Dressing up for charity is harmless fun for a good cause
NHS rejects cash... because fundraisers dressed in drag
I’M ASTONISHED that Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust has refused, on the public’s behalf, the £2,500 raised by a group of men in Ludlow for an ECG machine because they had dressed up as nurses (Mail), a tradition going back 20 years. I am a past president of the Lions Club of Bournemouth and work as a volunteer for a number of charities, raising funds by dressing up as a pink fairy. Would the NHS Trust object to this outfit as being demeaning to fairies? I also dress up as a pink rabbit when out collecting for good causes, but perhaps that might upset those with strong views on animal rights. Luckily, I live in Dorset where we have a more robust view on life, like a good laugh and dress-up to encourage people to put a few more coins in the charity collecting bucket.
BARRIE HAYNES, Poole, Dorset. IT’S political correctness gone mad — I doubt if a single one of Shropshire’s fantastic, hardworking and caring nurses objected to the fundraisers in drag. The Ludlow lads have given their time to run around the town collecting for a good cause. Refusing to accept the money is not only an insult to them, but to everyone who donated.
DAVE HASKELL, Cardigan, Ceredigion. I HOPE that the Shropshire NHS Trust bosses who refused the £2,500 donation will be having this sum deducted from their salaries.
STEPHEN TONG, Pudsey, W. Yorks. A FEW decent men, making fools of themselves as they raise money for a good cause — is that all Shropshire’s NHS bosses have to worry about?
JOHN PENNINGTON, Nelson, Lancs. IT’S not lads dressing in drag to raise funds for the NHS that is insulting, but the fact that men are being offered bursaries to encourage them to train as nurses while women receive nothing.
VALERIE CHEVALIER, London SW14.