Sewing machines still wanted in Africa | Brief letters
I was very interested to read (Letters, 25 November) of the project started by Irene Owens to send sewing machines to Zimbabwe. I wonder if she knows about the charity Tools for Self Reliance? TFSR has groups of volunteers in many parts of the UK. They collect and repair hand tools, which are shipped to a number of African countries. They are particularly keen to accept donations of manual sewing machines. A visit to their website, www.tfsr.org, will enable anyone wishing to donate sewing machines to contact the charity to find their nearest collection point. Hopefully in this way Irene Owen's project can continue to help many more African families to start a small business sufficient to feed and educate their children.
John O Machin
Calverley, West Yorkshire
" Simon Jenkins (This is not a strategy - it's a fast track to the dark ages of rail, Opinion, 30 November) writes about Beeching, but fails to mention that the minister of transport was Ernest Marples, a managing director of the road construction company Marples Ridgway. Marples later had to leave the country for Monaco, to avoid prosecution for tax fraud.
Paul Hall
Hatfield, Hertfordshire