I HAVE lost count of how many people I have heard complaining about the extortionate charges at the Minster Refectory.

Well I guess caviar and chateaubriand don't come cheap and if you have a spare £100 or so you might manage lunch for two. However cathedral refectories were originally set up to provide reasonably priced meals for weary travellers and those at Durham and Norwich still do this today.

If you decide to visit the Minster you will have to pay an entrance fee.

However the Belfrey church next door has free entry and every Wednesday provides an excellent free lunch.

Further afield you can visit cathedrals like Ripon and Beverley for free.

It looks as though the Minster Refectory worships Mammon rather than God.

John D Brian,

Moorfield Way,

Wilberfoss, York

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Where are supermarket profits coming from?

TO make the cost of living crisis more palatable, have we all started to gorge on food and booze?

Huge profits by supermarket chains suggest this to be the case, or have they taken advantage of an opportunity to raise prices to the disadvantage of loyal customers?

Reality suggests the second theory.

Peter Rickaby,

West Park,

Selby,

North Yorkshire

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Support ShelterBox

I’VE just returned from Malawi with a team from the international disaster relief charity ShelterBox.

The flooding and mudslides caused by Tropical Cyclone Freddy have scarred the hillsides, where enormous car-sized rocks destroyed everything in their path. Whole homes have been consumed, washed away or severely damaged, and many of those still standing aren’t habitable or structurally safe.

That’s why ShelterBox will be providing thousands of people with emergency shelter and other essential items to help them return home once the floods have subsided, with local partners and groups.

The cyclone, which could be the longest-lasting and most powerful on record, claimed lives, homes, and livelihoods. More than 650,000 people have been displaced and are now living in crowded rooms, camps, schools, and community centres.

The lack of adequate shelter and mosquito nets are leaving people exposed to malaria, which is already a high risk, and the spread of water-borne diseases is a growing concern.

The aid we’re providing might not seem much, but it will help people, families, and communities start their road to recovery. People will be able to use the tarpaulins, shelter kits, and timber to construct a shelter that offers protection from the elements and provides privacy. Kitchen sets, blankets, mosquito nets, solar lights, sleeping mats, and water filters will give people, who fled unable to take any belongings with them, the essential resources they need to help protect their families.

To find out more about the work of ShelterBox across the world, visit shelterbox.org.  

Melanie Hughes

ShelterBox response team lead

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Stand and be counted

WHO'D go into politics and in doing so put their heads above the parapet?

We vote at elections to elect a person or persons to make the decisions we aren't qualified or able to make.

Being a public figure they're open to criticism and abuse from all sides, often from anonymous sources.

Politicians and the backstabbing by all parties is a shameful game of one-upmanship and more akin to the school playground.

People in the public eye should be treated with a lot more respect and courtesy.

And to all these people who profess to know better - stand for election, or at least have the courtesy to put your name to your anonymous critical remarks.

D M Deamer,

Penleys Grove Street,

Monkgate,

York