AS we all step forward into 2007 spending our Christmas gift cash in the sales, we should pause to give thought to those countries that are loosely referred to as the Third World.

They are not on some distant planet, they are very much part of our world, and we ignore or forget them at our own peril - it could be our turn next.

Thousands of our neighbours there are dying of starvation, and the aid agencies are struggling to keep pace with their needs.

Did you realise, if every private telephone subscriber in the UK gave £1 per week (less than 15 pence a day) to these agencies, they could raise more than £500 million in one year?

If the idea was carried forward worldwide, poverty could really be made history in less than a year.

As a pensioner, I give more than this, and if I can then everyone can.

Think about it, but not too long.

Act and see what people power can achieve.

Keith Billington, Brownlow Road, Horwich