• IT is good to see so many people volunteering to help others during lockdown, but trying to help the aged and so-called vulnerable is not always straightforward.

Utilities such as British Gas seem to have cancelled Freephone numbers and replaced them with premium. And reporting a faulty phone line for a neighbour has become almost impossible.

The worst culprits are the banks, who will no longer cash cheques payable to “cash” on behalf of a third party. Have other volunteers encountered similar problems?

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