Sir, – Following the letter in the Herald paper last week from Fay Foster, I would like offer my congratulations to both Fay and also to Don Stacey, for their recent awards in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
Haslemere has just completed its third and most successful festival, and further tribute should also be given to Hamish Donaldson, in addition to Don and the many unsung heroes, whose time and effort over the last three years have surely established this for ever in the calendar.
Our town flourishes and prospers from the unstinting effort of a large band of supporters, both from the voluntary and elected fraternity; so many events throughout the year, so much entertainment, so much creativity, so much talent and so much goodwill, and we should all give thanks that we live in such a friendly and understanding community.
This year the new concept of developing greater support for the festival by encouraging "Friends" to participate, both financially and personally, has helped to spread the word and strengthen the depth of involvement within the community, and this will also ensure ongoing support and promotion for the festival during the period leading up to next one in 2011.
Despite great support for the this year's festival, from far and wide, it is still evident that many of our local population do not appreciate or understand the quality of the facilities and the businesses in Haslemere, the beauty of our town and its surrounding villages; there is still too much apathy to an enjoyable place to live, too much ignorance of what is on their doorstep and not enough loyalty to the local community, both business and voluntary, that makes this all possible.
The recent arrival of Waitrose, and the arrival of more boutique shops in the High Street area, have added further to the commercial facilities in the town, and should provide further proof of its expanding range of shops, creating even less reason for shoppers to travel elsewhere, while the range of restaurants, cafés and pubs should be more than enough reason to shop locally for all your needs.
Small businesses are proving to be better equipped to adapt and thrive during hard times, and Haslemere is proving to be very resilient in this hard economic climate, with a very active Chamber of Trade providing a strong and supportive community spirit, that encourages networking opportunities in the town, and encourages and promotes many commercial activities and events.
The Haslemere Initiative is also involved with support and development of many activities and developments in the town, including the recent Health Check review, and acts as an informal backbone for many of the events in the town's calendar.
The awards for Fay and Don are just reward for their efforts on behalf of the town, and it would indeed be added reward if more of our local population showed more loyalty and supported all these efforts by frequenting local amenities, shopping locally and attending all the town's events in greater numbers.
I urge more people to support their local community before it is too late.
Andrew Brownrigg, Weydown Rd, Haslemere