This is what you have been writing to us about this week. To send your own letter, email bfpletters@london.newsquest.co.uk.

Kindness in difficult times

There is so much kindness in these difficult times, it is overwhelming.

I was buying my small weekly shop in Iceland last week and the lady behind me at the till, tapped me on the shoulder and offered to pay for my shopping, I refused, argued but she insisted and just handed the cashier her credit card.

I was overcome, tears in my eyes, thank you so much to the lady - she will know who she is if she reads the BFP.

Take care, to all keep safe and may this difficult time soon be over.

Margaret James, address withheld

Consistency needed on coronavirus rules

The inconsistency is making a mockery of the government's coronavirus rules.

How can the government expect people to take the new rules seriously when they continue to allow incoming flights with aircraft crammed full of people for hours on end and with recirculating air creating a high risk of cross infection?

These people are then allowed to circulate freely within our population potentially transferring new and more virulent strains of the virus from abroad to the UK.

Even worse, there seems to be just as many night flights landing at Heathrow which wake me up as well as thousands of other people and compromise our immune system by sleep deprivation at a critical time.

The obvious contradiction here makes a mockery of the government's rules.

As a matter of common sense, the WHO statement on closing borders is clearly wrong in the current situation and cannot reasonably be used to justify the present contradiction.

Eric Brightwell, Marlow

We should honour coronavirus heroes

A lot of people are saying how much they appreciate the work being done during the current crisis by the emergency services and other people who do essential work in our society.

I would like to suggest, if this situation continues, the creation of an honour for people who during the crisis have behaved with generosity of spirit and helped their fellow citizens without too much concern for themselves.

My father and his contemporaries in WWII were awarded service medals and campaign medals - for having been in a place, often a theatre of war, and done their duty at times of danger for a certain period of time. These awards were one-offs and as time goes by the holders of them become fewer and fewer in number.

Similar honours (perhaps without medals!) could be given to those who carried on doing a hazardous job or who volunteered help during the current crisis. (‘Unknown heroes' could be nominated by individuals who knew what they had done.)

This would be just a token of appreciation – one that I suppose many people would dismiss as silly, they were simply doing their job - but perhaps some other people agree with me that this is a good way of showing our appreciation to them for their team spirit towards the rest of us at a difficult time.

Name and address withheld

Please remember to support our food banks

THESE are bleak times for many of us and hopefully if we all act sensibly the virus pandemic will end within a few months.

There's a new stark slogan reminder: "Stay at least six feet apart - or risk going six feet under!"

Apart from praising NHS staff and folk doing good turns, I just want to make an appeal for residents to keep on dropping goods in the food banks.

An aspect of that is the worry for really needy families that children are suddenly staying at home cooped up and need feeding. It's a horrid fact that many often only get good square nourishing meals at school.

There will be some parents going without to try to ensure that decent meals are on the table at least for their children. Benefit payments are low and now there are warnings about longer delays for payments.

There are food banks dotted across the Wycombe district. In my travels I've seen them in Morrisons in Wycombe and the Co-op store in Rose Avenue, Hazlemere, for instance.

Finally, a reminder that there are also food banks for animal charities. The local charities are no doubt hard-pressed now to keep going and let us hope no one becomes so hard-up to feel heartbroken forced to have their pet put to sleep or handed in to animal shelters.

In the Morrisons store, for instance, there's a food donation skip for Stokenchurch Dog Rescue and a separate one for a local cat rescue charity. I'm sure these charities would also welcome cash donations.

Name and address withheld

The excitement of wheelie bins

Arnie Parr in today’s print BFP (March 27) is overlooking the exciting possibilities latent in having his garden waste bin left unemptied by WDC for the foreseeable future.

I speak with some authority on this matter as I purchased three wheelie bins from WDC many years ago. They have never been emptied. I use them as mobile compost heaps.

