Dear Editor,

Would you please allow me space in your journal to thank everyone who came to the Paulton pensioners get together on June 27. We had wonderful afternoon singing and dancing to Martin Radford, while also enjoying a raffle and a cuppa.

All funds going to local charities. Our next event is taking place on July 25 from 2pm at Paulton Scouts Hall, where we will be playing bingo, play your cards right and have a raffle.

We will also be having an ice cream man come to the hall to enjoy delicious ice creams. Everyone is welcome to join.

Shandy and friends

Paulton

May I take this opportunity to say a big thank you to the staff at Clare Hall Nursing Home and the young man from ASAP Taxis who helped so admirably when I took Doug out on Sunday morning.

I think he enjoyed seeing Midsomer Norton Station and his friends for the first time in 18 months. But it tired him out, so once more a big thank you to all concerned.

Jean Auckland

via email

Dear Editor,

Peter Scott's letter (Who gets rich?, Friday, July 4) seems another left-wing rant at probably, the only politician who cares for this country.

[Nigel] Farage may turn out no good - if Reform UK manages to overcome the worst political system in the world, outside of a dictatorship. Although it remains ironic that the man who so hates the EU, has won twice with two different parties, against the Labour and Tories, using the fair proportional represented Euro system.

Conversely, our first-past-the-post allows for far more vitriol from the two main parties, who hate the sight of each other - much to the detriment of our country.

A lot has been said about how bad the Tories have been over nine years (there was a coalition between 2010-15); and they were absolutely awful.

However, we cannot forget that Tony Blair came into power with the best set of economic figures - ever - for an incoming administration. Every economist has agreed this. However, he wasted it on illegal middle-east wars - which has been proven to be lies, and which has cost our country so many problems with terrorism since.

Moreover, Blair's early for EU nationals entry to work in Britain was going to be "13,000 per annum"; in reality it became 10 times that amount. Allowing individuals from less wealthy countries, obviously drives down wages for our own skilled people. And let's not forget the note in 2010 from Chief Secretary to The Treasury, Liam Byrne - "there's no money left, good luck". This started the 'austerity' claim from Labour.

As aforementioned the coalition and Tory administrations merely sought to copy Labour with uncontrolled immigration - and were worse than Labour ever were.

For those who consistently claim that European countries take in more migrants than the UK, I can confirm that the official figures taken from populations of the three largest EU nations between 2005 and mid-2024, clearly show that Germany +2.01-million, France +1.69-million, Italy +1.34-million, are dwarfed by the UK's +8.73-million.

Our freebies given to Channel migrants, accommodation, money, smartphone, healthcare etcetera, costing us an estimated £8-billion per annum; our overseas aid is still £7-billion per annum after the go-it-alone Boris Johnson and latterly Sir Keir Starmer both pledged more money to Ukraine than the EU nations.

Furthermore, our Oxbridge educated elite - straight out of university, often becoming SPADs (like David Cameron) but without a clue how to run a business, have let us all down badly.

I expect Peter may be one of those critics who believes Farage's idea of no-one paying tax below £20,000 a year would be tax exempt, is financial madness. Alternatively, they would be working - and some actually paying tax.

Additionally, after reports that those on maximum benefits are currently receiving similar payments to a working employee on £40,000, it actually sounds a good idea.

We just have to accept that the growing benefit bill is out of control. If we do not try policies differing from the ineptitude of those the two major parties have dished up - there will be the ignominy of the IMF waiting for us, come 2030.

Regards,

Jim Sokol

via email

Dear Editor,

Summer has arrived in a big way, and here at the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), we’re delighted to say it’s time to launch our fantastic library events for children as part of this year’s Summer Reading Challenge.

Developed by The Reading Agency, the annual Summer Reading Challenge encourages children aged four to 11 to sign up at their local library or online at summerreadingchallenge.org.uk. They’ll set a reading goal and collect rewards for their reading, including a certificate when they reach their Challenge goal.

The theme of this year’s challenge is Story Garden – Adventure in Nature and the Great Outdoors, brought to life with artwork by award-winning illustrator Dapo Adeola.

RNIB is partnering with The Reading Agency to encourage local libraries to run events which will get children making and thinking creatively about stories and books. The aim is to encourage more children with vision impairment to join the Summer Reading Challenge and to help sighted children develop an understanding of sight loss.

Activities include writing a nature-inspired story, creating a piece of art based on natural objects or running a sensory treasure hunt or story walk.

To complete the Summer Reading Challenge, children can read any books they like, including from RNIB’s library at www.rniblibrary.com in whichever accessible format they prefer, and these will count towards their Summer Reading Challenge.

Additionally, RNIB has created a special guide for library staff to help ensure events are as inclusive as possible. The guide can be downloaded for free from The Reading Agency’s website at readingagency.org.uk/resources/14404

For more information about the books available from RNIB and to find titles in accessible formats, visit www.rniblibrary.com

For more information about Summer Reading Challenge events happening in your area, pop in to your local library or visit the Summer Reading Challenge website here summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/join-in and click on ‘Library Zone’. Alternatively, head to your library’s website.

Lara Marshall

via email