Sir – I made three points in my letter to you at the end of May about the news item Hospital bosses charge volunteers:-

(a) I drew attention to the hundred volunteers in the Oxford League of Friends and the million others in hospitals, ambulance services, charity shops etc. throughout Britain.

(b) I contrasted their unpaid work with the high salaries of the JR “bosses” (1600 NHS CEOs receive on average £158,800) who propose imposing a rent of £25,000 on the Friends.

(c) I said that those JCR bosses who made that proposal, should not remain anonymous but be given full credit, i.e. that they, Sir Jonathan Michael and Mr Mark Mansfield, should be “named and shamed”.

I agree wholeheartedly with Mr and Mrs Dean of Littlemore (Letters, June 14) who consider that rent to be “short-sighted and greedy”.

I believe volunteers throughout Britain make an immense, and often not always fully appreciated, contribution to quality of life of their fellow citizens. I was myself a volunteer ambulance driver for the Oxford hospital group in 1992 when I retired and have since worked for several other Oxfordshire charities, including two for the mentally and physically disabled, often serving on their committees.

It is unfortunate that quick readers of my ironic letter might infer the exact opposite of what I implied. I apologize to them and to the Deans for any such misunderstanding.

Brian Wilson, Weston-on-the-Green