THE Workers' Educational Association, which was founded in 1903 and has been running classes for adults ever since,is feeling the effects of the credit crunch.

Every year more than 300 people in the Harrow area attend its classes, but recruitment has been falling as students find their budgets coming under pressure from rising inflation.

This year two of the classes in Pinner have found themselves without the numbers they need to keep their financial heads above water.

It is no secret that the majority of those attending the daytime classes are retired, and this is a group that is particularly hard-hit by the cost of food, fuel and council tax.

Our members are drawn from all walks of life - but most are retired and find it difficult to find the money to pay for attendance at classes. We are able to fund those who are dependant on benefits, but it is those on the margin who are the hardest hit.

People do make sacrifices to attend our classes, but there is a limit to what they can afford. This year,sadly, a couple of our classes are in danger of closing down because we haven't enough students in them to meet the costs of tutors' fees.

The frustrating thing is that it would only take two or three extra students to save the classes that are in danger.In fact, we are going out into the streets in an attempt to find those extra students to join the endangered classes immediately after half-term.

Meanwhile,I would be happy to hear from anyone with an interest in joining one of our classes this term, particularly in Ancient Egypt, photography, The Roman Empire, computing, or The History of the London Underground.

MIKE BRADLEY

Via email