IN reply to the article titled Children 'not poor enough' in Thursday's Bolton Evening News.

As a parent who attends the Halliwell Sure Start Centre with my two children, I find the article rather offensive, as I don't attend the centre as I am poor but because I find it beneficial for myself and my family.

The centre offers a safe play area for the children to play in and other children for them to play with. The centre offers a variety of courses with creche facilities, help and advice, or just someone to talk to. The centre is not discriminating against anyone, but it has to have rules and regulations just like many other places. The facilities are there for the people of Halliwell, just like the name suggests.

The registration forms and registration fees were made payable to Bolton College and not to Sure Start Centre so that people had access to the courses on offer.

But, as Mrs Morris stated, it will be the children who suffer, the children of Halliwell, as if families from outside the area are constantly allowed to use the facilities it reduces the amount of places available for the families in Halliwell to have access, which means the centre would not be fulfilling its purpose.

These families featured in your article already attend other family sessions together, so the children will still have plenty of opportunities to play together.They have also been offered the use of the toys from the sure start centre in order to set up a toddler group so that the children didn't have to loose play time, but the families in question turned this offer down.

I think these parents and grandparents need to look at supporting their own communities in order to get something in return, just like the families of Halliwell.

Barbara McIntosh

Halliwell