Dear Editor,

I would like to thank everyone who came to our latest pensioners get together up by Paulton Scouts Hall on May 30. We had some enjoyable games of bingo and Play Your Cards Right.

Pensioners also had cuppa and raffle. We also raises some funds for local charities.

Our next get together at the Scouts Hall will be on June 27 at 2pm, where Martin Radford will be entertaining us. Looking forward to good old fashion singalong and perhaps even some dancing. Everyone is welcome to come and have an enjoyable afternoon and meet new friends.

Thanks from Shandy Udell and friends

Dear Editor,

Thanks to the incredible generosity of the team behind Lumin&us, the Dorothy House Family Support Team are delighted to announce free access to the world’s first neuroscience and play-based digital family mental health solution.

By partnering with Dorothy House to support families facing life limiting illness, this revolutionary new mental health app lumin&us, for parents of children aged three to 12, will offer patients and their families free access to their award-winning, NHS approved wellbeing App.

Anne Montague – Psychological Support Lead, Dorothy House care services team said: “We are delighted to partner with lumin&us to offer a free, user-friendly digital tool for families in our care.

“This tool will enable patients and families to support young people at a time of crisis; before and after the death of a loved one.”

A digital addition to Dorothy House’s in-person and group therapeutic support and endorsed by healthcare professionals and organisations in the UK, USA and Canada (including the NHS and Adoption UK), lumin&us has helped more than 30,000 families since its conception in 2021.

Kindest regards.

Katy Hancock

Dear Editor,

I am really sorry to hear that another independent business is closing in Midsomer Norton later this year.

Having been a customer of Out of Asia from the very start of them trading it’s such shame the town is losing such a fantastic and unique shop.

What is the town coming to losing these types of shops on the High Street? We have many cafes, charity shops and take aways but nothing like this to entice customers here.

I’m sure the introduction to parking charges at South Road car park has a very major factor in the decision by Karen & Lynn to close, as for them and other employers and employees having to pay these charges it must impact on them financially.

Thank you Out of Asia for the wonderful items and gifts I have purchased in over 30 years of you trading, it’s been such a pleasure to come into your shop and be welcomed by two lovely ladies – Karen and Lynn.

Yvonne Dix

Westfield

Dear Editor,

As the Epsom Derby takes place this weekend and Royal Ascot soon to follow, it may be shocking for your readers to learn that Animal Aid has named more than three thousand race horses who have been killed as a result of racing on British racecourses since 2007. This approximates to one horse losing their life nearly every two days.

The body responsible for promoting a sport should not be the same body responsible for investigating it. Yet, this is the chilling reality of The British Horseracing Authority: a self-regulating body which is failing horses on an unprecedented scale.

Whilst the racing industry thrives on secrecy and deflection, here at Animal Aid we work tirelessly to bring the suffering of the horses into the public consciousness. Ask yourself this – if 3,000 humans had died after participating in a sport, would that sporting body continue to act with impunity?

And as a civilised, progressive, society, why is the death of an innocent animal seen as an ‘acceptable outcome’ of a sport designed purely for human entertainment and profit?

The horses did not consent to their involvement – their storyline is likely to echo being bred, separated from mum, sold, trained using harsh methods and painful aids, whipped, raced and then killed after trying their best.

The horses do not have a choice in their involvement in this cruel industry – but you do. Find out more at horsedeathwatch.com and help our campaign to end horse racing at animalaid.org.uk/horse-racing.

Nina Copleston-Hawkens

Campaigns manager, Animal Aid

Dear Editor,

Although not the most important thing on most people's minds, I thought I would just mention my sadness at seeing the amount of totally good books being abandoned at the Midsomer Norton recycling centre.

A quick glance in the recycled paper bin reveals heaps of books, many now out of print, being lost forever. Isn't there anything that can be done to save them rather than just bin them?

Maybe give them to charities and schools, or have them at the centre for people to pick a couple up for free? I would happily give some of them new life. A shocking waste.

Gary Walker

Dear Editor,

It is the hospice's 30th birthday and during Hospice week, on June 22, we are holding a cream tea event along with music at Lady Farm, Chelwood, BS39 4NN, from 2pm to 5pm.

All money raised will go to help children and their family make the most of short and precious lives. Entry to the garden £10, call Jane on 01761 470863.

Yours,

Jane Bowden,

Chair of the Midsomer Norton Friends Group of the Children's Hospice South West

Dear Editor,

When I first met Lydia, an 11-year-old student in Tigray, Ethiopia, I was struck by her confidence which clearly came from her mother, Shewit, who was also a teacher at her school.

Shewit was a great role model for her female pupils. Her determination to advocate for them fuelled by the pressure she herself faced as a child; to get married because of the belief girls couldn’t be educated, let alone achieve anything in life.

It was another five years before I saw Lydia and her mother again. The devastating civil war in Tigray made it impossible in recent years. In that time Lydia and Shewit faced unimaginable hardship, but they never gave up hope that things could get better.

Thankfully Lydia doesn’t have to convince her mother that education matters, but many of her peers do. Sadly, there are many girls in the countries where we work, that face huge barriers in accessing education.

At a time when there are so many harrowing stories of conflict and poverty – that often feel impossible to change – I often think of Lydia and Shewit, and the hope they have which inspires my own.

Shona Shea

Mary’s Meals UK