I refer to the letter from Jill Booth (Letters, July 4).

I write as chairman of Kendal BID and I am very proud of the fact that for the first five years of its existence BID has provided financial support for the Unity Festival, RAF 100 Spitfire, the armed forces/blue light services tribute event plus Comic Art, Torchlight Carnival, Kendal In Bloom, Christmas lights, Lakes Alive, children’s trails, Kendal Tourist Information and many other projects that hopefully give a balanced programme of activities that we hope will please most of the people. We are even canvassing a change so that other religious festivals are included in a winter festival of light.

While accepting we cannot please all the people all the time, we always promise to consider diverse views. Please remember that all the groups who attended the armed forces and blue light tribute event did so voluntarily, no arm-twisting whatsoever. All those groups obviously appreciated the motives behind the event were to publicly recognise service to our community by some special people.

I would respectfully remind Jill Booth that all our forces of all descriptions are there to defend us and keep us safe from harm. I ask her to remember all the humanitarian aid, emergency rescues, aid missions, community services, emergency repairs, and even wildlife protection.

Our armed forces also recognise personal ability no matter of gender, colour, race, nation of origin, background, religion or belief, sexual orientation or marital status or civilian partnership, I believe that sits well alongside the Unity Festival.

While acknowledging in this country Jill is entitled to her views and opinions, I ask Gazette readers to remember that our service personnel receive a varied range of training and activities to make sure they are ready for anything and whatever our community needs might be.

To suggest our armed forces are trained to kill in isolation is, to say the least, very selective.

Brian Harrison,

Kendal BID chairman