I SEE the Bury Asian Women's Centre has hit the National Lottery jackpot for the second time in three years, bringing their grants over that period to approaching £300,000.

Without wanting to be prejudiced - which I will no doubt be accused of - this grant appears to be discriminatory, on the grounds of both sex and religion.

The sexual discrimination is self-explanatory. The discrimination by religion is less clear, though I cannot see why Lottery money is granted to people whose religion forbids gambling, but who are prepared to gain from gambling.

In the article on page four (Bury Times, June 4) it states that the money will be used to advise Asian women about legal aid and form-filling. Perhaps the staff at AWS, who appear skilled at obtaining Lottery grants, could put that skill to good use and set up a similar service for all members of the community. I am sure there are plenty of other groups who would appreciate knowing how to obtain this kind of financial aid.

Groups such as Age Concern and Citizens Advice are excellent and always helpful, but there must be a great number of people who do not know how to start to obtain legal aid. From the reports of the millions of pounds unclaimed from social service benefits, there must also be many people who would appreciate assistance with form-filling, especially as benefits offices are not too keen to divulge who is entitled to these untold millions.

KEN STEADMAN,

West Drive,

Bury.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.