Letters - January 7, 2019

I'm in my 80s and shop on the internet

There is much talk about saving our high streets and how online shopping is having an effect on them.

As someone in their late 80s with limited mobility, I would like to say a few words in favour of online shopping.

Without it, I would not have such a choice of items.

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For example, if I am looking for clothing, I can compare items in stores such as Jaegar, John Lewis and Matalan.

There is no way I could find my way around so many stores.

To park my car and make my way to shops is a painful and hazardous journey.

Another aspect of online shopping, which I don’t think has been mentioned, is the fact that many retailers, including the supermarket who I buy the bulk of my groceries from, make a donation to my favourite charity with all my purchases, at no extra cost to me.

I just have to click on to the easy fundraising website to start shopping.

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Old age, the internet and online shopping really do go together.

I still shop locally, I have a milkman and real milk in glass bottles left on my doorstep, and a fishmonger who calls at the house. But, please, do not knock online shopping – there are those of us to whom it is a blessing.

Sheila Hopkinson

Address supplied

TRANSPORT

Come and see our decaying roads!

Mayfair Road (adjacent to my Blackpool house) used to be quiet and congenial. It is now a 40 mph rat run with pointless funnel entries at both ends.

It is in a worse state of repair now than it has been for over 50 years. It’s riddled with splodges and potholes.

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There are also sections of nearby Glastonbury Avenue (west) and Greenwood Avenue that need resurfacing. Bloomfield Road, expensively redesigned a decade or so ago is gradually deteriorating.

I suggest that the council leader should go on a tour of Tyldesley Ward and see its run-down state for himself - then set about rectifying it.

Ian Jackson

Park Road
Blackpool

APPEAL

Best foot forward for
fatal illness research

Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) would like to invite your readers to take up a charity place for The Big Half, taking place in London on Sunday, March 10.

Public entries sold out quickly for The Big Half - a half marathon from London Marathon Events Ltd which shares much of its 13.1 mile route with the world famous London Marathon - but you can still enter with an MRF charity place and join the fight against meningitis and septicaemia.

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Anyone looking for a New Year challenge is welcome to apply for a charity place with MRF, regardless of whether they’ve been affected by the disease personally or not.

The Big Half is set to be a celebration at the heart of London with DJs, bands, food and plenty of colour.

To find out more, visit www.meningitis.org/big-half-1 or contact Jenny on [email protected]. The deadline for signing up is Friday February 8.

Meningitis and septicaemia are deadly diseases that strike without warning. One in 10 people affected will die and a third of survivors will be left with after-effects, some as serious as brain damage, amputations, blindness or hearing loss. Babies, toddlers and teenagers are the most at risk but anyone can be affected at any age.

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The money that runners raise will help support MRF’s lifesaving research into the prevention, detection and early treatment of meningitis and septicaemia and will allow the charity to continue raising awareness and supporting those affected.

Jenny Robinson

Meningitis Research 
Foundation

TRANSPORT

Why are fuel prices still going up ?

In September the price of a barrel of oil was $72. Today it is $52 a barrel.

If this is so, why is petrol and diesel going up? Surely if it has come down by 15 per cent, prices at the pump should be coming down by an amount similar. Someone is making a lot of money out of this and it is not the motorist.

Mel Smart

Via email

NEW YEAR

I’m optimistic things can’t get any worse!

2019: I’m optimistic that things are going to get better... after all they can’t get any worse!

julie moss

North Shore