Letters - February 21, 2019

What’s your worst pet hate of the lot?
Wales' Alun Wyn Jones (second left) is tackled during the NatWest 6 Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday February 10, 2018. See PA story RUGBYU England. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only, No commercial use without prior permission.Wales' Alun Wyn Jones (second left) is tackled during the NatWest 6 Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday February 10, 2018. See PA story RUGBYU England. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only, No commercial use without prior permission.
Wales' Alun Wyn Jones (second left) is tackled during the NatWest 6 Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Saturday February 10, 2018. See PA story RUGBYU England. Photo credit should read: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire. RESTRICTIONS: Editorial use only, No commercial use without prior permission.

I am sure that most readers will have their pet hates.

Bashing your thumb with a hammer, stubbing your toe when visiting the loo in the night, splinters when pruning the roses, being served short measure when you order a pint of ale? How about riding your bike over a pothole, taking a shower when there is no hot water or wondering how many passengers will catch a tram up Talbot Road? Then there’s able-bodied drivers parking in disabled spaces, school kids going to school smoking cigarettes, cratching finger nails down a blackboard, creaming kids in public houses, couples in restaurants ignoring each other with phones stuck in their ears, drivers and cyclists who ignore traffic lights and pedestrian crossings....

All of these are quite irritating and I haven’t even mentioned the Oystons or Brexit.

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But the letter ‘How much do these TV presenters cost?’ from Allan Fazackerley (Your Say, February 14) reminded me of one of my worst pet hates.

He complains about the number of ‘experts’ needed to comment on the televised Six Nations Rugby and says, “The biggest culprit is Jonathan Davies, who describes at great length a move we have just seen”.

Lest I be accused of racism, I am acquainted with some quite nice Welsh people but none of whom go whining and moaning on throughout the game telling us all how lousy and inadequate a certain player is.

Please, give it a rest Mr. Davies.

Diolch, iechyd da.

Mike Picewicz

Blackpool

CRIME

Not fair to blame all on the YOT

Re article in Gazette on Young Offenders February 11.

It’s not fair for the HM Inspectorate of Probation Officers to blame the Youth Offending Team (YOT).

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Surely many of these young offenders have parent/s. Have they no responsibility? Why has the YOT to take the blame for all that is wrong in society?

Today there is not enough social housing available for families at affordable rents. This causes family break-ups.

I grew up in 50s in dire poverty but there was community and relatives lived nearby. Today it’s about people on the move.

We have low paid jobs, sometimes workers are laid off when Blackpool season is quiet. We need more jobs. We have homelessness, people suffer from social problems and there are food banks.

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Young people do need to be kept out of the prison system also some adults.

I read last week in The Gazette that a woman was prosecuted and fined for stealing cheese and meat.

A saying is ‘small offenders grow into big ones’.

I also read about the ongoing problems at the Gynn roundabout caused by young people.

Is there no crime prevention? Who is responsible?

I read ‘the principal object to be obtained is the prevention of crime’. Once we have that firmly in our sight the rest follows. Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne and their key clause. Please do not put all blame on Youth Offending Team. They must have a difficult job today.

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CRIME

Victim support was model for others

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I read in The Gazette earlier this month about young offenders. The HM Inspectorate of Probation Officials rated services of the Youth Offending Team as ‘inadequate’.

I had a positive experience of the Probation Services in Blackpool.

In 1982 before the Fylde Victim Support scheme was set up it was started by a Probation Officer. In 1982 the fundraising committee had to raise £5,000 to cover the first year and there was no money in the pot. Raising so much funds was no mean feat - even the young offenders from Fylde Farm School helped. The Fylde Victims Support Scheme was launched in 1st April 1982.

It represented an attempt to offer a wide range of services to victims of crime. Some professional people gave their time free and received no payment. However the little black cloud hung over the FVSS for some time. At times Victim Support volunteers attended meetings in the Probation Service offices in Blackpool.

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Victim Support Schemes were established nationally and internationally. The first Victim Support Scheme was set up in Bristol in 1974. The Fylde Victims support Scheme proved a model for Lancashire. After 22 years I left in 2004 and Victim Support was still ongoing in Blackpool. This was all thanks to a Probation Officer and others who founded the Fylde Victim Support Scheme.

When crime is committed long may the service endure.

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