AFTER much demand, the Bromsgrove and Droitwich Standard letters page made a welcome return last week. Here is this week’s selection.

Good news for Sporting and hope for Artrix

THERE is light at the end of the tunnel!

After prolonged gloom, Coun Michael Thompson and his task group are to be heartily congratulated for cheering us up, by negotiating a deal which ensures that Bromsgrove Sporting will continue to be a part of the town and the community for many years.

Great, positive news.

Sporting is a well run, successful, family club which brings much credit to the town.

As one of the best supported non-league clubs, it attracts customers to Bromsgrove on match days.

Now we just have to revive our wonderful, much loved, Artrix, and we shall have the best cultural and sporting facilities of any small town in the country.

Onwards and upwards!

Proud Bromsgrovian

Stick to the issues in your own ward

IT IS interesting to see Coun Rone-Clarke extolling the virtues of accepting asylum seekers in Catshill .

Two things I would mention, these people are not in his ward which is Rock Hill and Coun Rone-Clarke lives in Barnt Green – both of which are some distance from where they are being housed.

Perhaps he should stick to sorting out the many problems which no doubt exist within his own ward.

Stuart Neal

MPs need to protect our rights in this ever-changing world

IN THE UK and around the world we can clearly see dramatic changes taking place. I wonder what we think of them?

Most of the world and how we live is being transformed and at the same time potentially harmful technology is being deployed that will facilitate a ‘new normal’.

It is a world of mass human control and surveillance that would make George Orwell feel very smug indeed, having written about it all coming to fruition back in the 1930s. The same could be said of Aldous Huxley’s writing years before.

What does connect both of them is that we have been placed in ‘lockstep’, following orders and accepting draconian rules whilst our economy has hit a low, way lower than the financial disaster of 2008.

We have been under ‘house arrest’, told we will need to accept ‘track and trace’, told that we will be expected to accept a mass vaccination program, told that we must keep away from each other.

We have to walk following arrows in shops, and months into the ‘virus scenario’ we must wear masks on public transport.

Our lives have been transformed, and it’s not going to stop unless we stand up for ourselves soon.

We are being told to accept the ‘new normal’.

Meanwhile, 5/6G technology is rolling out, we all know about it, just before lockdown Worcestershire County Council excitedly announced it had millions of pounds to spend on it.

It is, in my opinion, important for everyone to take a look at what this technology might really be all about and whether or not it’s ‘good’ for us and out rights.

Never mind the ‘great news’ that, one day, we will never drive our own cars again, and soon we will be able to download a blockbuster movie in a couple of seconds.

There are going to be millions and billions of pounds/dollars/euros to be made for certain people and organisations that will, of course, put the freedoms, rights and safety of humans in second place.

It’s time for our MPs to stand up and prioritise and protect those civil rights and liberties – that is why they occupy these positions they do.

Phil Haynes

This Father’s Day, why not think about fostering?

THIS Sunday is Father’s Day, where we celebrate and give thanks for all fathers do.

However, for many young people across Bromsgrove, it can be a harsh reminder they are not part of a traditional family unit, whether through bereavement, family separation or because they are part of a foster family.

Since the drastic changes imposed by the coronavirus lockdown in March, and because change is one of the greater factors that influences the behaviour of those in care, foster carers have had to reinvent new routines supporting the vulnerable children and young people in their care.

From Zoom calls to keeping in touch with biological family members to creating new games and activities in the absence of a typical school day, foster carers have worked around the clock to ensure those in their care are continuously loved and supported during a time of change.

At Five Rivers Child Care we work tirelessly to provide vulnerable young people with a safe place to call home, placing them with foster families that will nurture and care for them during moments of change.

This Father’s Day, we’d like readers to celebrate and thank those in non-traditional parenting roles, those who foster, adopt and care for children and young people.

We’d like to encourage people across Bromsgrove to think about those needing a loving home and consider foster care as a potential vocation, particularly those with transferable skills who may be facing job uncertainty as a result of the pandemic.

There are so many young people looking for someone to call family and we hope readers will consider the positive impact they could have on a child’s life. We’d welcome anyone interested in exploring fostering as a career opportunity to call us with any questions on 01527 834653.

Jennifer Sutton

Fostering Operations Manager

Five Rivers Child Care (Midlands and North)

Editor’s Comment….

THE THIEVES who targeted Sam Mawhinney’s allotment, stealing rotavators and a cultivator he spent nine months painstakingly restoring are the lowest of the low.

Sam and his fellow allotment plot holders are just trying to enjoy some of life’s simple pleasures – something the majority of us have all come to appreciate during the lockdown.

This widespread spate of break-ins and thefts from allotments in Bromsgrove, Droitwich and Redditch is clearly the work of the same group which needs stopping.

If you are reading this and have information, please contact the police and help put an end to these heartbreaking acts.