AS a lecturer working for Bolton Community Education Service (CES) community development team for the past ten years, I am disappointed yet again to read (BEN: April 9) that the merger of CES and Bolton College will be part of the "recovery plan ... after a spiral of decline."

Bolton CES was not in need of a recovery plan. We have been and will continue to be a dynamic, innovative, growing organisation. We have continued to expand and provide wider and more exciting opportunities for adult education in Bolton, offering chances for individuals and communities to gain new experiences in education and training.

I am very happy to be able to work with our colleagues from the college, and accept that together we will be able to provide the people of Bolton with even greater choices in learning as the two organisations merge.

But let us put the record straight, it is bad management on the part of the College, not CES, that has brought us to this stage.

Bolton Community Education Service was an excellent organisation and we will carry forward that excellence into the new Community College.

The communities I work in and the people I work with have made the service what it is today -- an exciting, and forward looking place for adults to learn.

Helen McHugh

(Address supplied)