WHAT a lovely new initiative from Bury Council aimed at recognising and rewarding those keen and fortunate children who succeeded in achieving 100 per cent school attendance during the academic year.

It was decided that the awards would be made on Saturday at Bury FC, an event organised by the Children's Services Department and one to which were also invited the leading lights of Bury Council, as well as Ivan Lewis MP.

I was therefore delighted to receive a congratulatory letter informing me of the honour about to be bestowed upon my daughter, who was naturally thrilled by the public recognition of her excellent attendance record.

However, on reading the letter closely, I was slightly less thrilled to discover that as parents we would have to pay a total of £20 to accompany our daughter on her big day.

Granted, this allowed us to watch the match, but I question the equity of paying for such events. Not all parents would be able to afford to pay what is a substantial amount to see their child receive their medal, and I suspect some, sadly, had to turn down the opportunity to see their child shine.

Furthermore, given that the ceremony was a celebration of children's achievements, would it not have been more fitting for at least some of the monies raised from parents attending the event to have been donated to a local children's charity, rather than to Bury FC which is, after all, a local business already well sponsored by Bury Metro.

At the time Bury Metro renewed its £50,000 annual sponsorship to Bury FC the former leader, John Byrne, robustly defended that decision against criticism from Bury Times readers that council taxpayers' money should not be used for that purpose.

He insisted that it was not a gift or donation, but was an investment in Bury FC which would benefit local people in terms of on-going community-based activities built around the club and its excellent facilties.

Surely this high-profile public recognition of young people's achievements was exactly what John Byrne was talking about. It seems strange therefore that we should be asked to pay again in direct contradiction to Councillor Byrne's exemplary community building objectives.

While the many children and their families among the hugely-inflated 4,100 attendance undoubtedly enjoyed a nail-biting match against Lincoln, perhaps next time the event should focus on children, especially those less fortunate who could derive great benefit from the proceeds, should a charge be levied.

I am in favour of celebrating children's achievements, and would like to thank Bury Council for arranging to do so, but would ask that next year they reconsider the choice of beneficiary.

JOANNE WILCOCK

Watling Street

Affetside