Elderly isolated due to poor loo facilities The Fountain Of Knowledge

READERS of the Coventry Telegraph will be aware of a number of letters, from local people and visitors, as to the lack of public toilets and poor maintenance of facilities in our city.

Coventry Older Voices (COV) has been campaigning on this issue for some time and at our last AGM, members agreed that this should be a priority issue for 2018.

This is especially so as at the AGM, the invited city councillors highlighted social isolation of older people as priority issue.

In a survey carried out by COV, 97 per cent of people surveyed believed that lack of toilet facilities contributed towards social isolation.

Due to the above, COV sent a further letter to the cabinet member for public health, with copies being sent to every city councillor. This was to again raise our concern on the lack of facilities and the need for the council to be more proactive in discussing this issue with COV.

We received acknowledgement from Councillors Christine Thomas and Roger Bailey.

Councillor Thomas was particularly helpful with keeping us informed of the plans to refurbish the toilets at the entrance to the city centre library, which we note has now been carried out. We welcome this improvement, but also feel this is papering over the cracks of the main issue, which our councillors appear to be ignoring.

We note that there are lots of plans for development and redevelopment of the city centre, but even a simple question to the council about whether the planning department considers provision of toilets facilities goes unanswered.

If the city councillors do not wish to correspond or meet with us, then perhaps they can do this through the letters page of the Telegraph, as we have had to resort to. Norman Hendry Coventry Older Voices

Put residents first, not a BBC event

THE recently closed Coventry Point in Market Way had been a base for many of the city’s charities.

I’m sure the council helped relocate some, but finding cheap or free accommodation to rehome these often vital services will always be a challenge.

I would suggest that the council offer the Old Grammar School in Hales Street to the voluntary sector on a peppercorn rent to use as a central community hub to accommodate some of these charities. It’s a disgrace that it’s still unused after a £1.5 million refurbishment.

Coventry Voluntary Service Council is leaving its premises in Warwick Row in July due to its grant from the council being cut so councillors would have to go a long way to convince me that spending £300,000 of taxpayers’ money supporting a BBC music event is justified, regardless of the claim that it’s going to bring millions in extra revenue to the city.

Call me cynical but I just don’t believe these claims.

Please get your priorities right and start investing in things that benefit our citizens, not the BBC. Bob Arnott Holbrooks

Why was Polish show scrapped?

I WRITE to congratulate the management of the BBC radio for Coventry at Warwickshire on their intelligence and forethought when, after some 20 years of success, they decided to scrap the one hour per week Polish/English radio programme Poles Apart.

To do this to a programme run by volunteers, thus at little cost to the station and at a time when Polish has become the third (after English and Welsh) most spoken language in the UK, was a real stroke of genius. Well done! Dr Jan Mokrzycki Kenilworth

Just the beginning of HS2 disruption

YOUR headline ‘Motorists face traffic problems over HS2 work’ (Apr 12) is, I fear, just the start of many delays which could last for several years.

HS2 comes very close to Coventry and its construction will be a massive project when it starts, involving many road closures and diversions. Coventry and Kenilworth road users need to brace themselves for disruption that will last for a long time. Paul Blundell Whitley He searched the corridors of his

mind, A lost soul seeking help in the night. So full of hatred and anger, Disillusion and greed were his plight. He gazed at the velvet darkness, And from its depths he felt there

was peace, But somewhere was a seed that lay

dormant, Awaiting its time for release. He bathed in the fountain of

knowledge, Enriching his mind for good deeds, Thoughts elusive he strived for an

answer, And it came in his hour of need. He felt a warmth enter within him, It nourished the seed in his soul, The seed that so long had been

lifeless, Gave its answer more precious than

gold. The fountain of knowledge had

taught him, That too many people seek greed, If only they strived for good virtues, To help man in his hour of need. He walked the fresh green fields of

his mind, And drank from the cup of good

health, He’d cast aside hatred and anger, Taking kindness and peace for his

wealth. Jean Smith Whitley

Sunlight on my Face

I know I’m only an old pussycat But I’m loved and happy and have

nice things to eat Chicken and salmon for dinner every

day I really want to keep it that way I love to sit in the window It’s a favourite place And I can feel the sunlight on my

face Please don’t take that away from me Let me live life out in peace In the arms of my loved one till my

life shall cease Then and only then Take the sunlight from my face June Plumb Exhall

Champagne or Beer?

Can the Sky Blues make the play-offs With only four games to go, Or will they miss out And end up finishing just below? Yet three of those matches are at

home With only the one game away, So win those at the Ricoh And it could be Wembley in May? But I thought we’d beat Yeovil And I put money on us in a bet, But look what happened there They smashed six goals into our net. Yet I’m going to be positive And us fans deserve some cheer, And if we do get promoted It’s going to be champagne instead

of beer! Kevin Halls Bell Green