Letters

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Thanks to all of you who have been keeping in touch with us here at Shire HQ. It means so much to hear from you, and who doesn’t love a bulging postbag to start the New Year with! We’ve printed a few of our favourites here. Do keep them coming – we love hearing your thoughts and opinions, as well as news you want to share. As always, please include a picture when you can, and send your correspondence to us at editorial@shiremagazine.co.uk

In case you’ve missed an edition or not been able to get to the shops before they’re snapped up, we have a supply we’re happy to send out. Just let us know which copy you’re looking for and we’ll pop it in the post, as long as you send us an SAE for £1.60 to Shire Magazine, PO Box 276, Oswestry, Shropshire SY10 1FR. An even safer bet is to subscribe to the magazine so you never miss a copy again! See page 41 for details. In the meantime, keep writing, keep emailing and keep reading Shire!

Appeal for young carers

There are up to 1,400 young carers identifi ed in Wrexham, Conwy and Denbighshire. WCD Young Carers has launched an appeal to encourage schools, colleges and communities Understanding is vital to provide more support and understanding to the challenges they face every day.

‘Making Young Carers Count’ hopes to shine a light on the bravery and resilience of hundreds of young carers in North Wales. We want to ignite change in society and raise awareness to the issues a ecting families in the region.The project would like to co-produce a set of resources that can be used to raise awareness, as well as encouraging teachers, sta , parents and pupils to become Young Carers Champions, mentors and ambassadors.

For information, visit www.wcd.cymru or email me, sally@credu.cymru

Sally Duckers, WCD Young Carers coordinator

Go down to the woods today

We thought some of your readers might be planning to get out and walk o the excesses of the festive season, so are sharing our suggestions for some woodland adventures. The Woodland Trust has more than 1,000 sites that are free to visit and open every day.

Whether it’s a crisp, frosty morning or a damp afternoon, it’s great to pull on your boots and thermals and head out for an invigorating stroll. Woods take on a whole new character in winter. Bare branches expose elusive wildlife and hidden history. You can locate your nearest free woodland easily, just enter your postcode at woodlandtrust.org.uk/fi ndawood

James Jesson, Woodland Trust site manager

Where better on a bright and frosty morning

Kids’ Christmas thanks

I want to send heartfelt thanks to all those who supported sta from Cullimore Dutton to deliver presents for some of the 9,000 children in Chester living in poverty. We launched a successful campaign to support KidsBank Chester’s ‘One More Gift Appeal’ and collected donations of toys and gifts from our clients, colleagues and the community.

In addition, as sponsors of Chester Rugby Club, we were delighted that their members also got on board, collecting an additional 150-plus toys and gifts, giving us a grand total of over 350 donations.

KidsBank Chester was set up in 2019 by Cathy Pettingale, supplying toys, clothes and equipment to children within a 20-mile radius of Chester. To date it has supported more than 2,500 local children. To be involved was a wonderful experience.

Andrew Wright, managing director, Cullimore Dutton

Great stu , team!

Fun was had by all

Dashing through the… cold?

In December, Overwater Marina played host to the Audlem Santa Dash, a charity fun run/walk organised with Pau Run & Ride. Despite the cold weather, there was a great turnout of festively dressed competitors for the 5k event, and they stopped o at Overwater for a mince pie and a drink. Thanks go to CRT for allowing use of the towpath, and to the local volunteers who also dressed up and gave encouragement to the participants, some of whom had done the Couch to 5K course run by Matt Capper of Pau Run and Ride. The event raised over £500 for St Luke’s Hospice, and Overwater is planning to make it an annual event.

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READER FEEDBACK FEEDBACK

I just wanted to say how much I enjoy your Shire Magazine. I make sure to get every edition and there is so much to read in it – it is better than most of the paid-for ones!

Anne McInerny, Wirral

The last edition of Shire was an absolute tonic for those of us struggling fi nancially. Thank you for sensitive and sensible advice in your ‘Cost of Giving’ article.

Anon

Thank you, Shire, for keeping me up to date with whatever’s going on. I fi nd your listings far easier to read than local websites that I struggle to understand. Keep up the good work,

Petra Carmichael, Flint

Check it out

Shire was contacted by a disappointed reader who had travelled to a Christmas market on the day given in our listings, only to fi nd the event had happened the day before. We realise that’s annoying and we apologise. We send our magazine to print in advance of events and can only go on the information we have at the time. Often details are updated too late for us to respond, but we do always encourage readers to check before they travel. This is a good reminder that it’s worth doing.