Margaret Greenfields

Day 2 of #umignet26 - an absolutely fabulous and dynamic day yesterday- and this morning we have a keynote from the brilliant #michaelachan from @WORCrights on the legal and policy implications of new earned settlement proposals from @UKLabour & class, race and gender dimensions

And we are off! 4th #umignet26 - this year at @MiddlesexUni - powerful call to action for #academic_activism from opening speaker @neelamraina making the moral case for challenging the #hostile_environment . Using robust data and academic rigour to influence policy and practice

Good grief, this horrendous: a large warehousing scheme which would uproot more than 10,000 trees is set to get approval. The three new warehouses in Carrington, Trafford, would destroy habitats for birds, bats, hedgehogs and amphibians. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

'Share' if you want to see an end to fox hunting for good.

Sadly around 230,000 cats are hit by cars every year in the UK. A lovely local supporter asked if I’d share this campaign by CatsMatter & Cat Eccles, pushing for better protections for cats injured on roads 🧡🐾 Please sign/share if you can: #main-content" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">petition.parliament.uk/petitions/7506…

Inverse Education Law – areas with higher health need often have the fewer placements. Inverse Workforce Law – same communities struggle to attract and retain permanent healthcare staff. They create self-reinforcing downward cycle of disadvantage. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

HUGE NEWS! This morning, the owners of Newcastle Waters instructed management to immediately cease plans for the culling of 20,000 native corellas & galahs. When thousands of Australians speak up for our iconic nature, the world listens. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

#Birds What do you think about this? British-owned beef giant CPC has been granted a permit to poison and kill 20,000 native galahs and little corellas at one of their vast cattle stations in the NT, Australia. In its permit application, CPC admits its practices created the problem: “grain production, on-site storage, and cattle feeding have provided an artificial food source.” Ornithologist Dr Lilleyman was "shocked" to learn of the NT government's decision to grant the permit. She said that Birdlife Australia is concerned about the potential for secondary poisoning of non-target species occurring close to "an internationally significant wetland". CPC has ten cattle stations on about 9 million acres. They supply cattle and beef to Asian markets, domestic feedlots and processors, and export live cattle. The company is owned by Guy and Julia Hands through the Hands Family Office. They live in Guernsey after leaving England to avoid UK tax. CPC has also applied for massive water licenses for irrigation projects to grow grain sorghum and other crops which will inevitably attract even more birds. So what happens then? Even wider-scale poisoning of native wildlife?

There’s a shoe that adjusts and expands five sizes and lasts a child up to five years. It was invented by a young American named Kenton Lee, who was volunteering at an orphanage outside Nairobi, Kenya in 2007. Walking to church one day with the children, he looked down at a girl beside him in a white dress and saw she’d cut open the front of her shoes so her toes could stick out. Her feet had outgrown them and no new ones were coming. He went home to Idaho and spent the next six years figuring out how to build a shoe that could grow with a child. Nike, Adidas, Crocs, and Toms all turned the idea down. He ended up buying 20 pairs of Crocs himself and cutting them up to prototype it. The Shoe That Grows finally launched in 2014. Around 400,000 pairs have now been distributed in over 100 countries. Over 1.5 billion people worldwide get sick from soil parasites that enter the body through bare or exposed feet. Mostly children.

Please retweet and spread the word! What to do when you find a grounded swift 👇

What an amazing privilege to be @QUBelfast for the important symposia on access to higher education for diverse #Romani #Travellet #Roma communities - thanks to @RalucaRoman for bringing together Policy/Practice/Community and HE representatives for crucial debates

Nightingales are at risk....😡👇Come on @HomesEngland why here? A wildlife charity is objecting to plans for 450 new homes due to concerns they could threaten resident nightingales. Homes England's proposals is for land next to the Chattenden Woods and Lodge Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) says the area is the most important nightingale site in the UK and is home to more than 1% of the country's population which could be disturbed by humans and pet cats if the plan is approved. Homes England said extensive surveys had allowed it to understand how future impact could be avoided and its plan had been shaped in consultation with ornithological experts. A spokesperson for the developers said: "They [the proposals] are evidence-based and designed to minimise risks to nightingales, with clear measures in place to mitigate any impacts. "As part of our long-term commitment to nature-positive objectives, the plans include significant improvements to nightingale habitat across the wider Lodge Hill estate." Concerns about the impact housing could have on nightingales in the area were also raised in 2013, and they were flagged again 10 years later. The RSPB says nightingales usually return to the same place to nest every year and nest on, or near, the ground so their eggs and young are at higher risk. It added that the UK's population of nightingales had already suffered a 41% decrease between 1995-2023. Read more here: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

Red squirrels 'close to extinction' in England @BBCNews Hard to believe that our beloved red squirrel is close to extinction and could disappear in 25yrs! It isn't enough that they "cling on" to life across Cumbria, Northumberland and North Pennines We have a duty to our children to save and nurture fellow species #WakeUpWorld bbc.co.uk/news/articles/…

My refrigerator sent me a push notification that I'm eating too much dairy. I didn't ask for this feature. I just wanted a machine that dispensed crushed ice and kept my milk cold. Instead I bought a $3K appliance that acts like a judgmental nutritionist. Yesterday I tried to open the crisper drawer to get a block of cheddar. The fridge locked the drawer and suggested a handful of almonds via the LCD screen. I'm a grown man paying a mortgage. I had to unplug the entire unit just to make a grilled cheese sandwich. Now all my condiments are warm but I've reestablished dominance over my kitchen. Tomorrow I'm going to eat a stick of butter right in front of the internal camera. I won't be bullied by a Samsung.

Very Important Message!! Do NOT, and I repeat do not buy plants treated with Neonicotinoids. Bees take the pollen back to the hive and feed it to the brood. This is a number one cause of the colony collapse. It's important to NOT buy these plants! Make sure to share this post!

The Government has finally confirmed that the all badger culling will end including in the last cull licence area in Cumbria. After 13 years & the slaughter of 250,000 badgers at a public cost of £100 million this tragedy is finally over. We must now ensure it never starts again under a new Government in 2029. Well done to everyone who took to the fields marched in the streets and stood outside the Courts to end this this cruel costly madness

About 5000 to go.. come on peeps..

Digitalisation is “for your convenience.” - try explaining that to the 3 million people who are not online in the UK. The majority (67%) are aged 70 or over. The digitalisation of everything is creating digital exclusion for millions of people - in particular, our elderly.

I ALWAYS root for the BULL. I have no sympathy AT ALL for the bullfighter.