Asbestos in Schools

At the AGM in Brighton on 13th June 2018, TG members voted by majority to pass the motion that:

"TG urges HM Government, Local Authorities, and those responsible in law for the maintenance of educational facilities to ensure that every establishment that contains asbestos must produce an annual report for staff, pupils and their families. This report must explain how asbestos can affect health, where asbestos is present and how it is being monitored and maintained."

With the mandate passed, TG will seek to campaign in order to raise awareness of this issue. Further information on campaigning activity will feature in the Taking Action section below and in issues of Townswoman as and when it becomes available.

Taking Action

First and foremost, we would encourage everyone who reads this to sign the petition started by Lucie Stephens, who spoke so movingly in favour of the mandate at our AGM:

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/protect-our-children-and-teachers-from-asbestos-exposure-in-schools

There is also a video which we would urge you to watch and share so that more people can appreciate the true dangers of asbestos in schools:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hBJ7hhcrqE

If you would like to become more involved, we would encourage you to write to your local MP, local councilor and local schools to find out more about the situation in your area - please let TGHQ know if you receive a response.

For those who are not so confident in letter-writing, we have provided templates for you to use with the kind assistance of Lucie Stephens - you will still need to insert some details specific to the letter you are writing but need not change the rest unless there are particular points you would like to raise that are not covered by the template.

If you have any problems with the templates, please contact Rhiannon at TGHQ and she will be able to send a copy in a different format or through the post (in these instances, you may need to recreate the letters from scratch to enable you to fill in the blanks).

For MPs
Asbestos letter to MPs

If you are not sure who your local MP is, this website will allow you to find out simply by putting in your postcode.

For local Government
Asbestos letter to local Government

You should be able to find the name and address of your local council member with responsibility for education online; however, if you cannot find a name you could address it to "The Cabinet Member for Education" 

For schools
Asbestos letter to schools

When writing to schools, you can address your letter to "Head Teacher and Chair of Governors" and it will get to the right people - so don't worry if you don't have actual names to hand. That said, if you are writing to a school you have some sort of connection with (for example, where your children/grandchildren are attending), don't be afraid to add that detail into your letter.