Hearing Concern is a small national charity run by both full time staff and volunteers which helps the hard of hearing and deafened people whose main method of communication is speech. This year they celebrate their 60th anniversary and are hoping to involve as many people and organisations as possible to join them in hosting tea parties across the UK to raise their profile - and hopefully funds.

The British Limbless Ex-Service Men’s Association (BLESMA) has celebrated its 75th anniversary. BLESMA, which began as an idea among wounded soldiers living in Glasgow in 1920 who were struggling to survive in the so-called “land fit for heroes”, was formed as a national charity in 1932.

For the first time in its 300 year history, The Royal Hospital Chelsea opened its doors to television cameras as part of a documentary series of eight television programmes entitled ‘Once a Soldier’. The deeply moving episodes have already begun - so don't miss the subsequent ones.

Following the last article, I have had great responses from Mature Times readers, and am really grateful for these. They’ve influenced FreshTies policy, offered help with raising funds, ideas for the website to words of support in what I’m trying to achieve.
And best of all, as I always had in mind, it is already about people shaping
how FreshTies moves forwards.

Oswald, a resident pooch, nobly bit through a string of sausages to mark the official opening of special new kennels for up to 30 dogs at Dogs Trust in Snetterton in Norfolk. The construction of the new kennel block for Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, was made possible by a generous legacy.

Toc H was born in the terrible strife of World War 1, in a house in a Belgian town named Poperinge, a few miles behind the front-line trenches. The house was called Talbot House  - whose initials, in army telephone jargon, give Toc H its distinctive name – a name today renowned for its community work.