Readers' letters from Tuesday 7 Jul 2009

Doing a fine job

I  WAS really cross and upset by the letter that I read signed First Things First, Manchester (Postbag, July 2) about the new Manchester Children’s Hospital.Does this person have no feelings, no heart? Does this person not have any children or maybe they have been lucky and their child has never needed hospital treatment.I suffer from a condition for which there is no cure. I have a tumour on every nerve coming out of my spine and so many more internal tumours that the doctors could not even begin to count. I have spent many months in the children’s hospital being cared for by the dedicated doctors and nurses. My mum slept on a chair next to my bed for three months when I was really poorly after spinal surgery and no, my mum did not get free meals, she paid for her meals like every other parent in the hospital (which by the way is more expensive than eating at home) but when you have a poorly child, money does not come into it. The children may never have paid into NHS, but their parents will have. You said that the children in photos were smiling and that they looked as though they had nothing wrong with them. They would not be in hospital if they had nothing wrong with them and it’s much nicer to see a child smiling than crying. I look as though I have nothing wrong with me, but I have and even though I know things will only get worse for me, I am not about to start crying about it. I want to keep smiling and I want to help other poorly children have their dreams and wishes come true, which is why I devote my spare time to raising money for them. I attend hospital up to three times a week, every week and have done for the past four years and raising the money helps me cope with some very difficult times. Maybe this person should do the same instead of moaning about the new toys that have been provided for the children hospital (by the way, the hospital was in desperate need of these new toys). And why would the new toys have disappeared by Christmas? Are you trying to suggest the children will take them? Get a life and please don’t deprive these children of what little enjoyment they get. Maybe you would like to roll your sleeves up and go and wash the toys if it bothers you what it is going to cost to pay someone to do it.But can I suggest that you take a hanky with you, which you will need when you see some of the treatments that these children have to have, day in a day out?I for one am very grateful for the care I have received from the children’s hospital over the years. I am just sad that I have now got to start the move over to the adult hospital.

Kirsty Ashton (kirstysstory.co.uk)

Waste of time

I THINK I may have a contender for the slowest and most expensive 10.2 miles in history. Thanks to the renowned efficiency of British Airways and our unrivalled rail system, I spent a highly unproductive eight hours and 50 minutes attempting to travelling from Manchester to Heathrow and back again, costing me a total of £340.10, a missed business opportunity and creating hefty carbon emissions. For that price, I reckon I could have bought a last-minute ticket to Hong Kong and in that time, I could have made it to Kathmandu. In reality, I made it from my home to my office 10.2 miles away. As I ran in the Great Manchester 10k, I am certain I could have run there more quickly.The full story is too long to recount here, but it made me ask this question. Is it economical to use the great British public transport system when we’ve got the technology at our disposal to host video conference meetings for important business contacts? Why on earth do we put ourselves through it?

Mark Vickers, CEO, NetServices, Manchester

Ticket riddle

CAN someone please clarify why three tickets booked for the Bridgewater Hall attract a total booking fee of £1.50 but three tickets for the MEN Arena have a booking fee of £5.65 PER ticket plus a £2.00 postage fee, adding £18.95 to tickets which already cost £35 each?Could it be that the Bridgewater Hall relies more on the goodwill and the loyalty of its customers? In fact, the last time I bought tickets for the even smaller Royal Northern College of Music, they didn’t charge any booking or postal fees at all.

Nigel Green, Lower Broughton

Thanks everyone

I ACCIDENTALLY left my mobile phone on a 256 Stagecoach Bus. I was so upset, my dad had just bought it for me. My mum rang up the Stagecoach depot for me and spoke to a man called John. He kindly put a message through to the 256 drivers asking them if it had been found on their bus. John rang back an hour later to say a 256 driver had been handed the phone by a member of the public. I just wanted to say a huge thank you to that very honest member of the public on the 256 bus, a huge thank you to the driver of the 256 bus and a huge thank you to John at the Princess Road Stagecoach Depot.

Dominic Mcguffog (aged 13), Stretford

Picking on young drivers

G T SLADEN (Postbag, July 2) suggests ALL younger drivers cause accidents which, as we all know, is a fallacy.  I am an 18-year-old student, and in November I passed my driving test with flying colours and have never looked back.We all know that people make mistakes on the road, and, according to myth, younger and more elderly persons are most likely to have a bump. But common sense tell us that anybody at anytime can have a bump. We know full well there are ‘boy racers’ about, but not every young person who drives a car is one of them.All the people I know and drive with have been driving for about a year now and not one has been fined for speeding, had a crash, caused a crash or been deemed a boy racer. So it frustrates me that we are stereotyped so much in the media and by individuals as your correspondent. On the other hand, I also read the letter from ‘Annoyed movie buff’ and totally agree with what they said about bad behaviour at the cinema.Such young people let us all down, but, to be fair, they are probably bored and have nothing better to do with their pathetic lives. As your letter writer commented, some of them do have respect, but others are vile. I do think stricter rules should be implemented in public places, like in nightclubs – if you mess about, you’re out’.

Seb Parkinson, Chadderton