I am writing to you today to draw your attention to a great travesty in this country.

They lay huddled in the dark, or in the corner of the room. Many of them have been abused, forgotten about, watched and then left to rot. Some of them may never again see the light of day.

Box sets of The Duchess of Duke Street lay collecting dust and the Darling Buds of May series 1 seems doomed to be never seen by a new generation. To me this seems like a crying shame.

Second hand video sales are integral to Barnardo’s and other charity shops’ profit margins, but as we all know, VHS players are virtually a dead concept.

This doesn’t have to be the case.

I believe that if sufficient VHS players are sold from Barnardo’s a loyal collective will return constantly to buy these bargain boxes of tapes.

We all appreciate the current economical climate of this country, but if there is one section we cannot afford to make cutbacks, it’s this children’s charity.

I would implore you to donate as many VHS players to Barnardo’s as soon as possible so that a tape of Filthy, Rich, and Catflap can be given a whole new lease of life, so that Button Moon and Barney the Dog can once again take the imagination of youngsters of this country by storm.

Please, help to end the cruelty.

Donate your old VHS players.

Dan Hilling, Barnardo’s Volunteer,Devizes.