Write to the editor

I am writing to provide details of the fantastic response to the appeal featured in GulfWeekly last week to provide Arabic and Farsi books to refugees based in Cyprus.

To date I have received more than 1,000 books and games of all descriptions that will be carried in cases provided by the Ecumenical Conference of Charity (the cases will be left with the refugees) while Gulf Air has generously agreed to transport the items.

In addition, I have also received footballs from Arsenal Soccer School Bahrain and rugby balls from the Bahrain Rugby Football Club which means the families will be able to exercise their bodies as well as their minds!

Finally, I would also like to thank the large number of people who have offered their support as well as Words Bookstore Café.

Thank you for highlighting the appeal and to all of your readers that reacted so generously. I will update you on my return.

David Axtell, Saar.

In the summer of 2000 we launched FriendsReunited as a method for people to find their old friends from their school days.

The internet was in its infancy and the world was a very different place. Social networking was not even a term anyone used, but FriendsReunited grew very quickly to become one of the largest sites in the UK.

A lot has happened since. In 2005 we sold the site and moved on. We watched from a distance whilst other sites came and went but for some, social networking became ingrained in our life and is here to stay.

During that time FriendsReunited declined. Despite efforts to reverse this trend it couldn’t compete with the giant services like Facebook.

Not long ago I was approached by the FriendsReunited owners, to see if I wanted to take it back and try some new projects with it. It was evident that putting the site back to be more like its original form was not a service people would get excited about using again.

The site is still used by a handful of members, however it has become clear that the site is no longer really used for the purpose it was built for. For the site to continue it needs a complete rewrite and this is just not viable.

Therefore, it is with a heavy heart that we have decided to close the service down. This will commence in the next month.

We do recognise that people have a lot of old photos within their profiles on the site. We will, therefore, provide a link to allow you to login and download your photos. You will be receiving an email in the coming months with further information on this.

Although FriendsReunited is closing, we are also opening a completely new service called Liife.

Liife is all about capturing key moments in your life – both the past and the present. And then sharing them with just the important people who actually took part in those moments.

There is a lot more to Liife than just that though – if you want to register your interest then go to www.liife.com. More information will follow.

Steve Pankhurst

YOUR back page article about the Bahrain Tigers U8 triumph at the HSBC Dubai Rugby Festival last week was fantastic and the parents and kids were very happy with it. Many thanks for highlighting their amazing achievement.

Thank you again on behalf of all the Bahrain Rugby Football Club coaches.

Ian Davis,
By email.

I just wanted to send you a note to say THANK YOU so much for the amazing article you did on the rugby! We really appreciate your enthusiasm and how much coverage you gave us. Truly fantastic!

Louise Wrankmore,
By email.