Your questions

ANSWERED

QI’ve made a complaint to a local store, but I don’t seem to be getting anywhere. Can you help me escalate this to their head office?

T Richards, Boston Yours says The website www.resolver. co.uk works with MoneySavingExpert. com to help consumers raise and resolve issues. Search for the company you want to complain to and the site will guide you through the procedure step by step, directing your issue to the correct place and giving you details on your rights. If your initial complaint isn’t dealt with within a given time frame, it’ll be escalated to the next level.

QMy mum is going to a residential home and all her clothing must be named. Is there an alternative to stitching labels in everything?

R Crosby, Warwick Yours says You could pick up a Sharpie Laundry Marker from Sainsbury’s for £2 or buy some stick-on or iron-on labels from www.mynametags. com/01635 298326 (56 for £11.95). A Printy Clothing Marker would also do the job (rrp £20) - www.stamps4u. co.uk/ 01234 480368. Q My granddaughter wants to make a bug hotel

– what is this? T Marten, Perthshire

Yours says A bug hotel is a stack or tower of materials that provides hidey-holes for garden creatures to seek refuge. Pallets, terracotta pots, hollow stems, tree bark and cardboard tubes are just some of the things you can use to build them.

■ Visit RSPB.org.uk to download instructions or send an SAE marked bug house to the address on page 3

QClearing out my mum’s loft, I’ve found diaries beautifully written by several generations going back to the 1800s. I have no room to store them, my local museum isn’t interested, but I can’t bear to throw them away. Is there anyone who would take them?

Shirley H, Leicester Yours says The Great Diary Project has been set up to provide a permanent home for unwanted diaries of any date or kind. People from all walks of life have confided and often still confide their thoughts and experiences to the written page, and the result is a unique record of what happens to an individual over months, or even years, as seen through their eyes. In the future these diaries will be a precious indication of what life, in our own time, was really like. ■ Write to The Great Diary Project, 230 Bishopsgate, City of London EC2M 4QH or visit www.thegreatdiary project.co.uk for more information

QI’m going away for a month and I don’t want to draw attention to my empty house. My neighbours will be popping around occasionally, but how can I make it look like someone’s home?

L Perkins, Dorset Yours says If your neighbour owns two cars, ask them to park one on your driveway. You can also buy a fake TV simulator as a visual deterrent to intruders, giving the appearance that someone is at home. This simulates scene changes, light fades, light flickering, on-screen motion and

colour changes.