Ellee Seymour

Do you know the saying: “Everyone likes a drink, but nobody likes a drunk?”

Veronica knows it only too well because as a reformed alcoholic, she is passionate about helping others kick the habit if it is destroying their lives.

She was furious with an article in the latest Red magazine which glamorises binge drinking and hangovers. Writer Bibi Lynch describes how she has always been a drinker, was lucky with her past hangovers, but growing older means she can’t stomach it in the same way. In the past, she describes being  such a lush that one particular bar named a cocktail after her. How does one avoid the 48 hour hangover, she asks? Then concludes it is enough to turn you to drink.

Veronica has fired off a letter to the magazine’s Editor strongly objecting to the article:

“To publish an article on serious alcohol abuse that minimizes and trivializes it in such a way is staggering.  You clearly have no understanding of the massive problem this country has with binge drinking, in particular with women.  We now have cirrhosis of the liver appearing in young women in their 20’s that was unheard of 20 years ago.  You have done nothing to educate or balance this article out, all you have done is succeeding in colluding with the denial most people in this country are under in regards to their drinking.”

I would like the magazine to  publish Veronica’s true story as a warning to those who can’t control their drinking - and an inspiration to those who recognise that they need help.

Ruth Wilson vanished mysteriously in November 1995 from Betchworth in Surrey. 

She was 16 and on the day she disappeared, Ruth didn’t have any lessons in the morning so she stayed at home until 11.30am when she took a taxi into Dorking. At about 12 she went to a florists where she ordered a bouquet to  be delivered to her mother.

She then went to the library where she stayed until about 4pm and was last seen at the Hand in Hand pub near Boxhill at about 4.30pm when a taxi dropped her there. It was the last positive sighting of her.

In the days following her disappearance, a number of friends and members of the public reported seeing Ruth around the Dorking area. There were also numerous reported sightings around Britain following the national media coverage the case attracted. However, in the 11 years since she went missing, Ruth’s family have had no contact from her and police have received no further clues as to her whereabouts.

Following Ruth’s disappearance, Surrey Police launched an extensive investigation to try and locate her. Police officers, together with a police helicopter and police dogs, searched the Boxhill area where she was last seen. Officers were joined by members of the public in the search but nothing was found.

Last January, East Surrey Missing Persons Team re-launched an appeal for information into Ruth’s whereabouts after the 10th anniversary since she went missing. The Sun also recently appealed for information about Ruth’s disappearance.

The “not knowing” must be absolute hell for Ruth’s parents, who are both teachers; she is 27 now. They long to hear from her, or from anyone who has news.

In memory of those who are still missing.

I live in a village with a population of around 2,000 and when I moved here 16 years ago it had three shops and a butchers. Now it has one remaining shop - it is a Spar store with a post office which is well used by our local community - and under threat of closure. We will know soon enough.

The subpostmaster wants to retire and has been trying to sell his store for the last couple of years. The price and attractiveness of the business depends very much on whether it will be able to retain its post office, so he is anxiously waiting to hear his fate. If it loses it, he believes the property will end up being converted into a house, we will lose our remaining shop.

My village is stunned at this news, it will in effect rip out the heart of our community and force more shoppers into large superstores when we want to retain our essential rural facilities.

I have a neighbour Ethel who is in her 90s and going blind who relies on this store, she can just about manage to hobble there with the aid of her stick, she likes to pop in to buy her bread and milk, to retain some independence. There are lots more elderly and infirm people who rely on this local store, as well as villagers who do not drive, and young families with their pushchairs who totally depend on it.

The store has already been forced to stop its daily newspaper delivery due to the ridiculous demands placed on the owner to be personally responsible for the condition of the bikes used on the rounds.

Despite massive protests, Alistair Darling, the Trade and Industry Secretary, is expected to confirm today that more than one in six local post offices will shut over the next 18 months. They have been deliberately run down instead of encouraged to diversify; they could have been used as payment centres for local authorities, for example.

If, as feared, closing down rural post offices also means the death knell for local shops, it will sadly mean end of an era for village life as we know it today. Four million people have said so too.