As the Terminate the Rate campaign powers determinedly on we thought we’d get the thoughts of Kirsty Marrins. Kirsty is communications officer for the charity for dementia, a partner of Terminate the Rate.

1) What is your reaction to the campaign reaching over 100,000 signatories / 198 MPs supporting it / over 60 partners now on board?

for dementia and Uniting Carers for dementia is delighted with the over-whelming response so far from the public, MPs and partner organizations, however the battle has not yet been won and more signatures are needed to ensure Mobile Termiantion Rates (MTRs) are lowered. Carers and, in particular, full-time carers are faced with escalating bills and are increasingly having to dip into savings to pay for necessities. Mobile phones are often lifelines for carers and lowering the cost of using them will ensure that they benefit directly.

2) You said in your first post that you had featured the campaign on your website and the July edition of eNews as well as posting about the campaign on both your Facebook and Twitter profiles. Has there been any additional activity on these platforms since then?

We periodically tweet about the campaign as well as post the link to sign the petition on our Facebook wall. We also had the campaign up on our Homepage and it is featured on the campaigns page of our website.

3) How are you feeling about the campaign overall?

The campaign seems to be growing daily in support of lowering MTRs and a wide range of organisations are coming on board, which is really important in terms of raising awareness through their networks. Having partners such as for dementia, Carers UK, BT and Age Concern also adds to the credibility and it speaks volumes about the need for such a campaign and the lengths that partners will go to to support it.

4) What do you see as the most important campaign milestone?

The number of MPs signed up to the campaign is a fantastic achievement as they have the power to put these issues on the agenda. The people have spoken and it seems the Government is listening!

5) How is for dementia feeling in the run up to the submission of the petition?

We are feeling optimistic that the campaign will be a success, ensuring that everyone will reap the benefits of lowered mobile phone bills and that carers will hopefully be able to use the money they save on more pertinent things such as respite care, training or assistive technology in order to improve the quality of life for the person with dementia that they care for.

If you want to read more about Terminate the Rate then go to the campaign site where you can also sign the petition and help reduce MTRs lowering calls to mobiles for everyone.