For Alastair Elliot, at least, there were genuine memories to draw on; Robert Crawford's surprisingly unimaginative contribution drew on borrowed memories to paint a boringly stark contrast between "Mr Churchill, speaking English" and his Gaelic-speaking audience in the Hebrides.Gillian Clarke and John Hartley Williams also fell into the nostalgia trap; but they had fresh notions about the physics of radio (her father was a radio engineer), and how it could be used as a medium for rebellion.Hugo Williams had nothing new to say about the World Service as a lifeline for expatriates, and said some wrongheaded things about the sense that other lonely people were listening in the dark. One of the nice things about the World Service (as opposed to BBC Europe) is that it's the one relic of the British Empire on which the sun never sets; there's a sense that other people are listening at other times of day, getting on with other bits of their lives.Only Kennelly seemed to have any real idea of the immediacy of radio, and the way that it can give the listener access to other worlds - for him, turning the radio on is an expression of "gregariousness": "You can fill your lonely room with articulate, misunderstood people."In between the poets, Tim Dee had slopped out a stew of music and voices which gave a feeling for the incongruity and excitement of radio that the poetry didn't seem to grasp. In addition, they can be put to a variety of uses.The maximum payment attracting tax-free returns is pounds 25 a month or pounds 270 a year. Unlike them, they have the extra benefit that returns roll up annually on a tax-free basis.

Many older societies are still committed to their traditional market. But both they and newer societies, 109 in all, have expanded into the field of tax-exempt savings plans. The plans they offer are similar to those offered by life companies. Their expansion in Victorian times owed much to the ethos of self-improvement so strong among skilled artisans, coupled with the knowledge that without self-protection, workers were likely to become destitute if they fell ill. Friendly societies, which first saw the light of day in the 17th century, were set up to provide sickness protection for workers. VCTs require more work on the part of the manager, both in due diligence before making investments and in monitoring investments once made.Initial charges are usually 5 per cent and annual management fees range from 1.5 per cent to 2.5 per cent by the third year. Some VCTs have a rising structure of fees to reflect the fact that initial investments will be in gilts and fixed-interest stock as the manager searches for suitable unquoted companies.Minimum subscriptions start at pounds 2,000. VCTs are stock market quoted companies but are not expected to be actively traded due to the five-year requirement to hold shares to qualify for upfront tax relief.Companies presently raising VCTs: Advent 0171-630 9811; British Smaller Companies 0171-488 4040; Capital for Companies 0113-243 8043; Close Brothers 0171-426 4000; Gartmore 0171-782 2000; Guinness Flight 0171-522 2127; Hodgson Martin 0131-226 7644; Johnson Fry 0171-451 1000; Noble & Co 0131- 225 4044; Pennine 0151-236 6666; Quester 0171-222 5472..

Only a quarter of the money it raises will be invested in unquoted equities and half will go into guaranteed bank loans to small companies The remaining quarter will go into five year gilts. While the downside is limited by such an approach, so too is the upside if the companies prosper.Allan Hodgson, managing director of Hodgson Martin, which is also raising a VCT, points out that unquoted companies have produced average returns of 12 per cent a year, according to the British Venture Capital Association.Mr Hodgson says the economic climate is favourable based on Treasury forecasts of a recovery in economic growth and an expected pick-up in consumer expenditure after tax cuts this April.Although investment performance is the most crucial determinant of success, investors should also be aware of charges that are generally higher than those on other pooled vehicles like unit and investment trusts. VCTs have the advantage over investment trusts of being allowed to distribute realised capital profits.Most VCT managers have stated their intention of avoiding start-up companies, which are more likely to go bust than established businesses.Noble & Co is avoiding risk by another method. Advent also claims to be unusual in that it will distribute tax free all capital gains realised from successful investments during the life of the fund A decision on winding up the fund is left to shareholders. To qualify, companies must have assets of no more than pounds 10m and no more than pounds 1m can be invested by the VCT manager.