UK rhythmic gymnasts get their chance at the London 2012 Olympics

The British Rhythmic Gymnastics Group are a talented and dedicated group of rhythmic gymnasts who have been training hard full time without funding to be able to achieve their dream of competing at London 2012.

According to caipaigner Claire Connolly, even though there is a host country place available for this group at the Games, British Gymnastics chose NOT to nominate them for the Games! At the Olympic Test Event, BG/BOA chose to set a benchmark score they wanted the girls to achieve. Despite being agonisingly short (.273 points) of this target on qualification day and actually exceeding the score during the finals - BG refused to give them the golden opportunity they worked so hard for!

Claire decided to protest the situation with a petition at GoPetition, "We, the undersigned, call for British Gymnastics to allow the GB Rhythmic Group to compete at the London 2012 Olympic Games."

In March this year, after collecting thousands of signatures, Claire reports, "Thank you so much everyone who signed the petition. The GB Rhythmic Group have now won their appeal and will be taking their rightful place at London 2012! Good luck girls!"

Now the British and general public can look forward to seeing the UK rhythmic gymnasts' group competing at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Well done to all involved!

Petition success for Forks of Salmon Post Office

The tiny Forks of Salmon Post Office located in the Six Rivers National Forest, California has been on the budgetary chopping block for some time. Even though congressmen obtained a postponement of the closing of many post office facilities across the country last December, the pressure to force general closures has been real.

Petition Success at Six Rivers

Congressman Mike Thompson said the closures would force seniors “to wait longer for prescription drugs and Social Security checks, while isolating rural communities. Consolidating processing facilities would put the jobs of hundreds of hard working men, women and their families on the chopping block, and in this economy losing those jobs in our community is something we can’t afford.”

Nearly 4000 post offices and other facilities across the country have been subject to an evaluation process in a massive overhaul of the entire Postal Services system.

In response to the porposed closure, local campaigners petitioned in support of the Forks of Salmon Post Office 96031, CA. Campaign organizer, Tina Bennett, drafted a petition to Lisa Giannetta, Manager of Post Office Operations, as follows:

"We, the citizens and customers of Forks of Salmon Post Office, 96031 CA, hereby protest any change in the present status of our post office. It is our desire to keep our post office at it present status - a United States post office operated by a Postmaster.

We have many concerns, among them the sanctity of the mail and the inconvenience your proposal presents to us in delivering and sending the mail, particularly accountable mail. We are especially concerned effect you proposed action would have regarding the purchased of postal money orders.

The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 calls for providing a maximum degree of effective and regular postal service to rural areas, communities and small towns where post offices that are not financially self-sustaining. We do not feel your proposals meet these criteria."

In response to the campaign the organizers received good news. On Friday, April 20, 2012 the group were informed that the United States Postal Services had  taken the Forks of Salmon Post Office OFF their shut down list.

In a note to GoPetition, the campaign organizer, Tina Bennett, comments, "I'm very glad I found GoPetition. I feel that the petition made everyone who was concerned about our post office empowered to voice their thoughts and support. My rating for your service is 10/10! Thanks once again."

Congratulations to those involved with the campaign. It is always refreshing to see petition successes whether great or small. And although Forks of Salmon Post Office may be tiny, the result is huge for those affected and who need access to vital postal services.

Additional source: Thanks also to the tworiverstribune.com

Petition Template Ideas for Online Petitions

Petitions templates can be very helpful for campaign organizers to appropriately structure their petitions. GoPetition has attracted a large volume of high quality online petitions that I can recommend as templates. 

High quality templates may be viewed in GoPetition's directory here. The petition samples outlined in the template directory have passed a baseline quality test. As petition examples, these samples provide a variety of formatting options. The formats of these suggested templates may vary considerably so I suggest that you peruse several of the samples listed. 

Some of the GoPetition petition template suggestions are in multiple languages and styles so there are a variety of options to choose from. The template directory is not exhaustive but offers some excellent ideas for any cause.

It should be made clear that the templates suggested are not for court processes or legal proceedings. Instead the templates are in the form of those for traditional signature gathering for causes and protests. 

What makes a good petition template? A quality petition template will show a clear structure. It will normally have a section for background information called the “Preamble” followed closely by the main “petition text” which is the exact call for action that signers will be asked to support. There will also be core and optional fields for actual data collection. Core fields usually include first and last names and email address, while optional fields include street address, zip or post code, and short comment.

In terms of logic, a good petition template will allow the author to:

  • Describes the circumstances which have caused the petition,
  • Suggest what is needed in the particular case of the petition,
  • Call for some form of specific action or refrain; and
  • Explains why action (or refrain) is needed.
  • Provide flexibility to display core and optional fields for data collection.

GoPetition welcomes questions from any campaigner who is about to launch a petition. GoPetition also offers a feedback service which is free. For those who need extra help I suggest browsing the GoPetition help page and info on how to write a petition.