I COULDN’T agree more with the letter regarding the shocking decline of the Alex Hospital in Redditch and it’s potential to close (Redditch Standard).
Being referred to Worcester is a long and sometimes horrendous journey for many.
It is also further away for north Redditch patients than the QE Hospital in Birmingham of which we also have a regular train service.
Redditch was a new town created from Birmingham overspill and yet we have NO choice when referred by a GP but to travel to Worcester. This is surely wrong.
I know this from my own personal experience and also that of my mom. Neither of us, (with different GPs) were allowed to be referred to the QE.
It is surely wrong to run down the Alex which is happening before our eyes and this to the benefit of Worcester Hospital.
If this is to be the case we should be able to have a choice of being referred to Worcester, or the QE hospital for distancing and transport particularly when considering the elderly.
I also hope that hospitals will soon allow visitors for terminally ill patients in wards, as the situation of being terminally ill with no loved ones being able to visit is truly heart breaking.
D Downing, Brockhill
I HAVE sent this letter to our MP Rachel Maclean.
The Government’s proposed 50 per cent cut to top-up funding for music and arts subjects at Higher Education (HE) in England would be catastrophic for all music students.
But they would have an even more disproportionate effect on disabled, Black, Asian and minority ethnic students and students from low socio-economic backgrounds.
We already know from the Musicians’ Union’s own research on class and access to music education that young people from low-income backgrounds struggle to access music lessons at school; now those who do manage could face another hurdle in pursing music at HE and as a career.
Cuts to funding mean potentially fewer universities offering music courses, which means students will have less choice on where and what they study. The proposals run against the need for more diversity in the music industry.
Funding cuts would present an additional barrier to students who already face multiple barriers to studying music at university.
Poverty is a major factor in under-representation of groups not accessing HE. Black and minority ethnic households in the UK are over twice as likely to live in poverty as their white counterparts, leaving them disproportionately exposed to funding cuts.
Nearly half of people in the UK living in poverty are disabled people or live with a disabled person.
More funding is needed, not less.
N Braithwaite, Headless Cross
THE letter from R Harris painted a lovely scene of Ipsley Meadow when the Red Arrows flew over last Saturday.
However,the meadow is a part of Arrow Valley Country Park which covers 900 acres approximately, it is not an isolated green area.
If the council decide to use nine acres of Ipsley Meadow for a burial ground then there are still 890 acres of similar land to carry out the same activities as were happening that Saturday.
Burial grounds and cemeteries are public places, they are free to enter.
Many of the activities which happen on the meadow could still take place.
There is no need for Ipsley residents to fear a change of use of this area.
M Jones, Southcrest
I SEE from your columns that the publicity machine for Ipsley Nimbys is in full flow again.
Perhaps I might point out to K Wass and R Harris, in case they have forgotten, that Redditch is here only because Bordesley Abbey was founded here circa 1138, not vice versa.
The founding of such orders with their attendant buildings create nascent towns, whether the choir monks liked it or not.
With all that in mind one finds it strange that the Ipsley Nimbys wish to destroy the Abbey Meadows, the very cradle of their town.
Perhaps they have only recently come into the town and have no idea of its history.
In which case a visit to Forge Mill Needle Museum/ Bordesley Abbey Visitor Centre might enlighten them.
D Vincent, Winyates
AS St John Ambulance approaches delivery of an extraordinary one million volunteer hours given in support of the Covid-19 response and the vaccination programme, our charity’s volunteers continue to demonstrate their value to local communities throughout the country.
I would like to pass on my sincere personal thanks to all our volunteers and staff, particularly as we approach St John’s Day on June 24, a focal point for the St John family year, when this year we celebrate the work of our charity over the past year of the pandemic, and plan our support to communities who need our help in the future.
Meanwhile, we remind everyone of St John Ambulance’s work through our nationwide Ask Me campaign (www.sja.org.uk/AskMe).
I am sure our powerful combination of billboard posters and advertisements will keep our volunteers in the forefront of everyone’s minds and encourage readers to get involved with St John, or to find out more about our charity’s work.
Surgeon Rear Admiral Lionel Jarvis CBE KStJ DL
Chair of St John Ambulance
