Dear Prime Minister

 

So much, in fact, that he decided to write to Prime Minister David Cameron to tell him and to suggest an idea as a reward for their bravery.

 

Maesydre pupil Joe, who lives in Welshpool, put pen to paper to suggest to Mr Cameron that each returning soldier from Afghanistan should be given a season ticket for their favourite football club stating “this would give them something as a reward”.

 

He finished the hand written letter by saying “I look forward to hearing from you” before signing off as ‘Joe’.

 

The letter was posted to Number 10 Downing Street by his mum, Lynsey, and a reply from the Prime Minister’s office dropped through the family’s letterbox this week.

 

“I was so excited I ripped open the envelope, I couldn't wait to see the letter,” said Joe. “I'm even more excited that the letter has been sent on to another department and I can't wait to find out their reply.”

 

The letter stated that Mr Cameron “appreciated” Joe’s letter which has been forwarded to the Minister of Defence and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport who would “reply to him directly”.

 

Joe said he felt moved to act because “after watching the soldiers on TV I felt very proud of them and wanted to help them and their families”.

 

His proud mum explained: “We were watching the TV about the soldiers and Help for Heroes and Joe said he couldn’t believe how much money footballers earn compared to how much the soldiers earn. He asked could he do something about this and so I suggested he wrote a letter to the Prime Minister with his idea!
 
“I was really touched to think that my son could think of others and want to do something about it to help the soldiers that have done us all so proud.”

 

Some clubs, including Cardiff City, already provide limited numbers of individual match tickets to returning soldiers but Joe’s idea could well put the money grabbing football clubs on the spot!