Dear all,
I'm speechless! As I write this the petition has gathered 1567 signatures, which is more than enough to get the attention of our decision maker, Newport City Council. In the past eight months since I last wrote, big things have happened regarding the petition!
Firstly, given that we had reached our goal, we began typing up a letter to Newport Council telling them about the petition, what it was for, how many signatures it has gathered, and how we spread the word. Once we had finished that and were absolutely sure that we had written all that we wanted to write, we posted it!
Sadly, as of yet, we haven't had a reply in any form from Newport Council. I myself posted the letter on January 5th, 2026, just over a month ago, but nothing has arrived. However, we are still fighting for this cause!
Our back - up plan, our Plan B is to not send another letter, but email the Council the letter, with something added to note how we had already sent a letter. Because, let's face it, emails are easier and quicker to respond to than a letter.
So, what's next? I'll next send an update when we either send the email or get a response, depending how long it takes to get an answer. Hopefully that will be my last update before we can declare this petition a victory!
Of course, I can't forget how much support the petition has had. Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition, shared it to a friend, donated towards it or helped it in any way. Right now £78 has been raised towards the petition. £78! That is worth approximately 7,500 views, or 300 signatures! I've said this before in another update, but it's still true that when I started this, on the fourteenth of May, 2025, I had no idea what was beginning!
Some of the most helpful people to me in the past nine months have been the other five members of Team Hedgehog. This petition has been a team effort and they're the best team I could've asked for! They were responsible for advertising the petition at the Cafe at Ridgeway (who do brilliant hot chocolates, definitely worth a visit), and Trinity Methodist Church, among other places. I thank the owners of all these places for letting us advertise there for no price. You have no idea how much this means to us!
So, what can you do now? If you are reading this you've most likely signed the petition, so you may think you've done all you can. But no! You could share it to anyone and everyone and advertise it with the QR code yourself! This would help loads!
Best wishes,
Team Hedgehog 🦔