Joinhugevolunteering campaign and channel your community spirit
THE coronation of HM King Charles III is an unmissable opportunity to bring our nation together and make a difference.
It’s a chance to show our kindness, do good things and inspire community volunteering. That’s why we’re holding The Big Help Out on Bank Holiday, on Monday, May 8.
It’s about each of us doing our bit to change things for the better.
Whether that’s visiting a lonely neighbour, cleaning up the park or volunteering with Scouts or Guides, this will show just what a difference volunteering makes.
Organised by the Together Coalition, scores of organisations will be involved, but it’s what we each do that really counts.
We’ve seen how our nation pulls together – in good times like the Platinum Jubilee, and in tough times like the pandemic, and after the loss of our late Queen.
It’s time to summon that incredible spirit again.
To get involved, there will be an website that will match you to volunteering opportunities in your area.
The Big Help Out will be a kindness revolution – and we should all be part it.
Let’s have fun and make this the start of a brighter future.
Bear Grylls OBE, Chief Scout
The Big Help Out has been developed by the Scouts and the Royal Voluntary Service and is being organised by the Together Coalition alongside dozens of the country’s volunteer-involving organisations. Visit www.thebighelpout.org.uk for more information.
Cut NHS some slack, Sunak!
THERE must be some slack in the system, any system, and in the NHS in particular.
No organisation, especially one as large as the NHS covering so many fields of activity, can possibly run at full speed all the time, with all the equipment in use and all the staff employed 24 hours a day.
All emergency services have to be prepared for times when large numbers of people, vehicles and equipment of one sort or another are needed all at once – no excuses, no delays, it’s what is expected when disaster strikes.
It may not be a good business model in the mind of anyone whose judgement is formed entirely on the health of the balance sheet, but to achieve a full state of readiness it is necessary for the pressure to be eased from time to time.
We are aware that Mr Sunak was a successful businessman before entering Parliament and it is evident that he judges all organisations by their business efficiency. This is all very well for commercial businesses but the NHS is something quite different.
If this concept is difficult for you to grasp, Mr Sunak, then perhaps you should look into the initials, NHS, and in
particular the ‘S’ – it stands for service. The people who stand behind these letters are proud to do so.
Doubtless Mr Sunak collects his salary as a matter of principle, even though he may not need it, this being proof to him that he is valued for the work he does for the country.
Following many years of under-investment by successive Tory governments the lack of slack in the system has developed intolerable pressure on the over-worked and under-paid staff.
Now it is the prime minister’s turn to show those who also work hard for the country that their efforts are valued not just in words but with proper pay for their regular work and the emergencies when they amaze us all with their efforts on our behalf.
Rod Slater, Lymm
Ways to solve debt issues
REGARDING N.A. Soduro’s assertion ‘debt can’t just be written off’ (Viewpoints, January 21) made in response to my letter of January 7.
Their principle ‘if you borrow something you should always give it back’ should be applied radically.
Where riches have been taken, be it cash, in resources, or labour, full restitution is owing and should be fairly paid.
The debtor should pay back as they are able.
I want informed responsibility and accountability from all. On those grounds the wealthy ‘lenders’ are surely the moral debtors.
From positions of advantage they have pushed exploitative penalties and inflated interest rates into legal agreements and procedures with insecure and needy weaker partners unable to negotiate favourable terms.
We all know sharp practice by the wealthy and powerful (individuals and corporate institutions) may result in legalities which are of dubious moral or ethical status in the eyes of neutral people.
But is N.A. Soduro’s assertion correct? No, and yes.
No, as we see Individual Voluntary Arrangements and bankruptcy for individuals which write-off debts, bringing a new start but with conditions to minimise risks.
But also yes, if internationally we see debt relief responsibly used and lending regulated for radical change.
Next month sees the 70th anniversary of the London Agreement on German External
Debts which wrote off debts accruing from the Treaty of Versailles as well as reconstruction loans.
Repayments were limited to being made from German trade surpluses and being no more than three per cent of export earnings, not demanding new loans or beggaring a country already on its knees.
The result was a win-win with stability, growth and peace – not only in West Germany, but throughout Europe.
We can all see the blessings of not repeating the history of the previous decades which saw troops reoccupy the Ruhr to ensure coal exports when payments could not be made, hyper-inflation, and the rise of extremism in the form of the Nazis.
Similarly, poverty liberation is in our selfish (and moral) interest in economies and countries trashed by coronavirus, climate and environmental problems such as Indonesia, Pakistan, Zambia and Haiti.
International debt cancellation 20 years ago saved lives directly by increasing health spending and indirectly by funding education.
Likewise addressing the needs of poor households here scared of energy debt and facing snowballing fuel costs will save lives – sadly exemplified locally by the death of pensioner Barbara Bolton
If N.A. Soduro and readers want balanced debt/lending accountability and fairness, or more information, they should visit debtjustice.org.uk online.
Stephen Pennells, Debt Justice Manchester