514 signatures - I will extend Phase 2 to roughly 523 signatures (423+100)!
We have reached 514 signatures, which means that we have overtaken the Orthodox holiday recognition petition titled "Establish Eastern Orthodox Good Friday as a Public Holiday for Manhasset Schools", and with an extra chip-in push, we are within sight of reaching and overtaking the very petition that overtook this one when our signature count got stuck (Emma Tucker's very own bin strike petition), so we are once again neck-and-neck with our paths pretty much identical again, as the bin strike petition experienced a strong surge after roughly 423 signatures, much like this one has (so has seen an identical surge at the same numbers)!
Given that we already have 25 international signatures, extending Phase Two to roughly 523 signatures is no bad thing, because by the time (if everything goes to plan), we could have roughly 500 UK signatures and 500 international signatures upon hitting the 1,000 mark (the even 50/50 ideal split needed in order for our campaign to win).
We have also had another signature come directly from my update emails, which means I definitely have new subscribed supporters - my biggest fear after my emotional outburst in a July 2026 campaign update was that everyone would opt out due to my behavior/behaviour.
After reaching roughly 523 signatures, the moment I have been dreading awaits (when I start test targeting international regions). I am dreading it because that's when I find out whether my international reach is truly international or stuck in a UK echo chamber due to the platform's faulty flaws. 523 signatures is a good place to roughly start Phase Three as our current phase started at 423 signatures and given that our first target after 500 was only 514, continuing with the current Local scope was the most logistical option.
I understand that my first trial of international targeting will push the campaign to the back of the visibility queue, but now I have learned about how change.org's systems work, I will proceed with caution. Now that I am officially in the 500-1,000 signature range, I feel like my petition is allowed to be stagnant, as a lot of petitions completely stall out in the 250 to 500 signature range (much like most of the Orthodox holiday recognition petitions I have used as benchmarks for my own campaign to beat).
Our next official goal is 551 signatures to match the signature count of the petition titled "Include Orthodox Good Friday in NY School Holidays" though provisional because the petition is marked as active and can easily climb, which is why my old target was adjusted from 485 to 486) followed by 600.
I have found this Orthodox holiday recognition petition from 2016, which shows that this blatant lack of Orthodox holiday recognition is ABSOLUTELY NOT concurrent to 2026 or even the 2020s decade, it is a well-known problem that has blighted the lives of Orthodox students, parents, employees and elderly for generations.
I also found this Orthodox holiday recognition petition from December 2025 which has stalled out at 272 signatures, right in the zone where a lot of petitions get stuck, though only discovered it this week hence 272 was not an official target for this campaign, though had that number of signatures roughly around May 4th (this year's Early May bank holiday) as we crossed 260 precisely on May 1st.
https://www.change.org/p/grant-orthodox-students-january-6-and-7-as-holidays
Status of my other active side projects:
Most of my side projects are closed as I am not currently working on them (which I can and will reopen at some point) but regarding my other active side petitions on the platform, the unrelated local petition one I put on hold at 241 signatures before we hit the big milestone officially hit its own "quarter-thousand" signature milestone yesterday (September 8th) just like we did back on April 25th, and has since surpassed the total number of signatures (253) as my closed US election reform petition with absolutely no US signatures completely naturally without me spending a single penny to promote the campaign.
My joke petition to stop the days from getting shorter too has also gained over 180 "protest signatures" completely naturally without a single penny to promote the campaign.
My spinoff petition to educate the UK public about summer solstice twilight has surpassed 50 signatures (meaning there are more than 50 fewer "ignorant Brits") and my spinoff meta-petition regarding IP address geofencing is well on its way to hitting the 100-signature barrier it needs to reach to officially trigger decision makers on the platform (which hit both the 70 signature and 80 signature milestones today, September 9th).
I am bypassing the platform limit rule by posting the status of those petitions own signature counts in this campaign update (something I can do as I run many campaigns on the platform).
Ro---- Miles Ash----- (Mr. Easter)