Dear Editor,

After reading in last week's paper about Wellesley Park vying for having the worst potholes in Wellington, I think the second place should go to Rockwell Green. It's horrendous down there especially in and around Oaken Ground.

It's dangerous enough driving on the roads today as not only are you looking ahead and behind, you also need to keep looking out for potholes. Another thing the council needs to attend to are the all the drains in the town. They are all completely blocked. Maybe if they cleaned them out then the water would have somewhere else to go instead of flooding people's properties.

I realise it's an expensive process but in the long run surely it will be beneficial financially.

Kim Thorne

Mantle Street, Wellington

Dear Editor,

I note that our MP, Rachel Gilmour, says her team closed 1,279 cases in January and sent/received 3,381 emails.

I emailed her (for the first and only time ) in November ‘25 about the BBC’s handling of the scandal arising from Martin Bashir’s lie-based TV interview with Princess Diana, set out in a newly published book. I asked if Parliament would be looking at evidence of potentially criminal activity and a cover-up. I received an auto acknowledgment and was happy to wait for a reply. This came on January 28: a lengthy explanation of the Lib Dem policy relating to the BBC Licence fee (which I hadn’t mentioned) and about the issue I had raised….zilch! Other people have told me communications go unanswered.

Hardly a week goes by without our MP appearing multiple times in the local media and almost every day I receive notice of her Facebook posts. These publicity related activities must need input from her team. Perhaps they need to spend more of their time reading and answering incoming messages?

Yours sincerely,

Sandra Jones

Old Cleeve

Dear Editor,

Our councillors defend paying £20-million on consultants, supposedly saving us money. Isn’t it their job to look at the money they have and workout how to spend our money?

They don’t seem to have done a great job so far as Bill Revens is already asking the government for £11-million, he said two-thirds of residents don’t mind paying more tax this year, although some said not above 4.9 per cent.

Maybe if Mr Revens paid his staff the national norm and not agency staff, allegedly, we’d all be better off.

Sue Andrews

Address supplied

Dear Editor,

National Apprenticeship Week is an opportunity to remember that our younger generations deserve the same opportunities we had. They should have the chance to grow and earn their place in the workforce.

From February 9 to 15 across England and Wales, we showcased apprenticeships in the legal sector that encourage people to pursue a career as a solicitor even if they didn’t study law or have a connection to the profession. In England, the Level 7 apprenticeship has been central in opening this door.

We urge the UK government to maintain apprenticeship funding in England for people over 21. Level 7 solicitor apprenticeships continue to be the only route outside of university to qualify as a solicitor, due to specific requirements set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Solicitor apprenticeships are a strong pathway to the legal sector for many young people and are essential for the sector’s future growth. To engage the next generation of solicitors, we must make sure that the same training opportunities are equally available in both England and Wales.

Mark Evans, president of the Law Society of England and Wales

Dear Editor,

The first days of a baby’s life should be filled with hope and closeness. For parents whose baby is born premature or critically ill, those days are instead spent in neonatal intensive care units, watching over incubators and clinging to every small sign of progress. In those moments being close is not just comforting, it is essential.

Yet for too many families across the UK, staying close to their baby simply isn’t possible. When specialist neonatal care is needed, babies are often transferred far from home, sometimes at very short notice. Parents are left exhausted and distressed, travelling long distances each day because there is nowhere affordable to stay nearby.

The Sick Children’s Trust sees the impact of this every day. The charity supports more than 3,200 families each year at ten ‘Homes from Home’, providing a free place to stay just minutes from their child’s bedside at one of the most traumatic times of their lives.

In partnership with Bradford Hospitals Charity, we are launching an urgent fundraising appeal to build a new ‘Home from Home’ at Bradford Royal Infirmary, a vital lifeline for families with a premature or sick baby in neonatal care.

To support the ‘Keep Families Together’ appeal and help us build this vital ‘Home from Home’ in Bradford, please visit: www.sickchildrenstrust.org/fundraise/bradfordappeal

With heartfelt thanks,

Jane Featherstone (chief executive officer, The Sick Children’s Trust) and Laura Riach (charity director, Bradford Hospitals Charity)