentioned domestic violence charities like Women's Aid? Cos anyone who's spent longer than 10 minutes perusing the Relationships forum will see how important supporting them is.

Ideas I like

More support for families with one, or more, child with SN, really like the very simple 4 nappy project...small and achievable to start then we could deal with the bigger picture.

I'd love a campaign against PLayboy products for children, that Bunny Rabbit is not nice on a t shirt or pencil case.

Getting Nuts and the like onto a top shelf, redefining what 'adult' actually means, I don't think there's an age limit to buy one either.

Womensaid is a great charity to support, no political agenda either.

Women's Aid yy

also spa day idea

Thanks TW - and everyone.

Do keep 'em coming, it's a bloomin big suggestion box we've got here..

roffle at Nuts and Salt.

Campaigns like Changing Places - realistic and achievable but make a massive difference to SN families. Mencap is a good organisation to get involved with but Contact a Family is more relevant to parenting

www.karmanirvana.org.uk/ is losing funding fr the incredibly important work it does in particular with women and children affected by forced marriage and honour killing

another little campaign (or not so little) better assessment pathways and more support within education for children with autism/asd.

Anyone I know who's child is asd has a horrendous time to get them diagnosed and an even bigger fight to get the education system to support them.

Free spa days obviously.

Loads of great ideas but the nappy one is close to my heart. I have a child with SN but he doesnt need nappies.

But I also work as part of the Specialist Childrens/Child Development Team and so many of our families are affected by this stupid rule.

Not only is it arbitary but it ignores how hard it is to get large nappies if you need to buy them.

I like the fact that its a small issue so achievable but would make a lot of difference to so many families. I think it would raise the profile of children with SN generally and could led to bigger things.

(Fisting comments made me LMAO, rather apt I feel)

I think we need bite sized 'winnable' campaigns. [to start with till we get our grove - then it's PW for PM]

The 4 nappy rule would be a worthy one, the aim is easily defined and the result is easily measurable. The ripples could go far as chegirl says.

I also think regular mn posters should get a spa weekend - say on their 1000th post? That would be friendly.