My daughter, whose partner was paid off due to a shortage of contracts, has been trying to get benefits for her family of two young children.

Where can ordinary people go for help? My daughter has spoken to four different agencies and upwards of 10 different people and was told they could not help her.

One person told her that unless she was a substance abuser or an alcoholic there was nothing they could do.

As I was away until recently, she did not have any family to turn to, so two young children went to bed cold and hungry.

The authorities should hang their collective head in shame spending £250,000 on Christmas lights. They should be helping people who really need help.

As for council workers looking for a pay rise they should be thankful they have a job and can feed their children. — Upset Gran.

Twenty-six miles was a challenge for many of us, but all completed it, thanks to refreshments provided by three teams.

Special thanks to Karen Duke for initiating and organising the event, and congratulations to Dundee City Council for developing a super cycle track, especially in the “green” areas.

The event was great fun and has motivated many of us to get fit and cycle more. Well done, everyone. — Bruce White, Project Leader, The Attic Project, theatticzone, 215 Hilltown, Dundee.

All the staff, without exception, were very friendly and caring and I cannot praise them highly enough. A special thank you to Ward 17 and to Helen and her staff.

From my experience, Ninewells is a hospital of which to be proud.

Also thank you to Jimmy at 203020 taxis who took me home and entertained me all the way to “Englandshire”. — Glyn Westwood, Barrow in Furness, Cumbria.

Well said, Mr Regan.

The people of Balbeggie Street have had to put up with the boy racers on bikes, motor cars and speeding taxis in our street for years.

Goodness knows how many times we’ve asked for traffic calming to be put in place. This has fallen on deaf ears. The death of the young lad on the moto-bike has done nothing to make our street any safer.

The street is turning into a tip. We have junkies re-housed in this scheme and so-called vetted families put in and it doesn’t take long for you to find out the vetting system is not working.

The councillors in this city are not doing what they were elected to do. — Do The Job.

It’s on Saturday, October 25, in the Masonic Halls in Peter Street, Dundee, at 7.30pm.

Here are some of the people who have confirmed: Gaynor, Pam Mitchell, Grant Culloch, Lynne Burke, Mandy Mitchell, Susan Hendrie, Susan Allan, Lynsay Shepherd, Lesleyanne, Mary Brown, Tony, Dawn, Hilary, Angie, Alana and Jane McCabe.

Let me know if you can come along at Gaynor.Colvin@btopenworld.com — Gaynor.

I think Dick has the Midas touch because everything he appears in is extraordinarily good, notwithstanding Mary Poppins (1964).

But Dick also managed a highly unusual feat. He is responsible for three TV shows — the Dick Van Dyke Show (early 60s) and its offshoot The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which in turn, spawned Rhoda.

That’s an incredible three sitcoms inspired by Dick’s initial outing.

I rate that quite an outstanding contribution.

Dance-wise I noticed Chitty contained (as child-catcher) Robert Helpmann, who some aficionados of dance may not realise was a ballet dancer, whereas Dick is an immensely talented hoofer also. — J. I. Matthew.

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Cars were parked both sides of the road and this caused queues of cars and buses jamming up the Old Glamis Road circle. It’s still an accident waiting to happen.

I can’t see it getting much better when the school opens, as you’ll have mums and dads parking at certain times of the day causing congestion.

This is another reason for re-routing either the 18 or 19 bus down Old Glamis Road. Come, on, Travel Dundee. — Fair Play.