Victory in Staffordshire!

Great news – we won! Staffordshire council have announced that they’re scrapping plans to start charging pupils £380 to get to school. This is a fantastic victory for all of us who stood up for Staffordshire’s free school bus service. And especially for Debbie Swan, from Staffordshire, who started this campaign on Campaigns By You – the new part of 38 Degrees where anyone can start campaigns on the issues that matter to them.

In just 3 weeks, over 2,400 of us signed the petition and hundreds came together in local protests. The publicity we created prompted headteachers in affected schools to write to parents. What started as a small petition in the village of Perton grew into a county-wide campaign.

Ben Adams, from Staffordshire council, said: “We have listened to parents and I think many valid points have been raised.” Our campaign made such an impact that the council didn’t even wait for their consultation to finish before making this decision.

Today proves that when we work together, we can do incredible things. And often all it takes is for one person to step up and take the lead, as Debbie Swan did in Staffordshire when she started this campaign on Campaigns by You.

Thanks to everyone who was part of this campaign – together we did it!

PS This time last year, we wouldn’t have been able to achieve this. We didn’t have ‘Campaigns by You’ then, so Debbie wouldn’t have been able to start her petition that helped persuade Staffordshire council to drop their plans. Without that, this achievement wouldn’t have been possible. And it’s because of the 5000 people who donate regularly that 38 Degrees has been able to hire more staff, build more campaign tools, and help do amazing things like this together.

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