The billboard campaign against the BBC cuts went ahead this morning and so far, it’s been a big success.  Billboards went up in 7 locations around the UK and a van displaying the posters parked out the BBC Trust offices in central London.  38 Degrees members met up outside the BBC Trust to ‘honk’ to say no to the cuts.  We had a great response from passersby, who honked their car horn or rang their bicycle bell when they saw our message to BBC bosses.

Our billboards mean that the first message new MPs are going to get from us is that it is critical that we defend the BBC.  Over the last few days we’ve had lots of opportunities to see how important impartial news is.  Our billboards send a clear and loud message that it is us, not millionaire media owners, who should have the final say on the BBC.

Please help spread the message further and save the BBC.  If you haven’t signed the petition yet you can do so here and if you have, please ask your friends, family and colleagues to sign too.

Here’s the video of us outside the BBC Trust:

Today, we got through the final designs for the Stop the BBC  Cuts billboards, that we paid for together with thousands of 38 Degrees members chipping in. They’ll be going up near BBC offices in cities all around the UK from 10th May, and we’re hoping people will walk, cycle or drive by and give a ‘honk’ in support of our campaign when they do.

Here’s how the posters will look on the big billboards all around the UK:

Billboards will go up where BBC bosses can't miss them

Hundreds of members helped by making comments about the first design (which we shared on our blog and Facebook a few weeks ago), and the designers have taken their main comments on board, by making sure there was a way for everyone to join in as they want past the billboards and by ensuring that we mentioned the cuts that members were most concerned about: 6Music, Asian Network and the website.

Nobody working for the BBC will be able to miss our message: these huge billboards on the doorsteps of their offices will send a huge signal that thousands of us don’t want them to cut services like 6Music, Asian Network and the BBC website. By bringing together everyone taking action to stop the cuts, we’ll make it clear that we won’t stand by and let millionaire media owners dictate what happens to our BBC.

What do you think? How else can we make sure BBC bosses get our message?

Over the last three weeks, a massive 32,851 of us have signed our petition against the BBC cuts, and 17,817 have also emailed the BBC Trust with a formal response to the official consultation. This is a fantastic response, and if we keep up this kind of pressure we’ve got a real chance of forcing the BBC Trust to drop the proposals.

If you haven’t added your name to the petition, or emailed the BBC trustees, please do so now, and ask your family and friends to do the same.

We will be sitting down with the other key players in the campaign next week, such as the National Union of Journalists and other petition sites. Together we’ll need to make sure we have plans to keep the pressure on right up to May 25th, when the consultation ends.

It is important that we work together to think of creative and intelligent ways to keep up momentum over the next ten weeks. Please share your ideas of how we can keep the pressure on.

Today we visited the BBC Trust in central London, to deliver the first batch of our petition – 20 000 names – to the key players in the decision to ’shrink’ the BBC. We wanted to give them a taste of just how big our response to proposed cuts is going to be.

Rob, one of our volunteers, dressed up for the event as a dalek from BBC drama Dr Who. We wanted to show the people at the top of the BBC what a well-loved institution it is, by bringing along a character from one of its most popular TV shows.

After getting some amused looks from passers-by (daleks are a rare sight in central London, apparently) we reached the home of the BBC Trust, where Rob delivered the petition to a member of BBC Trust staff. We told him that tens of thousands of us oppose cuts to the BBC, especially the axing of Asian Network and 6Music. We also made sure he knew that this is only the first of many actions we’ll be taking.

We’ve sent a clear message to the BBC Trust that we won’t stand for cuts. It’s important that we keep this pressure up for the period when the proposed cuts are being considered. We’ve got some great actions planned, but in the meantime please make sure you sign our petition, and that your friends and family do the same.

Say no to cuts to the BBC, here: http://38degrees.org.uk/stop-the-BBC-cuts

UPDATE: here’s our petition delivery video:

In the past week, a massive 29,000 of us have signed the 38 Degrees petition to stop cuts to the BBC. It’s clear that we’re not willing to put up with the closure of much-loved services like 6Music and Asian Network.

Tomorrow we’ll be handing in the first batch of our petition to the BBC Trust. We want to show the BBC in person what a huge outcry there has already been about the cuts. But this doesn’t mean that our petition is ending. As more people sign up in coming weeks, we’ll be visiting the Trust again to submit thousands more names to them. And we hope that together we’ll be able to think up many more creative and clever ways of making sure that our message gets through.

We’d love you to join us when we deliver the petition. We’ll be meeting at the Meze Cafe near Great Portland Street station at 1pm tomorrow before heading to the Trust. You can find directions to the Cafe here, or give us a ring on 020 7611 4728 if you’re having trouble finding us.

If you haven’t already signed our petition, please add your voice now: http://38degrees.org.uk/stop-the-BBC-cuts