Dear Editor,

I write in response to the letter in your paper entitled “Dealing with Ross issues”. Is it just me or do there seem to be a small collection of loud voices protesting at the terrible things that go on in Ross? Having lived here now for five years, and being involved with many of the people who struggle with addiction and making ends meet in our community, I’m not sure things are as bad they might seem.

Yes, people speed a little down Ledbury Road, and I’m not condoning that. Yes, we have a drug problem, there is no point in denying we do. Yes, people sleep under the bridge and down by the river because they have nowhere else to go. Our Community Food larder is well used because many people are still feeling the effects of austerity and a difficult job market. But are things really as bad as they seem?

I spend a lot of time helping people in our community with all kinds of issues, court appearances, housing difficulties, finding help for addictions and so on. These people, these human beings, actually could be anyone of us who, given the right set of circumstances, find our lives spun around due to a sudden and unexpected change.

It was with great sadness that I read in your article that these people had been referred to as ‘undesirables’, undesirable to whom exactly?

It is always too easy to judge other people without knowing the story behind the smelly clothes. I wonder what our community would be like if actually, we stopped judging people, and not just those who sit on a bench, but those who are different?

What about those who hideaway worried about our judgementalism because of their sexuality, the colour of their skin, their religious beliefs, their accent? Is that overstating things, possibly, but I would like everyone to know that you will not face that kind of judgementalism among the people of Ross Baptist Church.

I think our community could be such a different place, in that way I agree that there are some issues. But instead of looking to blame those who are different from us, perhaps we might start with our own attitudes towards our fellow human beings. Maybe then we would see real change?

Rev Neil Bennett

Ross-on-Wye