May campaign wins

At the end of every month, we look through all of the amazing wins, press hits, and powerful moments of impact that our community has pulled off recently. And we are always floored by what we can achieve together in just one month, by taking actions large and small on phones and laptops across the country.

May has been no exception. In fact it might just be exceptional with how much we managed to achieve. So, at a time when progress can sometimes feel slow, take a moment to feel proud of every time you’ve helped prove that, together, we can speak out, be heard, and push for the change this country needs.

Fighting to save winter fuel payments

Last August the Government said they would scrap winter fuel payments. 38 Degrees supporters like you immediately spoke out, and side by side with others fighting to stop this cut, we hand-delivered 500,000 signatures from across the sector to Downing Street and projected our message across Liverpool before the Labour Conference. And when we heard rumours in the last few weeks that the Government was considering a u-turn together we leapt into action again – showing politicians just how popular a change in policy would be.

Well, it worked. Last week, the Prime Minister stood up in Parliament and echoed what so many of us have been calling for: that more pensioners should be getting help with winter fuel costs. It’s a huge shift – and we’ll keep fighting until that promise becomes a full U-turn.

You helped block water bosses’ bonuses

Thames Water’s £3 billion bailout was meant to keep the company afloat and improve services – but still they planned huge bonuses for executives even as families struggled with bills. Well we all knew how outrageous that plan was – and 109,230 of us demanded a stop to those payouts the moment they were announced.

Within days Thames Water paused the scheme thanks to the outcry, and the Government minister in charge of holding water bosses to account in the future even sent 38 Degrees supporters the following message:

“Thames Water appeared to be trying to circumvent that ban by calling their bonuses something different so they can continue to pay them. As 38 Degrees supporters and countless others pointed out, that was the wrong thing to do. I am very happy indeed that Thames have now dropped those proposals. I was very, very clear that the government would take any action necessary to prevent them trying to circumvent the ban we have put in law. It is right that they have now withdrawn their proposal to make those payments.”

Steve Reed, Secretary of State for Environment

And that’s not all on sewage. On Wednesday, after years of pressure from 38 Degrees supporters and people across the country calling for a crackdown on sewage dumpers, Thames Water was hit with a record £122.7m fine for breaking wastewater rules! And the even better news – customers won’t be footing the bill this time.

Making a media splash on benefits cuts

This week we blasted our campaign against the government’s cruel benefits cuts all over Keir Starmer’s constituency. And our stunt got ALL OVER the news.

Live on GMB News Susan Reid, Ed Balls, Kwasi Kwarteng and Jon Ashworth were all talking about it. One said: “If they hadn’t [done this], we wouldn’t be talking about it, so they’re clearly having some effect.” and “MPs looking at this will be frightened… They’ll be calling up the Government saying: we’ve got a problem here.”

Take a look at our headline grabbing stunt below. And if you want to chip in to help cover the costs you can click here to do so.

The Prince Charles Cinema is saved!

When the Prince Charles Cinema faced closure earlier this year, the 38 Degrees community leapt into action. 125,000 of us backed this iconic cinema’s petition in just 24 hours and made headlines everywhere. Now Westminster Council has listed the cinema as an asset of community value! Thanks to the actions of people across the country who care about protecting independent venues and culture – it now means if the cinema ever goes up for sale, the community gets first say.

Exposing NDA cover-ups

For too long employers have been using non-disclosure agreements to silence abuse survivors. Along with Louise Haigh MP, 92,000 of us rose up and demanded an end to this, and we delivered our voices to 10 Downing Street and a powerful event in Parliament with celebrity campaigners and MPs from every party. Your voices helped shape an amendment to the Employment Rights Bill that could finally end NDA abuse!

Digging deep into the local election results

We knew that after the election results in Runcorn, the Government would be scrabbling to try and figure out what went wrong. So we wanted to make sure they drew the right conclusions – and heard straight from people in Runcorn about what really matters to them.

So we organised in-depth polling and sitting-down sessions to talk to voters. It wasn’t cheap, but thanks to 38 Degrees supporters chipping in we gathered their experiences of cost-of-living struggles, NHS worries and the changes they want to see. Then we splashed the research across the media, making it impossible for the Government to ignore – and showing exactly what will happen if they don’t deliver.

A local win for greener homes

Back in 2022, Anne started a petition on the 38 Degrees website calling on Islington Council to simplify planning rules to make it easier to make listed and conservation area homes greener and more energy efficient. For three years, thanks in part to more than 2,000 of us in the 38 Degrees community, her campaign group lobbied hard and now – this Autumn – the Council will finally publish a brand new set of rules making it easier for more people to heat their homes. Go Anne!