We are writing to you as two Year 11 students at Churchfields Academy to respond to the letter that Mr Trevor Smith had printed in the Monday, March 19 edition of the Adver.

We are disappointed to note that Mr Smith has totally misinterpreted the relationship that Churchfields Academy has with Swindon Town Football Club. Our partnership is about much more than advertising, it is about getting Swindon Town, and the great outreach work that it does, embedded in our school.

Swindon Town players have visited the Academy to take part in our Celebration Event following the record examination results gained by the Academy last year, presenting awards and meeting students. Further visits into the Academy are planned where players will be supporting the Academy’s football teams, both the boy’s and girl’s teams, and working to support reading with students who struggle in that area, as part of the Premier League Reading Star’s campaign.

The club’s chief executive, Nick Watkins, will also be visiting the Academy to work with students who are keen to get careers in business, talking through his skills and experience. As part of the partnership, the Academy also get a group of tickets for each home game, and these have become part of the Academy’s reward system, with the Heads of Years having the chance to reward hard working or high-achieving students with tickets to see their team.

We were particularly upset to see the match sponsorship of the recent game against Dagenham & Redbridge described as “a jolly up”. We both have worked extremely hard towards our GCSEs over the past few years, and were delighted to be invited by Mr Flavin, the headteacher, to join him at the game as a reward for our sustained effort.

Having the chance to meet Paolo Di Canio and the players was a real dream come true for us, and our families were really proud of us for being rewarded for our efforts. To have our hard work cheapened and criticised in the local paper by someone we have never met and hasn’t taken the time to find out what the partnership is all about, has really upset us.

We, along with many other students at Churchfields Academy, are very keen Swindon Town fans, and are delighted that our school has built this partnership, especially at a time when the club is performing so well on the pitch.

We would have much rather had letters in the paper this week supporting the club and wishing them well in their game at Wembley, rather than ill-informed petty point scoring.

Isaac Chandler and Matthew Ball Students Churchfields Academy

Keep it going

I am writing in response to your article on the front page of the Adver of March 15. My three boys, who have all been members of the 18th Swindon Scout troop, have been attending the act of remembrance in Radnor Street cemetery since 2004. Mark Sutton, scout leaders and the British Legion have instilled an attitude of respect, missing in much of today’s culture.

Young men gave their lives and the children are encouraged to respect their sacrifice. My sons were all given a copy of the book written by Mark Sutton and it is an important part of the town’s heritage.

The council have supported this in the past and should continue to do so. Surely there is a risk in all activities around council properties – attendance to be restricted at the crematorium, public tip closed, use of mobile libraries etc! Therefore, a disclaimer is posted or liabilities accepted. A council responsible for so much good work and with so many pressing concerns to address, such an idea should never have been considered, even less reach the public domain.

Jo Harris Windsor Road Swindon

Part of the Union

Although I have never done so myself, I am astonished that Steve Thompson (Letters, March 17) should regard English people who choose to celebrate St George’s Day as unpatriotic.

By the same token, he presumably takes a similar view of Scottish and Welsh people who celebrate their national saints’ days, something that these folk, many far from right wing, will find it difficult to accept, I imagine. The dictionary definition of country in fact covers both the UK and its component parts.

Incidentally, the last conflict that England entered as a separate country was The War of the Spanish Succession (1702-13), during the course of which, by the 1707 Act of Union with Scotland, she became part of Great Britain.

I do agree with Mr Thompson, however, on the paramount importance of the UK, formed in 1801 following the Act of Union with Ireland, just in time to participate in the Napoleonic Wars.

The first great UK victory was of course the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar which, as I have said previously, secured us from the threat of invasion by France for the remainder of that conflict, and gave us command of the seas for more than a century.

Trafalgar Day could therefore be celebrated with unquestionable patriotism by English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish people alike; it might even persuade the Scots not to opt for independence in two years’ time!

Charles Linfield Bakers Road Wroughton Swindon

Rotary thanks

Adver readers will know that in the middle of February, Rotarian Terry Williams camped outdoors in a ShelterBox emergency tent on Highworth’s Market Place for seven days and nights to raise funds and awareness for ShelterBox, and also for Rotary’s campaign to rid the world of Polio.

On behalf of the Rotary Club of Swindon North, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone who supported Terry in this brave and unique effort. All the people who visited him will now have a better idea of the big difference a ShelterBox kit can make to those who have lost their homes and all their possessions because of natural disasters.

Donations for Terry’s event totalled over £7,000, which is fantastic, and beyond all expectations. Not only will the Rotary Club be able to buy 11 ShelterBoxes costing £590 each, but it will also send a four figure sum to EndPolioNow.

I would particularly like to thank the people of Highworth for their immense kindness and generosity. Also the Swindon Advertiser, BBC Swindon and Swindon Web for the publicity and all the businesses that supported and sustained Terry during the week: Bloomfields Deli, Brook’s Restaurant, The Co-operative, Cheque Interchange, The Globe, Haine & Smith, Hanleys, The Highworth, Highworth Pizzeria, Kebria Tandoori, KL Authentic, PG Events, Pulse Power & Measurement Ltd, Rafu’s Indian Restaurant, Stables Studio Graphic Design, The Saracens Head and Wrag Barn Golf Club.

Philip Matthews President Rotary Club of Swindon North

Save our space

We read that the coalition Government is going to make public servants have reduced salary if they live in poorer areas of Great Britain. This of course equates to areas that are more likely to vote Labour.

This trend is repeated on a smaller scale in Swindon, where areas with Tory councillors, like Dorcan, get thousands of trees planted, Croft gets a new green corridor and areas with Labour councillors, like Gorse Hill and Pinehurst, have the green corridor that starts there built across.

We do not want additional green space because others have it. That would be the politics of envy, nor do we want any additional green space. We just want to keep the green space we have.

We do not object to development, we just want to keep our parkland, land that has been public open space since before Gorse Hill was built and we want to keep the allotments that were cleared by the council, in a way reminiscent of the enclosures of the 18th century.

F Wilkins Norman Road Swindon

Give ban details

Your article begins “Households across Swindon will be subject to a hosepipe ban from next month”. It then goes onto report the ban will be imposed on all its 8.8 million water customers, adding garden sprinklers use as much water in an hour as a family used in a day, even emphasising the point “the needs of families must come first”.

Do the 8.8 million customers include non-domestic households – golf courses, horse racing courses, catering establishments etc? If these are not included, how will Thames Water look after the needs of families should the problem deepen?

I realise action is necessary, possibly overdue, but I just want to know how the restrictions will be applied.

T Combs Lansdown Road Swindon

Lost debate

What a disappointing reply from Alan Dempster. He’s clearly lost the debate with J Adams and is not man enough to apologise, a shame.

Whenever any of his future letters appears I, for one, shall totally ignore them.

S Nibbs Milton Road Swindon