THE Olympics have been great for Britain and perhaps especially for Yorkshire with a stunning list of medals won by athletes who reflect the diversity of our county.

But the success didn’t happen spontaneously and credit is due for the investment put into sport by the last Labour Government, reversing years of neglect by previous Conservative governments.

So it was particularly wrong-headed for the Coalition to cut funding for school-sport partnerships and the latest proposals to end the requirement for a minimum of two hours sport in schools is a further backward move.

In Kirklees the excellent Pennine School Sport Partnership has struggled to survive despite doing a valuable job and many across the country have disappeared entirely.

A new threat on the horizon is to cut Government funding to release a high school sports teacher for a day a week, from September 2013.

This Government needs to understand that sporting success doesn’t just happen, it needs years of nurturing and support.

It isn’t about ‘throwing money’ at an issue, it’s about intelligent investment for our future generations.

CLR PAUL SALVESON

Labour, Golcar Ward

Rising care home fees

I READ with great interest your article (Examiner August 10) ‘Care home fees set to rise in Huddersfield’.

One is bound to ask how the council arrives at the figure of £432.10 per week minimum to look after one person. After all our Government in their wisdom says that the full basic state pension in 2012/13 is £107.45 per week for a single person. It is less than double this amount for a married couple, if you add on the guaranteed credit element this guarantees a minimum of £142-70p for single people and £217-90p for a married couple.

When we pensioners have to go it alone then the Government and the council both say we have to manage with the above amounts and pay our own rents pay our own heating and energy bills, buy our own food and all other incidental payments conducive with living and staying alive.

We get a little help with the rent (not much) and we still pay council tax and water rates.

As you can see the total above plus a little housing benefit is half the amount the council is proposing and it is for TWO people per week.

I am 67 years old on basic state pension living with my wife.

I can’t wait until I am 80 to get an extra 25p a week pension!

But even then I will have to save that for four weeks to buy a loaf of bread!

DAVID TOWNEND

Linthwaite

Ed Pride of Holmfirth

I AGREE with the sentiments contained in two of the letters in the Examiner (Friday, August 10) ‘Ed the pride of Holmfirth’ and ‘Supermarket Ed’ concerning the Olympic Games gold winning cyclist Ed Clancy.

We are proud that he is a Holme Valley lad and I really did think that the golden postbox should have been sited in Holmfirth.

What a golden opportunity to promote the town and the surrounding area.

We should do more to promote the Holme Valley as a cycling centre – we have superb tracks and the Holme Valley Wheelers are located here, added to which we have our annual Mountain Bike Challenge – to be held on Sunday, September 9 – organised by the 1st Holme Valley Scout Group which attracts more than 400 riders.

I wonder what Keep Holmfirth Special can contribute to this idea?

Perhaps the Examiner should run an on-line poll as to whether we should have a golden postbox in Holmfirth.

YVONNE RADCLIFFE

Holmfirth

Time for action on jobs

GOVERNMENT cuts lead to a reduction in work experience placements – but the Kirklees and Calderdale team vow to help the young. Once again we get words from our council.

We have a Job Centre which cannot find people work – so what’s new?

Things need to change and fast. Government and local councils must look at ways of bringing more jobs (not public sector) not just into the country, but to our town. Creating jobs with the view to expanding industry is paramount.

When I went to school we did not have such a thing as work experience. You got on the job training when you started work at 14 years of age. There was an old adage amongst the people of my time and it goes; finish on Friday start a new job Monday. That was in the early sixties. Today you are lucky to get a job.

I feel and fear for the youth of today. Some come from a background of work shyness and others from families who want their children to prosper.

The truth of the matter is that all these people should be in work. The country needs young and mature people of all abilities and to say that unless you get school qualifications or you go to university you have no chance in life is misguided. The country needs skilled engineers, office workers along with labourers and cleaning staff.

Someone needs to start being pro-active rather than talking because talk has been going on for far too long and the end result has been nothing. Talk is not going to get our people back into work. Firstly we need to rethink our strategy. I do wonder if we should not turn the clock back a few decades and return to the system of having technical colleges.

Instead of trying to please the EU we need to start looking after our own people and their future. Government projects should automatically go to British companies disregarding cost. How much does it cost keeping people claiming benefits? It’s like paying for the job twice.

Ridding ourselves of full EU membership and remaining a trading member may be the catalyst which we need.

France and Germany are not going to make our country great once more. I would think that it would be in their interest for us to fail.

So less chatter and more jobs.

The people who run our country should be more accountable and look at the morality of some of their decisions. I’m all right Jack somehow does not cut it in this day and age with our country in the state in which it finds itself. If those at the top wish to keep their inflated pay then the plebs need work to keep those standards up for them. Action not words. Can you do it?

Failing is not really an option as something needs to change as we cannot go on as we are at present.

Someone said not too long ago that we are all in it together? Are we? Or is it a case of some are more in it than others! More to the point, Is anyone listening?

What, I didn’t hear you.

R J BRAY

Shelley

Don’t abandon duty

THE proposed drastic cuts to teacher staffing levels for deaf children cannot possibly bear the same fruits of success – this is tantamount to abandonment of a duty of care to the less fortunate and vulnerable youngsters.

Tireless campaigner for the disabled Lord Morris, who pioneered and brought about the Magna Carta-proportioned Sick and Disabled Bill passed away today (August 14 - 1928-2012). He campaigned fiercely for a proper education for the deaf and alike and would have been outraged – and no doubt now turning in his grave.

This smacks of the EU’s ‘Common purpose’ doctrines/interferences with our education systems, of which ‘Common Purpose’ is very prevalent within it.

On another note, perhaps a call will now go out for volunteers – once again (as with the libraries etc)?

IAN CORCORAN

Lockwood