AFTER so many delays is it now time to bypass the social care Green Paper and get on with implementing some changes that will help the 1.4m people who aren’t getting the care they need?

The moment for the Green Paper may well have passed.

Everyone is agreed that we need to take urgent action to help those who need care and those 1.4m people cannot wait for the endless debates, consultations and discussion that would doubtless follow the introduction of a Green Paper.

We need to take action now and have the discussions and make changes as we go along, not wait any longer.

Mike Padgham, Chairman, Independent Care Group, Eastway, Eastfield, Scarborough

Auction items

THE Listening For Life Centre is celebrating its 10th anniversary and so many children (and adults) have gone from a silent life of deafness to one of living in the hearing world.

I’m one of them so can vouch for its tremendous value.

To be able to listen to and join in with music, to enjoy playing and watching sport with their peers, means being accepted and not misunderstood.

Many of you know that I collect old jewellery, fountain pens, watches, embroidered old linens, etc.

May I ask now that we have a really big collection to help buy the items needed in assessment, particularly for children.

Some have severe sight problems as well as deafness so they need sensory toys. Others need musical to teach variety and tone of sound.

Tiny children need talking teddies which helps the assessor to give them the hearing quality needed.

I take donated items to an auction. They help the Ear Trust by selling free of all charges, and everything goes. Then a cheque is sent to the Ear Trust.

If you would email me at eunice.birch@btinternet.com I can tell you all you need to know.

Thank you everyone.

Eunice Birch, Sutton-on-the-Forest

Thanks for help

ON behalf of Alzheimer’s Society I would like to say a huge and heartfelt thank you to your readers for uniting against dementia and taking part in Cupcake Day 2019.

In just the time it takes to bake a batch of cupcakes, six people will develop dementia in the UK.

Across Yorkshire & the Humber more than 67,000 people are living with dementia and 850,000 are affected UK-wide.

Alzheimer’s Society is investing in, and accelerating, dementia research and has committed to spending at least £150m in the next decade.

Every Cupcake Day event held helps Alzheimer’s Society find a cure, improve care and offer support, help and understanding for people affected.

Now in its fourth year, Alzheimer’s Society’s Cupcake Day has raised over £3.5 million since 2016, with 3,379 people signing up from Yorkshire, the Humber and North and North East Lincolnshire this year.

We are so grateful to all the bakers and fakers who have taken part in Cupcake Day this year.

We want to thank everyone who participated for playing a vital part in raising awareness of dementia and uniting with Alzheimer’s Society against the disease.

We look forward to seeing you next year.

Judith King, head of region, Yorkshire and the Humber, North and NE Lincolnshire, Alzheimer’s Society

End this massacre

I WONDER if people are aware of the industrial slaughter of donkeys in Africa? 362,000 skins were exported last year.

They are stolen or bought from poor working people to supply the never ending Chinese medicine market, which takes no notice of animal cruelty, or animals becoming extinct because of their callous attitude and selfish behaviour. The way these animals are killed is horrifying.

I would beg people who care, to support animal charities like Brooke and others who are trying to end this massacre.

Anne Stewart, Helmsley