Doncaster’s resilience over pandemic – Yorkshire Post Letters

IF anyone had told us, in January 2020, we would all be in lockdown in January 2021 it would have seemed like a farfetched fantasy.

Likewise, if anyone could have predicted the past 12 months and the terrible sacrifices that people have made, they would not have been believed.

The past 12 months has proved how resilient and stoic the residents of Doncaster are and while there is light at the end of the tunnel the next few weeks will be critical.

The hope created by watching relatives, friends and neighbours go for the vaccine can not be underestimated as we begin to see the glimmers of light.

There has been little time for ‘politics as normal’ in this crisis – rightly so!

As ward councillors we have all worked hard, across the political divide to put Doncaster first – that will continue to be our priority.

Your Conservative team have worked tirelessly, in their particular wards and across our town, to make sure local people receive the services they need – for example new forms of engagement have been used including community Zoom meetings where different local issues, planning, environmental and road safety, have been addressed.

We would like to thank all the people who have worked throughout the pandemic to keep us safe – NHS, police, council, public health, retail staff, taxi and delivery drivers and many other unsung heroes.

We would also like to acknowledge the sacrifice of those residents who have been furloughed, endured job loss and uncertainty throughout this period. The students who are being home schooled and for many Year 11 and 13 children who have had to change their futures and still face difficulties. The people who have had to change wedding plans, missed funerals, coped with not seeing loved ones and family.

Our town has demonstrated a clear commitment to fighting this horrible virus together and our ability to overcome such challenging, harrowing, circumstances truly resonates with Doncaster’s motto: ‘Be Steadfast’. It is important we acknowledge the loss of life there has been and will continue to be and the heart-breaking stories we hear of loved ones lost.

As Conservative group leader, the Conservative councillors and I appreciate and admire the hard work and dedication Doncaster’s residents have demonstrated to get us to this point. Please follow the rules: hands, face and space and we can all look forward to a better year.

From: Michael Green, Baghill Green, Tingley.

YOU are quite right to criticise the Secretary of State for Education, Gavin Williamson, (The Yorkshire Post, January 7) for his glib assumption that once he directs that all lessons must be given online, every problem will miraculously have been solved.

But he is far from being the only example of people who believe that “it’s on the website” excuses them from responsibility for doing anything else.

Recently, the National Trust have abjectly failed to keep their members posted about which of their properties are able to open in these difficult times.

And when its director-general did condescend last month to circulate a letter to members, it simply contained platitudes and no practical information.

Even worse, the Financial Ombudsman has recently ruled that it is okay for a bank to change its customers’ terms and conditions just by putting a new version on the website, without even telling customers it is there.

It’s bad enough when a minister or a national charity behaves like that, even though they should know better. When someone in the position of a judge does it, what hope is there?

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