THIS week's selection of your letters to the Advertiser includes views on the town's care workers, Geilston Garden, the NHS, Doors Open Day and accusations that rural communities are being neglected.

To add your views to the mix, email editorial@helensburghadvertiser.co.uk with 'Letter' in the subject line. Please include your name and address and a contact phone number in case we need to check any details at short notice. Happy writing!

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As the transition period during which the former M&J Carers has been in the hands of liquidators comes to a close and new arrangements start, I would like thank M&J’s care staff for their continued dedication and professionalism during a period of uncertainty over their futures which must have given them a good few sleepless nights.

Nevertheless, they have kept up my father’s service with commendable reliability, keeping a smile on their faces until this last week, when there have been a few touchingly teary goodbyes from those carers going to an agency which won’t be serving our part of town.

I can only echo Kathleen Gorrie’s sentiments of two weeks ago that this company managed to find workers who live up to the name of their profession, and it was certainly not low standards amongst these carers themselves which caused the company to fail.

That is why I was shocked and disappointed to discover that a couple of my father’s best ladies had been mocked in the street for still wearing their M&J uniforms.

One of them apparently retorted: “My company may have gone, but my clients haven’t, and they still need me!” That is a reply which speaks volumes, I think.

Eileen McDonald, via email

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The National Trust for Scotland’s announcement to open Geilston in March 2018 as usual (Helensburgh Advertiser, August 31) is welcome, but the future of the garden appears far from secure, particularly due to its financial position.

Mr Halstead of the NTS states that a Trust director in 1988 had confirmed to Miss Hendry that there were no plans to open either the house or garden, and that it was only later that a decision was taken to open the garden.

In fact, at that time the Trust did not own Geilston and was in no position to decide on its future.

Discussions were ongoing and a further meeting was planned but this never took place as Miss Hendry died in the Vale of Leven Hospital.

Miss Hendry left Geilston and a considerable financial legacy (now worth £2.7m) to the Trust, with no conditions, as she had implicit trust in the National Trust for Scotland to make the correct decision on the future of her property which, in particular, was to maintain and open the garden to the local and wider community.

This was confirmed by the Trust itself in its 2005 Conservation and Management Plan for Geilston, when it wrote: “The Trust must accomplish its aims bearing in mind the donor’s wishes, which, though not formally or legally expressed as conditions of the gift (due to Miss Hendry’s untimely death) are known to the Trust.

“These were to preserve the property (especially the garden)…and to preserve the integrity of the house and its collections, retaining the latter at Geilston.

“There was an expectation that certainly the garden and preferably the house be open to the public.

“The future running cost of the property must be met within the recourses of the E.C. Hendry Fund donated to the Trust by Miss Hendry and set aside by the Trust’s Council to fund the management of Geilston.”

This statement by the Trust itself runs entirely contrary to Mr. Halstead’s current version of events.

The NTS was well aware of its responsibilities when it accepted Miss Hendry’s gift and this is evidenced by all its subsequent actions, in opening the garden and setting aside the E.C. Hendry Fund in its annual accounts for the maintenance of Geilston. To now suggest otherwise is more than misleading.

The problem for the NTS is its failure to look after the grade B listed house in its care and its almost feudal financial arrangements.

None of the 10,000 or more visiting NTS members to Geilston pay entry to the garden, all of their subscriptions being channelled into the central organisation, leaving the garden in an artificially impoverished position.

The NTS creates its own so-called loss of £85,000 and will continue to do so until it adopts the same arrangement as its counterpart in England, whereby a proportion of the visiting members’ subscriptions are paid to the gardens they enjoy.

This is where the E.C. Hendry Fund should be deployed, not syphoned off to the NTS central funds, but to provide a bridge between an antiquated system of funding and a more sustainable future for Geilston.

To take away the E.C. Hendry Fund from Geilston is incomprehensible, and this decision should be reversed if the NTS is serious about keeping the garden open.

Michael Thornley, Glenarn, Rhu

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The fact that NHS GGC’s chair is prepared to tell PR chiefs in private to stick to the script and keep silent about the cuts being planned after the review should finally dispel any myths about the health board’s intentions.

Internal health board emails show that NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde is trying to play all of us for fools. The emails were written by health board officials just after the SNP claimed that the battle was won and the Vale GP service was secure.

The jester-in-chief, West Dunbartonshire Council leader Jonathan McColl, has clearly been used by the health board to distract campaigners and throw them off the scent while officials get on with the work of dismantling our local services.

If he has any respect for himself and his constituents, Cllr McColl should get back to the health board and fight for an unambiguous guarantee for GP out-of-hours services at the Vale.

Christopher Fagan, via email

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Ruth Wishart regularly entertains your readers with her mixture of praise and cynicism on a wide spectrum of topics.

On this occasion, I write to reassure your readers (and Ruth) that her cynicism about the participation of local churches in the Doors Open Days festival is mistaken.

For certain, Helensburgh Parish Church is participating in the event in order to support a local venture. Should anyone who comes feel that their conscience has been pricked that would be sad.

Many members of the local community will not have visited the building before despite its central location.

They will receive a very warm welcome at any time and should feel free to visit whenever they feel so inclined.

They can even take the children round our self- guided 'Nature Trail' and find all the plants and animals that inhabit the building.

Sandy Kerr (Depute Session Clerk, Helensburgh Parish Church)

To the gentleman who looked after me last Thursday in the Co-op car park in Helensburgh: thank you very much.

David Burley, Cairn View, Arrochar

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Animal Concern Advice Line (ACAL) has asked the Scottish Government to make major changes to legislation covering cruelty to animals in Scotland.

The charity has requested tougher sentencing powers, the introduction of an Animal Offenders Register, better defined bans to stop offenders gaining access to animals and a new law to license and police animal rescue centres.

ACAL has also requested an enquiry into the handling of the ‘Ayrshire Ark’ animal cruelty case.

Recent prosecutions including the Ayrshire Ark case, the Aberdeen gecko in a blender case and the Glasgow dog poisoning vet nurse, all highlight the need for an overhaul of Scottish animal welfare legislation.

We need to introduce a minimum high standard for animal rescue centres, stronger penalties for people convicted of animal cruelty and the ability to track and monitor people to stop them reoffending.

It is very worrying that currently a person convicted of organising a dog fight in Ireland could be jailed for five years but only for a year if they take a short ferry trip and organise the fight here.

That loophole has to be closed. Scottish courts need the power to jail people convicted of animal cruelty for up to five years.

John F. Robins (for Animal Concern Advice Line), Cardross

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With regard to the ‘rural neglect ‘ article in last week’s Advertiser I have to agree with Arrochar Tarbet and Ardlui Community Council.

In Kilcreggan village we have severe problems of neglect in what is a tourist village.

It has been brought to Argyll and Bute Council’s attention over the past two years, but ignored.

Unkempt grass areas on both sides of the pier, overgrown trees and hedges seats not fit to sit on, similar on School Road junction of Fairfield Road, Argyll Road - the list is endless.

We don’t need to be told about a shortage of money. We deserve our share!

Danny Kelly, Kilcreggan