Anonymity is granted only at the discretion of the editor, who also reserves the right to edit letters.

Kindness exists

I WOULD like to say a very big thank you to the anonymous person who found my 25 year service watch and handed it to the manager of Tesco Extra, Trowbridge. Whoever you are, your honesty is very much appreciated.

Ken McCall, Pine Walk, North Bradley

Noisy roadworks

THE council are once again showing complete contempt for the people of Westbury - this time they are digging up Warminster Road and causing long delays and traffic chaos throughout the whole town.

They were digging up exactly the same part of the road about 2 weeks ago - this time in the evenings and not taking into consideration residents along Warminster Road at all. Although the workmen were supposed to finish before 11pm they were often still using heavy machinery and crashing around up til midnight.

When I sent in a query as to why they were digging the same road up again - all I got was a letter which was obviously meant to have been through our doors, but the council couldn`t be bothered - they just expected us to put up with their inconsiderate behaviour.

Ms Stroud, Warminster Road, Westbury

Keep help going

AS A resident of Wiltshire Council, I wanted to bring to readers’ attention an issue that concerns me locally. Our council (like many others across the country) currently has a small pot of funding that provides a safety net for vulnerable families in financial crisis.

These emergency funds – called Local Welfare Assistance Schemes – are a lifeline to those with nowhere else to turn.

However drastic funding cuts in recent years has put councils under huge financial pressure. As a result, I’m concerned that in the next round of budget planning, the funding available for this important scheme could be reduced, or cut completely. This could be disastrous for some of the most vulnerable families and young people in the area.

Research from The Children’s Society shows that on average funding for local welfare provision equates to 0.3% of a council’s total budget. This feels like a relatively small amount of money for something so vitally important to those most vulnerable. I do hope our council will commit to protecting our Local Welfare Assistance Scheme to support families and young people in crisis, as well as calling on the Government to properly fund this type of support in the future.

Robert Miller, The Elms, Holt

Tell us good news

THREE letters published on 2nd August arguing for Brexit, one of which described me as a ‘serial Remainer correspondent’, making me feel very pleased and flattered.

I’ve given loads of examples of good things we would lose by leaving the EU, but none of the pro-Brexit letters actually tells us what would be better for us after we leave.

Please will someone write with examples of real everyday things that would certainly happen quite soon after Brexit and would definitely be better for us and our families.

Vivienne Kynaston, Elms Cross Drive, Bradford on Avon

Help is out there

THE anticipation of waiting for exam results can feel overwhelming for young people, and August can be a particularly difficult time. Students can struggle to cope during this time, with pressure and expectation to get into university or to secure certain results weighing heavy on them.

The burden can seem all-consuming and it is important that teenagers feel well supported by their family and friends, and able to share how they are feeling with friends, trusted adults or Childline.

Childline receives hundreds of calls from young people who are apprehensive about what is to come. The uncertainty can be unsettling, especially if they don’t then get the grades they’d hope for, and often they’ll be worried about letting those around them down.

Parents and carers can help by not placing pressure on their children to get specific grades and making themselves available to talk if their child is ready to open up about how they are feeling. Once they’ve got their results, it’s important they feel supported, and that teachers, parents and carers encourage them to take time over their decisions and help them explore the options available to them.

If they are not sure they can talk to anyone they know about how they are feeling, Childline is free, and offers confidential support and advice, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year on 0800 1111 or at www.childline.org.uk.

Adults seeking advice on how they can best support their child can contact the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000 or visit nspcc.org.uk.

Candia Crosfield, NSPCC Schools Service Manager for the South West of England

Ban is called for

In recent years the Government have quite rightly banned sports advertising involving cigarettes, an addiction which causes so much suffering to many.

I can therefore never understand why it still allows sport to allow drink and gambling companies to continue sponsoring and advertising. Both are major stressors to society and if addictive wiLl cause so much misery to the individual and family.

Isn’t about time the Government took a moral stance and banned the practice. Or has it not got the bottle with the risk of loosing popularity and revenue.

Roger Carey, Cornbrash Rise, Trowbridge

Britain’s last PM?

THE Boris Bounce is punctured and deflated.

At present Boris Johnson’s working majority after losing the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election is just one MP. He has just become the fastest new prime minister ever to lose a by-election in British political history. And UKIP was pushed into last place by the Official Monster Raving Loony Party.

Brexit has been blocked and thwarted as much by infighting between the differing factions of extreme brexitism, as it has by Remainers, if not more so.

A Brexit Party spokesman has actually stated categorically, “While we have a government led by someone nobody has ever trusted in his entire career, why should we trust the Tories? Why should anyone in the country trust the Tories?”

And Nigel Farage refuses to consider any electoral pact with the Tories whilst the controversial Brexit “mastermind” Dominic Cummings, appointed by Boris Johnson, is involved because Farage says he holds “huge personal enmity towards true believers in Brexit”

Yet while this farce plays out, a leaked Whitehall document reveals the possibility of widespread consumer panic, possible food shortages, rising crime and economic chaos within the first fortnight of a no deal Brexit, all understandably feeding into deep seated concerns. Already about 50% of Britain is stockpiling food, medicines and clothes as the country reputedly heads for a no deal.

Now Boris Johnson proposes to spend £100 million on propaganda in a probably vain attempt to diffuse these no deal fears, despite the road hauliers organisations telling him that the contingency planning set up for last March’s no deal crisis has been allowed to lapse.

£100 million propaganda is on top of billions allocated to repair the self inflicted no deal Brexit damage whilst our economy weakens, four million live in poverty, Jaguar, Honda and Vauxhall moving jobs from the UK, NHS patients not getting advanced cancer treatment and rising knife crime.

The obscenely distorted priorities of the present government ignore the serious needs of the people of this country and its economy. Dominic Cummings has admitted frankly “voters are right to think Tory MPs largely do not care about poorer people or the NHS”.

These self centred fanatics are quite happy to see the UK break up. There is even talk of Welsh independence and a referendum on a united Ireland. The DUP want to cling to the UK yet their support for extreme Brexit looks set to break it up!

Deep distrust of the Johnson government is forcing the other UK communities to look to their own salvation. He could well be the last ever British prime minister.

Andrew Milroy, Bellefield Crescent, Trowbridge

Charities thanks

FOLLOWING the most successful open garden weekend at Middlewick House, Corsham, (3-4 August 2019), we would like to thank everyone who supported our charities.

The event, in its fifth year, was tremendously popular and we had in excess of 2,000 people attend each day, a substantial increase on the 700 per day two years ago.

First of all our thanks go to the residents living near Middlewick House for their kindness and tolerance and to the landowners who allowed people to cross over their land to leave the site.

The gardens are open by kind permission of Nick and Annette Lynton Mason, both valued supporters of our charities, and we thank them for their overwhelming generosity.

Visitors enjoyed strolling through their beautiful gardens, seeing Nick’s collection of cars, their menagerie of animals and browsing the numerous stalls. They also had the opportunity to climb the Wiltshire Outdoor Learning Team’s wall, watch CPR demonstrations as well as tuck into a selection of cakes and food from the barbecue.

Altogether the event raised over £40,000 – a record amount – to be split between our charities.

This vital funding will enable The Wiltshire Bobby Van Trust to visit and safeguard 142 homes while for Wiltshire Air Ambulance it will enable us to continue saving lives, as we have been doing so since 1990.

Finally, we thank all those people who volunteered at the event, donated items for sale or raffle prizes and everyone who visited over the weekend.

Collectively your support has benefited charities helping people all over Wiltshire.

Jennie Shaw, Director, The Bobby Van Trust, Barbara Gray, Director of Income Generation and Communications, WAA