New big theatre would boost city

WHAT Coventry needs is a big theatre that can hold the London shows just like the old days of the Hippodrome when on Friday and Saturday evenings there where 10 or more coaches bringing people into our great city.

Instead of building another cinema why not build a theatre that can hold an audience of 1,000 people.

Just think of the type of shows that could attract customers to the city.

Let us take the limelight away from Birmingham.

Just think how much more business could be drummed up by having a big theatre.

It would bring people into town at night. It’s the entertainment that is lacking in this city.

John Bevan, Binley

Raising awareness of ‘the lonely cancer’

IMAGINE being diagnosed with a cancer that no-one has heard of, that even your doctor might never have seen before. This is the case for over 5,300 people in the UK diagnosed with sarcoma every year.

This is a tenth of those found with breast cancer, meaning that those diagnosed with sarcoma might never meet someone who shares the same type as them.

Sarcomas are tumours that develop in the body’s soft tissue or bones.

I am all too aware of the devastating impact of sarcoma as my close friend and mentor Simon Mellows tragically died of the disease. He was a constant inspiration to me and was instrumental in my journey from running my first marathon to becoming the world record-holder for leg amputees and 200m Paralympic champion.

As patron of Sarcoma UK, I am supporting the launch of a new report which I hope goes some way to raising awareness.

If you want more information visit: sarcoma.org.uk.

Richard Whitehead MBE

NOVEMBER 25, 1940: Residents of a Coventry street stand outside their ruined homes after the city was targeted by the German Luftwaffe in an air raid during the Second World War

NOVEMBER 25, 1985: Eastenders Den and Angie Watts put their weight behind the Charity Snowball appeal raising hundreds of pounds. Leslie Grantham and Anita Dobson, normally seen pulling pints at the Old Vic in Albert Square, were in Coventry to raise money for children’s charities.

NOVEMBER 25, 1985: Old timber buildings in Coventry.