Wirral News letters: January 26

Jan 26 2011 Birkenhead News

Post offices need support

IN RESPONSE to the HSBC announcement that their Hoylake branch is to close a number of irate HSBC customers, according to your article {Wirral News, Hoylake edition and on-line January 19} are urging us to move our accounts to rival banks.

None of the banks named in the article have a branch in our town, haven’t had one in the recent past and are unlikely to open one in the future.

Representatives of these rival banks turning up at their protest meeting, looked like a bit of opportunism to me.

Banking has changed. “Branches in every town” is history. Banking has moved on.

What we should all support is our local post offices.

This is really a case of “use it or lose it”. If you can use your local post office for any transaction rather than a bank, please do it.

Post offices in the past, in the present and, hopefully, in the future will be a much more important and valuable part of the community than major banks will ever be.

Hoylake and Meols are still lucky to have local post offices.

Please use them and keep them viable, banks are about profit, always have been, always will be.

The Post Office serves the community in many more ways and deserves our support.

Mike Halls

Meols

Branch lost

GOOD luck to the campaigners in Hoylake in their quest to prevent the proposed closure of HSBC branch there on Friday March 18.

Although there is little chance of the multinational company changing their plans on such a local (to them) issue.

This bank branch has a history going back to 1887, when the North & South Wales Bank opened an office in Hoylake, which was taken over by the Midland Bank group in 1909.

So many local bank branches have been lost in the last two decades, many in not so well-to-do areas, but it is incredible to believe that a prosperous suburb such as Hoylake cannot support even one of the main high street banks. It was not so long ago that there were six banks in the town.

Robert Montgomery

Wallasey

Helpers praised

HAVING read the letter in the Wirral News last week regarding the importance of volunteers and staff in the Claire House shops, I wanted to respond immediately by agreeing completely.

Without the amazing contribution of our shops, Claire House would struggle to provide the level of care that is so crucial to the children and families whom the charity supports.

Volunteers are particularly remarkable, giving their time for free to help others, thereby ensuring our shops are able to make a significant contribution to the cause and giving Claire House a real face in the communities we support.

I have visited Claire House shops and have witnessed firsthand the dedication and enthusiasm for which I am very grateful.

My only wish for shops is to appeal for good quality goods that people no longer want. Without the quality donations to sell in our shops we are not getting the best possible value from the time our selfless volunteers are giving.

If anyone would like to donate quality goods such as clothing, books, music or DVDs please drop into any of our shops (www.claire-house.org.uk) or call 0151 343 0883 and we will organise collection.

David Pastor

Chief Executive, Claire House

Open your eyes!

I AM now registered as visually disabled after a lifetime of having a high degree of myopia.

My “sight mare” is compounded by a whole series of hazards that I and many other sufferers encounter on a daily basis.

Grey street furniture, a massive proliferation of black bollards as well as the concrete ones that rarely carry any identification. The dodgy condition of pavements are also an optical challenge.

The council certainly do not appreciate the problems and show very little concern, as I have found out.

Surely existing disability acts must protect our interests and ought to be implemented

Coming indoors the new challenges are food venues, particularly restaurants where the already poor lighting is dimmed to increase the ambiance. Battling with semi darkness; one is then confronted with menus that are almost impossible to read without a torch.

Does nobody care?

DS Bollans

Gayton