Although green bins will do, I asked WDC for black ones, as black material absorbs the heat from sunshine. As the sun shines on them the garden waste is slowly cooked particularly on the side facing the sun and the heat rises to the top.

I put lawn clippings on top of the rubbish to insulate this process. I turn the bins occasionally to cook each side equally and I have bored holes into the base of each one to make an entrance for worms and damp.

I put water and possibly a composter like Garotta into it and then I place it in front of a south facing wall to catch the sun. At the end of the year I put the last lawn clippings of the year on top to act as an insulator and to suppress possible smells.

At the beginning of the next year I empty the rubbish laid down three years earlier and dig it into the ground or use it as potting compost. Then I start the process again with the empty bin.

(PS I do other, more interesting, things than this – my day job is as a Senior Lion Tamer.)

Come on Mr Parr – show some ingenuity!

Lawrence Linehan, Wooburn Green

Creating some lockdown limericks

Being nearly 85 I am in total lockdown and interalia composing limericks, some of which I set out below:

Have you stocked up with loo rolls a plenty?

And with hand wash ever so scenty

For if you haven’t done these

Get down on your knees

Before comes along Covid-20

When you are well into your eighties

You just cannot act very matey

You must stay all alone

Call your friends on the phone

Or else you will never make ninety

Peter Harper, Chesham Bois

Protecting children from abuse

As many of your readers are adapting to become home-school teachers, they’re going to be doing everything from reading, colouring, singing, and dancing to help their children learn. So, while we’re using this time to teach school lessons, why not teach life lessons, too.

The NSPCC’s PANTS campaign uses cartoons, songs, and drawings featuring Pantosaurus the Dinosaur to get children and parents talking PANTS and, as a result, help children to recognise the signs of sexual abuse in a child-friendly way.

But what are the PANTS Rules? Pantosaurus helps to teach kids that: Privates are private, Always remember your body belongs to you, No means no, Talk about secrets that upset you, and Speak up, someone can help.

Pantosaurus has enabled parents and professionals across the country to start talking about child sexual abuse which, even as an adult, can seem like a daunting topic to comprehend.

Last year, Childline carried out an average of 12 counselling sessions every day with children who have been sexually exploited. That’s why it is so important to talk about child sexual abuse, so our children know that it is never their fault – and if the unthinkable does happen, to help them understand that what is happening is wrong and that they don’t have to be afraid to tell someone.

It is a very exciting time at the NSPCC as we have launched our first ever crowdfunding campaign to produce a Pantosaurus story book. The book is designed to help children revisit the PANTS story and understand it at their own pace. We’re aiming to provide free copies for schools and NSPCC service centres, to help start the conversations to keep children safe from abuse, particularly sexual abuse.

If you can help, please make a pledge, any amount will go towards making a huge difference. To find out more visit crowdfunder.co.uk/nspcc-pantosaurus-book.

Helen Westerman, head of safeguarding in communities at the NSPCC

Some inspiring poems in hard times

“Hope”

I have a special little word

I’d like to share with you.

I encourage you to use it

If you are in strife or feeling blue.

Just think about it quietly –

And try to pass it on.

The more that you share it around,

The more HOPE will make you strong.

Things you once thought impossible –

You will find easier another way.

With HOPE you find more confidence,

And life will improve in every way.

With HOPE we can make a better world –

Be more positive every day.

But always remember the MEANING –

Not just an easy word to say.

“Together”

When the hill gets high and the road too long,

Your thoughts may begin to wane.

This is the time to stop and think,

Where can I find my confidence again.

Just look around and find a mate

Who may be thinking the same as you.

And together you will seek another way:

You will find more strength when there are two.

Encourage you mate to find the will,

In return they will do the same.

Together you will conquer a longer road,

And the hill will be easier to tame.

Success is conquered by little steps:

Celebrate each one every day.

But take a rest when the needs arise –

We all proceed in a different way.

Florence Stopps, Wahratta, Australia