Letters

COMPETING in the Vendee Globe single-handed yacht race was the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life.

I was fortunate enough to see my dream turn into a reality. And I believe all young people should be given the encouragement to follow their dream.

So, I've teamed up with British Gas to find the UK's Tomorrow's People.

These awards honour the country's brightest young talent - individuals who are already excelling in their chosen fields but who dream of achieving even more.

We want young people in the North-East to tell us about their dreams and what they are doing to achieve them. Or, if your readers know of someone who fits the bill, why not tell us on their behalf.

Who knows - the next Michael Owen, Jamie Bell or Martine McCutcheon could be living in your street or town just wanting to be discovered. We have up to £8,000 in prizes to help young people take the next steps towards fulfilling their ambitions.

Entrants should tell us in no more than 250 words why they or someone they know has what it takes to be one of Tomorrow's People. Any relevant supporting material should also be enclosed along with their entry.

Entrants who must be living in the UK, can nominate themselves or someone else in one of the three categories: Under tens, 11-18, 19-35.

Send your name, address, daytime phone number and signature - and the entrant's details if you're nominating someone else - with your entry/250 words, to British Gas Tomorrow's People, 22 Endell Street, London, WC2H 9AD or visit www.britishgascompetit ions.co.uk/tp

Entries must arrive before July 3, 2001, and should be clearly marked with one of the three age categories being entered.

I do hope you can encourage your young readers to enter these awards and help us find the North-East's Tomorrow's People. - Ellen MacArthur.

Bishop Auckland HOSPITAL

IS THERE someone who could enlighten myself and all the people who use Bishop Auckland Hospital as to exactly what services will be there? Rumour has it that it is going to be a glorified cottage hospital, with most cases going to Darlington.

Will someone spell it out? Is there going to be Accident and Emergency department, Trauma, or Casualty? Please tell us. Are we going to have a fully-functioning hospital or just a small extension of Darlington Memorial Hospital? - Vera Shroeder, Bishop Auckland.

GENERAL ELECTION

I WENT to vote on Thursday only to find a violation of democracy taking place in front of my eyes. My vote is not secret! The officer wrote my number on my voting form - "they" can trace the choice I made. The implications are far reaching. What I want to know is - who authorised this removal of our democratic right? Who did it? Big Brother steps in. Yours in horror. - Mrs JS Lycett, Darlington.

AFTER weeks of hearing both sides, hours of television, miles of newspaper columns and many leaflets through the door, I have now: taken a five minute stroll to the polling booth...ten seconds to identify myself, ten seconds to get my ballot paper and another 20 seconds to fill it in and place it in the ballot box. So, after less than six minutes, I have decided which politician I prefer for government and council...so will they now got on with the job and shut up at last! - E Reynolds, Wheatley Hill.

SO William Hague did not win an election.

But the majority of Richmond people should keep smiling; as should William and Ffion, and sincere best wishes to them both.

William is still our MP, has worked hard and significantly increased his majority. Now perhaps the nit-pickers will leave him and his wife alone and let them both get on with the work he is good at.

Even The Northern Echo has had a go, making sure they chose the poorer photographs. William's post-election speeches were impressive, even Tony Blair would be more impressed with William's speech than with the Hartlepool selected candidate's bitter outburst.

Congratulations also to Oliver Blease, hasn't he done well?

To compare Ffion with Cherie as Chris Lloyd did so rudely was rather unfair. Not everyone enjoyed Cherie's fawning on her husband, as shown on TV.

So come on Richmond, congratulate William and Ffion and Oliver! - Joyce Rutter, Richmond.

NATIONAL LOTTERY

CAMELOT should re-think having another weekly Lottery as the Wednesday and Saturday jackpots put together come nowhere near the first ever Saturday Lottery jackpot. Also, with Labour back in power, Chancellor Gordon Brown will once again set about picking the public's pocket, leaving them no extra cash to play another weekly lottery. Oh how Fagin would have loved this man on his team of dippers. - TE Crook, Bishop Auckland.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE pet aversion of Mike Amos is the apostrophe, of Mrs Howe, misspellings and of Mrs Bowes (Echo, May 24) the misuse of our language. Please may I add my own "two pennyworth", for I fully empathise. It is months since I wrote to the then Director General of the BBC regarding poor English spoken on television and was sent a reply laying the blame at the door of the freelance journalists - but they are not the only offenders.

We have Mr Blunkett talking about education, education, education, yet he and many more, Mr Blair and Mr Brown amongst them, who have had a university education, telling us "we've got to have" and we're "going" to come or "going" to be rather than we will have-be-come. It is 79 years since I left a very small C of E school in which my much-loved teacher of about 56 pupils in the class told us he disliked the words "got" and "going" and we could always find more suitable words.

Mark Mandell, in the 6pm news on May 24, used the word "withdrawral", on Pet Rescue we hear "vetinary" and frequently "libry". I could continue. - Mrs B Pallister, Shildon.