WE HAVE been members of the National Trust for 50 years and have supported Longfield (formerly Cotswold Care Hospice) for the past 15 years since moving to Cirencester. We have experience of how hard people work to raise money for this very worth while charity.

The extremely shabby treatment of Longfield by the National Trust in charging for walkers on a charity walk on Minchinhampton Common is a really mean penny pinching action.

Longfield has provided support to many people in Gloucestershire with life limiting illnesses for over 25 years.

As your article in last week’s Standard noted, the money paid to the National Trust could have been far better used to give 16 hours Hospice at Home support, a very valuable service given free by Longfield.

Over 24,000 hours of Hospice at Home Support was given by Longfield last year – free to patients, families and carers, many of whom were probably National Trust members.

We will be cancelling our National Trust membership forthwith, and hope the many supporters of Longfield who are National Trust members will do likewise.

JOHN and JANET PETHER

Cirencester