IN response to the letter by Sharon Wilson ‘Be proud of St Helens’, 20 years ago I was living in the Smoke and couldn’t wait to get back to St Helens. 


However, with a dead town centre and a worrying rise in crime (particularly robbery and knife crime), I think the writer is viewing their home town with nostalgic, rose-tinted spectacles.


As you say, it’s the people that make the place.


Areas of the town are still beautiful, and while we still have a lot to be proud of, every day I find myself shaking my head at the actions of individuals or the staggering incompetence of those in charge.


Peach71, 
via sthelensstar.co.uk