Dear Sir

What a brilliant accomplishment for Sarah and Hannah to have undertaken their recent swim for Cancer Research. That took tremendous courage and dedication.

On behalf of all Cancer sufferers, I convey heartfelt thanks to them for their efforts in raising at least (and hopefully well more than) £4,000-plus towards this vital work. I am sure that WSFP will give out the best way for anyone still wishing to contribute.

Well done Sarah, Hannah and the support team on this great achievement.

Sincerely,

Ivor Jones,

Doverhay, Porlock

Dear Sir,

I am writing to thank all those who came to our 35th annual garden fete at Bicknoller on Saturday, August 23. They helped us achieve our target in that the fete raised £3,463 bringing the total raised since the first fete in 1990 to £90,209.

Somerset Brass played a lovely selection of tunes, as usual creating a really lovely atmosphere.

May we thank all those who provided raffle prizes, bottles, cakes and produce and donations.

We thank all helpers on the day and those who helped set up and clear away.

As I announced at the end of the fete, this will be the last Macmillan Annual Garden Fete but next year I will be holding a garden party with the band and cream teas and just a few stalls and games with proceeds going to Dorset & Somerset Air Ambulance. I hope people who have enjoyed the fete over the years will come and support the 2026 event.

Sincerely,

Maggie Pumphrey,

Chair, Coleridge committee of Macmillan Cancer Support

Dear Editor,

As the Energy Price Cap increases once again to £1,755 for a typical household, Marie Curie, the UK’s leading end of life charity, is calling on the UK government to implement a social tariff to protect dying people from rising bills.

Energy costs can double for those with a terminal illness, often forcing people to choose between heating their home, powering vital medical equipment, or buying food. With energy costs still much higher than 2021, households facing terminal illness are often forced to make impossible financial choices, at the worst time imaginable.

Last year, Marie Curie received more than 2,000 energy-related enquiries via our free Support Line. Dying people don't have time to lose – the UK government must act now to introduce a social tariff to ensure everyone can live the end of their life without worrying about bills.

Your sincerely,

Jamie Thunder

Senior Policy Manager for Financial Security at Marie Curie

Dear Editor,

So Nigel Farage finally published Reform UK’s ‘masterplan’ on immigration. It is absurd.

He claims all arrivals will be arrested - but charged with what crime? If they claim asylum, arrival is not illegal. Repeating the lie that they are “illegal immigrants” does not make it true. International law is clear.

To bypass this, he proposes leaving the ECHR. But there is no clear exit process, unlike Brexit, and leaving would also unravel multiple treaties on slavery, trafficking and human rights, as well as the Human Rights Act and the NI Good Friday Agreement. His “British Bill of Rights” would be worthless if a UK Government was determined to undermine it and remove safeguards against abuse by the powerful. This would put UK citizens at risk. A Brexit-style saga, only much longer (more than a decade perhaps?) and far more damaging.

Farage suggests housing migrants on disused RAF bases - a policy even the Tories abandoned after local protests. He talks of deals with regimes such as the Taliban to take returnees. Many Afghans risked their lives helping our armed forces. Sending them back would be monstrous and shameful.

He promises to deport 600,000 people at a cost of £10 billion over five years. The maths is fantasy. Even at five flights a day, with necessary heavy security limiting capacity, it would take at least a decade and cost far more.

Dumping immigrants on Ascension Island - 4000 miles away? He’ll have to build accommodation and fly in food as there is none of either, or else leave them to starve. Costly and blitheringly stupid!

People talk of Farage as a future Prime Minister. This plan demonstrates stunning incompetence and shows he is utterly unfit for office. If this is his application form for the job it should be stamped ‘Failed’!

Peter Scott via email