I AM writing to you regarding your article about the A-fest festival held in Andover.

On reading the article and the quotes from Chris Lynn my first thoughts were ‘there’s no fool like an old fool’.

This was a festival organised by the youth of Andover; the youth councillors are youngsters aged 14 to 20 predominantly, who give their time freely for the benefit of both Andover and its youth.

If this so-called local councillor had bothered to wait for a response from the festival organisers, he would have know the event cost Test Valley Borough Council just £1,000.

All the other money was raised by the youth councillors from a combination of a National Lottery grant and sponsorship.

But no, Chris Lynn sees this as an opportunity to get his name in the paper and ‘pretend’ he is looking after the council’s funds.

It makes you wonder just how much research he does on any subject he chooses to voice his ill-informed opinion on.

How dare he be so flippant about this event. My daughter is just 14 years old and a youth councillor and has been actively involved in this event since its conception and believe me, this event took over their lives, particularly in the final months leading up to it.

These youngsters wrote to and contacted all the sponsors and supporters personally, held auditions for the bands, made bunting and ran support stalls on the day.

The event lasted for over seven hours and people came and went during the day.

It was always known that the event would take time to grow and catch the imagination of the youth of Andover.

This is why it is planned to run it annually and, like any new event, it will grow with time.

So what if only 40 people were there at one time, with approximately 1,000 people attending during the day; this is an event that cost Test Valley Borough Council £1 per head to fund not the £300 Chris Lynn quoted. Maybe he should go back to school with these youngsters and retake mathematics. How often can a local council put on an event that costs just £1 per head?

Thankfully, unlike Chris Lynn, these youngsters are the future of Andover and with their hard work and dedication they are giving back to their local community.

Susan McShane, via email