... Snow moaners

Dear sir/madam,

Whenever snow hits the UK, everything grinds to a halt.  Trains, buses, roads, schools - all are affected.

This year, Facebook and Twitter have been bombarded with photographic comparisons of a car stuck in 2 inches of slush in the UK and vehicles driving safely flanked by 10 feet of snow in Canada/Norway.

Well, let's look at why that is a rubbish comparison.  In some parts of the world, snow covers the infrastructure for up to 6 months of the year.  Without the means to clear roads, these countries would be crippled.  Even so, occasionally, businesses have to close for a short while and people work from home.  They do this, because they do not feel compelled to run out to a muddy hill with (or without) their kids to slide down it on a sledge they bought last year and haven't had a chance to use yet.  Snow is a way of life for these people and investing in the equipment needed to clear roads is money well spent.

No council in the UK is going to invest heavily to deal with something that may or may not affect them for 2 or 3 days a year.  How many people do you know who own (and use) snow chains?  What about putting winter tyres on your car?  Let's face it, most British people don't even go out with a coat!  If we're not willing to make that investment, why do we expect our local councils to?
Head teachers come in for criticism for closing schools, but if your child is injured (or worse) in a school bus accident caused because of the snow, how would you feel then?

We are not equipped to travel in snow, so why not work from home, stay off the roads and let those who NEED to be out (crucial services for the elderly, sick and in need) have a clear run.  Don't get me wrong, I am self-employed and don't get paid if I don't get to work, but I would rather not be paid, than risk not coming home to my partner and little boy(s - Edit).

Get up early, do your paper work and email it to your boss - then go build a snow man with your kids.  Stay safe and warm.

Yours,

Welsh Letters.

... baby wipe manufacturers.

Dear sir/madam,

Do you have babies?  Have you ever been up at 3am changing a nappy in a dimly lit nursery, battling to stop your half asleep child from putting his/her hand in their produce and at the same time trying not to disturb them from their slumber?  Have you ever tried to get a wipe out with one hand because you have baby vomit cupped in the other?

I would suggest you haven't, otherwise you would know that the opening to your wipes would strongly influence whether parents buy them or not.
In our household, we like the plastic flip top, though we have yet to find a system that satisfactorily produces ONE wipe with a simple pull whilst presenting the next wipe in a way that you can reach it easily when you need it.  Cue a long line of wipes being pulled out before being stuffed back in and totally ruining the system.

We DO NOT like the transparent sticky covering which allows your graphic designers' masterpiece to be shown on the upper side of your wipes, but does not allow a parent to find the opening in anything but perfect conditions.  It is akin to wrapping Xmas presents & trying to find the end of the sticky tape with one hand while holding the carefully folded wrapping paper with your other hand/chin.  Oh yeah, and the Xmas present is Tigger - you know - likes playing with Pooh!

A little common sense please - you know who you are.

Yours,

Welsh Letters

... Education Ministers (BSL related)

... Education Ministers.

Dear sir/madam,

I'm sure you will agree that language development is massively important to all children.  Our teachers and support workers (even parents) are all drilled in language milestones and ways our children can achieve them.

Why is it then, even in the wake of the recognition of British Sign Language (BSL) as an official language, that our profoundly Deaf children who use BSL are still not exposed in most schools to adults who are fluent in their language?  The policy in most authorities is still:  staff with Level 1 (Basic) sign language support in nursery and as the child progresses through the school system, they are rewarded with more skilled staff.  More often than not, students at GCSE and A level are still being supported by people with Level 3 qualifications, a level not thought to be good enough to work anywhere else except in education.

I have no doubt that qualifications and skill level are often not equivalent.  Some support staff may actually be from Deaf families and use BSL as their first language.  Others passed their Level 3 many years ago and have not developed their skills at all.  This is not a criticism of the support staff, but rather the education policy.

The result of these policies is that 3 - 7 yr old Deaf children do not experience the same language modelling that hearing children experience.  Ask your Educational Psychologists what affect it would have on hearing children, if all the adults in our primary schools used English at/around an old CSE grade 3.  Ask the parents if they would be happy with that.  I think you know what the answer would be.  That is the equivalent of what you are doing to Deaf children.

Give Deaf children in the UK a chance to succeed.

Yours,

Welsh Letters

... The First Minister of Wales

... the First Minister of Wales

Dear Carwyn,

When I sat down to eat a meal in my house in Penarth, lovingly made by my Welsh girlfriend with ingredients bought in our local shops, little did I expect to be eating potatoes from Norfolk, haddock from Scotland and chives from Kenya.  I mean …. chives from Kenya???

Here we are in one of the lushest countries in the world!  One of our national emblems is a vegetable and another a flower.  Pembrokeshire produces the best tasting potatoes in the world (in my humble opinion), we have the sea on 3 sides of us, the produce of which is as fine as any in the world, Welsh cheeses are prize winners and our lamb and beef are legendary. And you can not tell me, that in a country as innovative as ours, with the manpower, the land and the climate that we are blessed with, that we can not produce enough chives to satisfy our requirements.

May I suggest, that instead of spending £150 million pounds on an airport, you use our money (and maybe that huge tract of land at Rhoose) to ensure that when people want potatoes, leeks, daffodils, blue cheese, chops, steaks or even chives they can find them, produced locally in the local shops.

Yours,

Welsh Letters