THANKS

WE would like to congratulate and pass on our sincere thanks to everyone who participated in this year's Great North Walk which took place at

Wolsingham, County Durham, on July 23. There were over 4,000 walkers from all over the North-East and other regions of the country.

The British Lung Foundation was fortunate to be nominated as the preferred charity for support and we know that a great many people did support us on the day.

All the money raised from this sponsored event will support vital lung research into all conditions which affect eight million babies, children and adults in this country. The British Lung Foundation relies on voluntary donations and the support your readers give us is invaluable. Many thanks to all our fund-raisers. - Beverley Wears, Breathe North Regional Manager, British Lung Foundation.

WE'D like to record our appreciation to all those concerned in arranging the charity football match on July 22 at Ferens Park between HMS Invincible and Durham All Stars.

The contribution of £264 from the football match is an excellent boost to our funding, but perhaps more important was the spirit of all concerned in staging the event. - Roger, Director, The Samaritans of Central Durham.

OPERATION LANCET

THIS inquiry seems to be going on forever, never mind the cost to the taxpayers.

How long before we get Ray Mallon and all the other efficient officers back on the streets working on Zero Tolerance?

Will the extra money from the Government for policing get some more officers on the beat, or be sucked into the enquiry?

I heard some of the surrounding police authorities have got results from Zero Tolerance. I think the Government's policy on public rights to information does not seem to apply to places like this, where information is jealously guarded. Let us hope that common sense prevails and the Police Authority comes to its senses and realises that this enquiry has been going on too long and the money spent could have been used more usefully by putting more policemen on the beat. - N Hodgson, Marton, Middlesbrough.

ASYLUM SEEKERS

EVEN though the money spent supporting refugees amounts to a vanishingly tiny fraction of the total welfare benefits budget for UK citizens, B Jones invites me to reflect on the old adage "charity begins at home" (HAS, July 25).

So if someone bangs on my door and tells me she has been raped, her family murdered and her house burnt down, I first ask where she comes from. If she is from my home town I offer my help and raise no objection when she is cared for by police, social services, etc., paid for by my taxes.

If she comes from another country, I call her a scrounger and tell her to go home, even if this means she may suffer the same fate as the rest of her family.

I know this is not what B Jones intended, but "charity begins at home" can provide a trite excuse for selfishness and inaction, and conflicts with better principles like "do-as-you-would-be-done-by" and "love thy neighbour as thyself". - Pete Winstanley, Kimblesworth Grange, Chester-le-Street.

DOES John Seacroft realise that the people he calls asylum seekers (HAS, July 22) are mostly illegal immigrants who have been coming into our country in their thousands and have done so with very little hindrance from this Government?

His remarks on right-wing views are silly. Does he not realise that we have thousands of our own people who can do with help who have lived and fought for freedom and paid their taxes and are now old and require all the help to survive. - F G Wealands, Darlington.

PENSIONERS

WHETHER or not the Chancellor of the Exchequer's pre-election distribution of the nation's wealth proves to have been prudent or not, one thing is certain: he didn't spare a thought for senior citizens despite his earlier generous 75p increase in pensions.

Moreover this would have been a great opportunity to bring back pensions-linking to wages.

And what has happened to the Government-commissioned report on care for the aged? Gathering dust in the Department of Health because the money to introduce the recommended changes can't be found. It is scandalous that decisions on the report have been shelved repeatedly.

Mr Blair is now renowned for being out of touch and in danger of being deserted by his erstwhile supporters. Let me tell him something that is common knowledge. Senior citizens are very significant as a bloc vote and if he and the Chancellor, despite being big spenders, continue to ignore their needs, a lot of his present MPs will find themselves out of a job after the next election. - R K Bradley, Darlington.

SINGLE CURRENCY

THE comments made this week by Sir Eddie George, the Governor of the Bank of England, highlight the importance of real and sustainable convergence between the British and Eurozone economies before we can consider joining the euro.

There are some politicians in Britain who think that convergence is something that can be 'achieved" by short term political manipulation of our economy but Sir Eddie George and British businesses know that convergence cannot be fixed.

It was political manipulation that led to the problems we had with the ERM which caused the collapse of 100,000 businesses and caused unemployment to double.

If we abolish the pound and join the euro we risk repeating the mistakes of the ERM by shackling ourselves to a one-size-fits-all interest rate set by the European Central Bank. This rate would rarely be right for Britain because our economy is different to the Eurozone and needs to be managed differently.

The Governor of the Bank of England is right. Britain should not be rushed into joining the euro for political reasons. We must make a sensible judgement based on what is right for our economy. We should also consider the long-term implications of joining the euro because this would be an irreversible decision and there would be no way out if things went wrong.

British businesses have already considered the economic implications of abolishing our currency and locking into the euro. That is why nearly three quarters of them want to keep the pound. - John Elliott, Chairman, Business for Sterling North-East, Darlington.

FOXHUNTING

I READ the letter (HAS, July 24) on fox-hunting by John Haigh, the spokesman for the Countryside Alliance. In it, he said: "It is no part of the Parliamentary process to foist the prejudices and opinions of a majority on to a minority."

I am afraid, John, in the real world that we live in it is part of the process. It is called democracy. - Name and address withheld.

WILF Hytton's misguided views on hunting (HAS, July 7) are not reflected in the recent report by the Government-instigated Committee of Inquiry into Hunting with Dogs chaired by Lord Burns. The report concluded that hunting is no less humane than other practical alternatives, that it accounts for several thousand jobs, that it has a beneficial influence on conservation and that it is a vital part of the social and cultural life of many communities.

People who read the report will see that it provides a major step forward in rescuing the hunting debate from prejudice and misguided opinions.

The Burns Inquiry findings have provided no justification for singling out hunting for any kind of ban. - John R Haigh, Area Public Relations Officer, Countryside Alliance, Northallerton.

WITTON PARK

WE had the pleasure of being among hundreds of people crammed into the Witton Park Community Hall to meet ex-villagers from as far away as Australia, Canada, New Zealand for this special event: a get together of old friends and neighbours.

This was village community life at its very best, full of friendly people and nostalgia. It was nice to see the surprise on faces when each one recognised each other after all the years.

Congratulations to all those who helped to organise this special event and made it a day to remember.

My wife Margaret, her two sisters and brother and late mum and dad, were born and brought up in Witton Park, leaving in the early 1950s. Both my wife and her sister, Teresa, were full of pride to be present. Hold your heads up high, Witton Parkers, wherever you may be now. You did the area proud on July 22. - T and M Kelly, Cockton Hill, Bishop Auckland.