Surprise party for veteran, 90, hosted by Evesham army cadets
"When I saw Andy's letter about his father I knew the cadets would want to be involved."He added: "When Ken arrived he thought he was just getting a standard look round the detachment building and maybe a handshake or two."The look on his face when our plans were revealed was truly special."
The cadets honoured Mr Rickett's military service with a presentation earlier this week, and delivered warm wishes from the Royal Anglian Regiment.They also celebrated his birthday, with a letter from King Charles III read out by one of the cadets.Mr Ricketts, who was himself a cadet in the 1940s, was presented with a specially-engraved glass tankard by the local troop."The veteran community is a special family, and so too is the ACF, we will always do our best to bring the two together," said Gheluvelt battery commander Capt Jamie Edwards."My congratulations to Ken on his birthday milestone, and to the cadets and adult volunteers at Evesham for their hard work in preparing for this event."
Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
9 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Why have I been hoarding 39,674 emails?
Our worst water-wasting habit might not even feel slightly damp: we're now being told to save water by clearing out our inboxes. 'Deleting emails, unbelievably, makes a difference to the amount of water the country uses,' Helen Wakeham, the Environment Agency director of water, told the World at One last week. Hoarding decades' worth of 'Your Amazon order is out for delivery' notifications in datacentres consumes not just energy but water for cooling, and tech companies are building those datacentres in some of the most water-scarce places in the world. Wakeham called an email cull 'something really tangible people might not think of that can make a difference', and I do want to make a difference. I don't use water-gobbling ChatGPT, I comply with the hosepipe ban (albeit swearing at Yorkshire Water as I slop washing-up water into my shoes transporting it to my dying plants) and my showers are so short they're basically pointless. So I checked my inbox: 39,674 emails dating back to 2009. Ugh. And what emails! I sampled a random month in 2017 and it was mostly ads (for everything from Pokémon cards to a Thai cafe where I once used the wifi), plus low battery alerts for my long-defunct FitBit, updates on a rat I sponsored (also, surely, long-defunct), PTA round robins and a rudely rejected pitch. Why did I keep them? Why do any of us? Inertia, and overwhelm; irrational anxiety we might need some of it 'someday'; a misplaced belief there's gold in them thar folders (a gif of a leopard trying Marmite I once sent myself admittedly sounded golden, but the link was dead). Maybe – and I'm mostly trying to convince myself here – we could cast off this thirsty digital comfort blanket. Will HMRC ever demand proof I went to Peterborough in 2011? Could I find that cookie recipe another way (say, ooh, by Googling it)? Is a forensically detailed discussion of Gap boyfriend chinos really vital material for my memoirs? Join me, and let's free ourselves of decades of digital dross. We have nothing to lose but a complete record of every pizza we ordered 2012-2025. Emma Beddington is a Guardian columnist
BBC News
9 minutes ago
- BBC News
Cornish charity urges people to seek advice to prevent eviction
Citizens Advice is urging people in Cornwall to seek help at the earliest opportunity if they are facing the threat of eviction. The charity is working with Cornwall Council to help prevent homelessness in the county. It has launched an online and video campaign to highlight the help available from the council to prevent a notice of eviction or falling behind on rents. It said these factors could lead to Berg, Citizens Advice's Cornwall chief executive, said the organisation wanted to share the message in a bid to "relieve the pressure on temporary accommodation and reduce the number of people having to live in hotel rooms, B&Bs" and staying with friends and relatives. Mr Berg added: "We often see people who have delayed getting help until the last minute when their options are severely reduced."Councillor Peter La Broy, Cornwall Council lead member for housing, said: "Cornwall has faced extreme pressures on the availability of housing over recent years and we sympathise with the position that some residents are finding themselves in.""If you are facing homelessness, please get in touch with us as early as possible so that we can try and help prevent it happening."
The Guardian
9 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The one change that worked: I gave up my allotment – and accepted who I really am
For years I had coveted having an allotment. I pictured myself being practical and resourceful, growing vegetables and cycling home with them in my wicker basket. I imagined pickling produce like my grandmother had done and becoming outdoorsy and calm – not the hot mess I usually felt. An allotment, I believed, would make me a better person with a better life. In London it felt impossible, but when I moved back to Shrewsbury during the pandemic, I finally got one. Newly diagnosed with ADHD, I became hyperfocused on my new hobby. But beneath the enthusiasm, I was struggling to keep on top of everything that needed to be done. I found it hard to motivate myself to do the mundane tasks, such as digging up weeds, and was frustrated by all the pests that ruined my efforts. Harvesting overwhelmed me: everything was ready at once and often went to waste. The following year, I got pregnant and experienced bad morning sickness. The plot became even wilder than the year before: bindweed took over. Even though I was struggling, pregnancy only made the dream feel more important. I envisaged being an earth mother who wore her baby in a sling while picking vegetables for dinner. Instead, the plot quickly turned into a source of stress. It got worse when the baby arrived and I was too tired to do much. Bringing her was sometimes lovely, but often she screamed to be held – and you can't get much done holding a baby, sling or not. I felt frustrated. I saw other young families do it, so why couldn't I cope? I trudged on, but a year into motherhood, I finally gave up my plot. After a warning from the allotment society telling me I needed to tidy it up or I'd lose it, I vowed to make a final push but soon admitted defeat and decided to bow out. At first, I was heartbroken, but I realised I wasn't upset about the plot – but about the fact that I wasn't who I thought I was. Having an allotment was tied up with my identity. I'd wanted so badly to be a different kind of person – one of those serene wellness types I saw on Instagram, effortlessly cooking their homegrown veg in immaculate kitchens. Losing the allotment meant letting go of that fantasy but it also meant I was released from the constant shame that came with not living up to it. In reality, I'm someone who can't even keep houseplants alive and that's OK. Allotments are an important part of a community, but we can't all be Monty Don. It felt so freeing to give up the idea that I had to be someone else to be a good mum and to finally be OK with who I really am. Since then I've been so much gentler with myself. I also have more time, more headspace and I no longer feel guilty for not using my spare time to be 'productive'. I allow myself to sit on the sofa and enjoy a cuppa, and I've started reading fiction again. I've also spent more time in my much-neglected back garden, chasing my daughter around. In a culture obsessed with overachieving and self-improvement, and which celebrates seemingly perfect mothers, I found self-acceptance in my messy life, my imperfect approach to parenthood – and the fact my fingers most certainly aren't green. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here
