A good starting point would be to reduce the extortionate daily charges. Perhaps then the energy companies wouldn’t be posting billions of pounds profits for their shareholders!
eelarts, Instagram
What about having a pension that wasn’t the lowest in the western world, so this wouldn’t be an issue? Also, why are MPs allowed a heating allowance that pays their energy bills all the time they are in parliament, even for second homes.
trickypierre4, Instagram
Charity begins at home
I am prompted to respond to Liam Geraghty’s article and subsequent correspondence concerning housing association accommodation provided with no fixtures, fittings or floor coverings.
The small national charity Housing Justice, for which I am a project adviser for its work in Wales, runs a service called Citadel which addresses this very problem. Running for several years in Wales, it is shortly to be launched in London, Bristol, Cornwall, Hastings and Sheffield. Citadel is a volunteer-led service to help find and sustain a tenancy and establish a home, starting with support for receiving benefits, welfare rights and appointments.
It can then include personal practical assistance from volunteers and co-ordinators for their designated individuals in need. Through their WhatsApp group contacts, Citadel workers can provide a phone, TV and clothes, and donations of furniture and basic kitchen equipment. Citadel is a small light in a huge area of darkness, but provides hope for the future.
Richard Trahair
We care a lot
There is a new group called Become, a charity for children in care but mainly for care leavers. The letter from Kerry Wilson suggests that when children leave care they are basically abandoned and yes that is what the government does. The arrival of this group is changing all that. I, in my younger years, was a foster carer and was aware of this situation when the young person reached 18. I was overjoyed to see this group start. This however shouldn’t have to be a charity as it would save the government money if it ensured housing, employment and counselling services. Without this kind of support, the chances of becoming a member of the prison population are quite high. Thank goodness for Become.
Kate Mason
Austen power
I enjoyed Helena Kelly on Austen. As a very old undergraduate with a sniffy attitude towards Austen, I recall my tutor scribbling ‘Don’t subvert her!’ on an essay in 1990. Interestingly, Kelly uncovers the problem with ‘academic study’ – its tendency to feed on itself and reproduce errors. A bit like politics! Kelly also unwittingly commits the same mistake: Donald Rumsfeld stole the famous quote. [Psychologists] Luft and Ingham’s Johari Window technique is the authentic origin of the ‘known knowns’, etc.
Linda Johns
RE: Editor’s letter, ‘Diminishing students’ futures by degrees’
Brexit has put a noose around Britain. It is stifling us.
leighton.lewis.391, Instagram
And the complete loss of access to Horizon 2020 programmes, a hostile environment that discouraged bright researchers from coming here, loss of our mobility within the EU, etc etc. (I am not bitter and twisted but it curtailed my career and led to a loss of income.)
marktsmith54, Instagram
Big Issue is demanding an end to extreme poverty. Will you ask your MP to join us?
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