Mr Brooks knew well in advance the approximate and exact date for the envelope stuffing and distribution, which was 18th April 1994. When this date arrived, Mr Brooks had provided no one, absolutely no one.

On 19th April 1994, at about noon, a telephone call came for me at the "Tabernacle", it was from the volunteer bureau, and they were offering me two people. They were two volunteers from 60+ "Sixty Plus" - as you may know, the Volunteer Bureau and 60+ "Sixty Plus" have a close working relationship. They were two people with very serious "learning problems", they were Mr John Shoy and Mr Jean Marie, two very well known "old hands" on the volunteer circuit, but completely inappropriate to the task that was in hand. That said, the two Johns are known, willing workers, and as far as I know will attempt anything asked of them. I gather that Mr Shoy, being very strong, did a huge amount of work for 60+ "Sixty Plus" when they moved offices recently. Mr Shoy also has a gentle, sensitive nature and would "feel" it if he was underachieving in relation to the people around him. In view of this and other considerations, I declined the offer of the two Johns from the Volunteer Bureau.

I do not know the name of the woman at the Volunteer Bureau who offered me Mr Shoy and Mr Marie, I gather she is new to her job on a paid basis. But I do know, that prior to her gaining her paid position, she had been a volunteer worker with the Bureau for a long time. By no stretch of the imagination were the aptitudes of John Shoy and John Marie unknown to her.

Because of the shoddy quality of service provided by the Volunteer Bureau, I have been in great danger of not being able to keep to my part of the bargain with Mr Moore of the Kensington & Chelsea Times. As it is, I have just managed to complete the task by the skin of my teeth. That said, because of the shortage of volunteers, the distribution has not been as widespread as I had agreed with Mr Moore.

Yours sincerely

SEAN BRYSON