This week's Hunts Post's letters and community reports

I have just tried to book a booster jab on the NHS website and was offered Biggleswade, Wellingborough, Northampton and Stevenage.

This has happened every time we have tried to book and know that other people have the same problem.

A friend in Bedford where there are four centres was offered Biggleswade and Northampton.

Emails to the NHS are not replied to. All four of our previous jabs have been in St Neots.

Are people having to travel when they don’t have to.

Terry Cooper
St Neots 

Coffee Mornings to raise charity funds

Like many charities, Christian Aid's fundraising activities struggled through lockdown.

In St Ives, The Free Church and the Methodist Church are getting together to start afresh.

We are holding a fundraising coffee morning and bring-and-buy stalls at the Methodist Church on Saturday, May 27, from 10am till midday.

Everyone is very welcome and donations for the bring-and-buy stalls will be gratefully received.

Soaring costs are affecting people here and around the world. 

Families in Malawi are paying the price of this global crisis. Food, fuel, fertiliser and school fees have doubled in price in the last 12 months.

And hard-working farmers are seeing their harvests fail as the climate crisis brings increasingly erratic weather.

Gifts and donations to this Christian Aid fundraiser could help farmers in Malawi plant better seeds, secure a fairer price for the crops, and build happier futures for their children.

Mary Cox and Mary Gatehouse

Via email

Report from the Huntingdonshire Philatelic Society

Pauline Avery was the society's guest speaker at the meeting on May 9 when she displayed 'penguins'.

This was a collection she started 30 years ago.  She started off by saying that there are 17/18 species of penguins which are aquatic flightless birds that live almost exclusively in the southern hemisphere, especially in Antarctica.

They feed mainly on fish, squid, plankton, krill and jelly fish. The only ones to breed in the Antarctic are the Emperor Penguins. The rarest of all penguins are in the Galapagos.

The first stamp issued to show a penguin was from The Falklands and an example was shown along with later issues showing crested and rock hoppers. 

New Zealand issued a set of stamps for endangered species in 1993 and one of the stamps showed a South Island penguin. 

Greenpeace issued a mini sheet for its 1989 expedition on MV Gondwana and featured Emperor Penguins and we were shown an example. 

1998 was the International Year of the Ocean and many countries issued stamps showing penguins.

Examples were shown of Disney stamps which many countries brought out and some displayed penguins bob sleighing and diving.

Great Britain issued a stamp in 2009 as part of a British design classic which showed a penguin book cover which we were shown.

In 1981, French Southern and Antarctic territories issued a set of Antarctic fauna and one stamp showed Adelie which was displayed.

Local mail from the uninhabited island of Quail depicted penguins and examples were shown. The 1976 Scottish Philatelic Congress featured a penguin on its commemorative cover.

Our speaker finished with a bronze medal which she had won for her entry on penguins in the New Zealand Bird Pex 90 exhibition competition.

Our next meeting is on May 23, when Alan Hall will display 'Australian philatelic exhibitions from 1895-1938.

We meet at Hemingford Abbots Village Hall, with the meetings starting at 7.15pm. New members always welcome. For further information, please contact David Birkert on: 01480 468037

David Birkert

Via Email

Memories of Korean cease-fire 

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the signing of the cease-fire agreement, which brought an end to the Korean War 1950/53. 

In memory of this event, the Korean Government Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs ( M.P.V.A. ) is planning a special exhibition to be held in the United Nations Peace Memorial Hall ( U.N.P.M.H.) in Busan South Korea.

The exhibition will be held between October 2023 and December 2024.  It will only display belongings and stories from the veterans of the 22 countries who went to the aid of South Korea during the conflict. 

The United Kingdom was the 2nd biggest giver of aid to Korea, second only to the USA. 

More than 1,100 British servicemen gave their lives and more than 3,000 were wounded, a fact that the Korean people do NOT forget.

It is with this in mind, that the U.N.P.M.H. are asking for help from British veterans, and or, their families. 

They are looking for any type of memorabilia, photographs, badges, uniforms, letters to, or from, veterans, which were written at that time.

In fact, anything that is connected to the Korean War.  Anyone who would like to take part in this exhibition by donating any article can do so in two ways.

You can donate the items to the authorities in a Transfer of Ownership agreement or donate on a free loan agreement. 

Collection and return of items will be paid for by the Korean authorities, the Global Shipping company D.H.L.  will collect and return items. 

Interested parties should apply for a donation/loan form by email to: unpmkwv@gmail.com giving details of the items to be sent. 

The Korean authorities will then issue the donor with a donation/loan certificate, plus an appreciation certificate and commemorative medal by return of post. 

Brian Hough

Via Email 

Woman attacked on train needs witnesses

The incident happened on a Thameslink train that departed London Kings Cross at 21.12 terminating at Peterborough.

There were several witnesses, including several ladies who, like me, were picked up in St Neots at 10.05pm. I need your testimonies. I gave one of the ladies my phone number, apparently a mistake crept in as I haven't heard from her yet. I would ask them or all other witnesses contact me.

I am writing to you because I am from Germany and do not know where else such information can be shared.

The assault was reported to the police.

Please email the editor at The Hunts Post at: debbie.davies@newsquest.co.uk, who has agreed to pass contact details to me. This information will not be made public.

Name supplied

Come and joined us for coffee and a chat

We are hosting a community coffee morning at the Ferrars Hall Care Home in Huntingdon on Tuesday, May 30 at 10.30am.

Guests are invited to join residents for tea, coffee, fresh cakes and a chat.

Ferrars Hall Care Home