MOST of us have some sort of commemorative item - whether it be a mug or a spoon. We'll get it out from time to time, look at it and put it away again - something to be treasured and passed down through families.

Leeds City Council's idea to hand out special millennium mugs to all schoolchildren was a wonderful idea - but why only to primary and secondary school children?

There can only be one reason - money, and the lack of it. It's such a shame that a lack of cash means so many children will miss out. It's not so much the older children, but for the younger, nursery children seeing the older ones getting the mugs, it will seem very strange indeed.

Schools are rightly concerned that they will feel left out and excluded from something special - and for no fault of their own. With something as important as the start of the new millennium, surely more money could be found from somewhere.

After all, there is little to celebrate these days. Royal marriages are not worth remembering - they don't last long enough.

The council says it understands some schools will be facing difficulties with their younger pupils and is looking for a solution. Let's hope it manages to come up with something and in the years to come all Leeds schoolchildren will possess a mug to be proud of.

WE have to accept that the days when front doors were always open and neighbours popped in and out are well and truly gone. However, it now seems that our homes must be a fortress 24 hours a day.

Thieves have been watching people arrive home and minutes later sneaking in to steal car keys thrown down and making off with the vehicle.

The police advice is to always keep your doors locked, and while this is indeed sound guidance, it is also a sad indictment of life in the 21st century.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.