Former Swindon mayor Derek will be fondly remembered

I was very sorry to hear of the death of former Swindon Mayor Derek Benfield.

I knew Derek for over 35 years, and over the past few years he has been a welcome contributor to my programme on Swindon 105.5

Derek was a great advocate and champion for Diabetes UK and used his personal experiences to encourage people to be aware of the dangers of uncontrolled diabetes.

He will be fondly remembered by many.

Des Morgan

Caraway Drive

Swindon

'Misplaced' concern for migrants' welfare

Given the level of gross incompetence demonstrated by both the current and previous Home Secretaries, it must surely be time for serious preventative action, given the ongoing media views of migrants being eagerly welcomed by the equally toothless and grossly incompetent Border Force’.

The Government’s concern for the welfare of these wretched people is grossly misplaced given the (current) PM’s probable intention to deny UK pensioners the triple lock on any pension increase. Billions instead spent on migrants.

It appears from reports that many of those crossing the channel ad lib are not from a war-torn country.

So Madam Home Secretary what are you going to do? Answers on a pinhead. Another example of ‘to hell with UK citizens’.

Just wait for the next election.

Perhaps the opposition parties can suggest a solution; for sure, this bunch of incompetents cannot.

Rodney J M Wirdnam

Whilestone Way

Free school meals for all primary pupils

More than half of parents with children aged 18 and under in Britain have been forced to cut back on food spending in the last 12 months as a way of saving money, according to YouGov research on behalf of the UK’s largest children’s charity, Barnardo’s.

The current cost-of-living situation has seen a quarter of parents forced to sell possessions and one in five parents have taken on new credit cards, extra debt or a payday loan.

Barnardo’s is concerned about the impact on children and is providing emergency support to children and families to pay for food, help with heating, warm clothing and, in some circumstances, to purchase goods such as fridges and freezers to ensure access to safe food.

No child should go to school hungry or return to a cold home, but the cost-of-living crisis is driving more and more families into poverty.

Families we support are struggling to afford food.

We know that growing up in poverty makes it much harder to achieve a positive future.

That’s why we’re asking the public to join us now by signing our petition calling on Government to introduce free school meals for all primary school children in England and do more to tackle hunger during the school holidays.

To show your support visit: Sign our Free School Meals petition at barnardos.org.uk.

Sarah Crawley

Director

Barnardo’s Cymru and South West

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