AS I approached the local convenience store, I assumed the group of youths near the door were troublemakers, only to overhear they were discussing how they could raise £3,000 for one of them to go on a voluntary project to help orphans in India.
How easy it is to jump to conclusions. How I wished I could help. I also wonder why, as once stated in the Daily Mail, the Government and Lottery gave £15m to steer young thugs from crime and social workers take troublemakers on a free safari.
When I recently approached the Princes Trust in Southampton for a small grant to enable a 16-year-old volunteer to become an instructor with the Venturers Search and Rescue, I was told they could only help if he failed his school exams, and was out of work.
PHILIP PEARCE-SMITH, Holbury.
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