Farm 'tackling loneliness' appeals for more volunteers
Mr Helme says farms were traditionally somewhere that people would "gather together and connect to the land" but said that idea had been "lost a bit"."We're really trying to build community resilience, and it's great to do that with all the people that benefit in many different ways here," he said.
Volunteer Derek Logan said it is "important that we get new members". "People come and go, so we're always looking for volunteers to come and join us."
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Daily Mail
9 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
My view from the captain's chair aboard Britain's 65,000-ton leviathan facing down war-hungry Chinese despot: DAVID PATRIKARAKOS
When it comes to expressions of British military pride, nothing does the job quite like the HMS Prince of Wales. The flight deck of the aircraft carrier that is the flagship of the Royal Navy stretches out before me. A vast slab of grey steel more than 900ft long. From my vantage point near the stern I can see a line of F-35 fighter jet noses fan out like a row of arrows ready to pierce the sky. These supersonic, stealth combat aircraft, renowned for their 'short take-off and vertical landing' capabilities, accelerate to 170mph as they head for the elevated runway ramp that juts off the end of the carrier to generate sufficient lift to begin their climb. Once airborne, they can take out targets on land or sea using an array of firepower that includes Sidewinder missiles for air-to-air combat and 100kg Spear bombs for ground attacks. These masters of the air are housed on a 65,000-ton leviathan that carries a 1,600-strong crew. And today, I'm one of them. I'm aboard the Prince of Wales in the port of Darwin, northern Australia, having flown from London to meet Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey on the vessel. Lammy and Healey are here because the carrier strike group – the Prince of Wales and its escort vessels – along with 3,000 British troops, are taking part in Exercise Talisman Sabre. With more than 35,000 military personnel from 19 nations involved in the manoeuvres, it's the largest military exercise ever hosted by Australia. For the UK and our cousins Down Under, Talisman Sabre symbolises a deepening military partnership, designed for a world more dangerous and terrifying than for more than 80 years. The day begins with an inspection of the troops. In the background, a band strikes up a military tune. Lammy and Healey make their way down a row of sailors dressed in white ceremonial uniform, making small talk. Australia's Northern Territory is in the grip of a 30C heatwave made the more uncomfortable by 65 per cent humidity. Perspiration crosses my forehead. My eyes sting. My shirt becomes sticky. 'It's hot, isn't it?' Lammy says to one sailor, who's also struggling. Later, the three of us meet inside the hangar. 'The UK's Modern Industrial Strategy: Defence', reads a sign behind us. Healey makes clear how important today's proceedings are. 'It's the first time a British aircraft carrier has come to Australia since 1997,' he says. 'And it's a big day because of the global context. Where threats are increasing, allies are important, and reinforcing the deep alliance that we've had with Australia is more vital than ever.' Lammy agrees: 'I spend a lot of time on the Europe-North America relationship, particularly within the context of Nato, and here in the Indo-Pacific – it's a critical theatre. With Australia, we have had the deepest of enduring relationships. We're here to renew that relationship.' Lammy is right about the Indo-Pacific. If there is to be a major global war in the years ahead, the region will be a key battlefield. China is already challenging the US for global hegemony and this means, first and foremost, dominating what it believes is its 'backyard'. Many believe that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will launch his much-vaunted invasion of Taiwan in 2027 to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). If that happens, the US is committed (albeit ambiguously) to Taiwan's defence. The UK and Australia will almost certainly follow suit. Neither Lammy nor Healey will comment on any possible war with China. But being in a state of readiness in this region is now clearly top of Britain's agenda. And when I speak to a senior government source, the message is clear. Britain ' challenges' China. It will continue to confront Beijing's dangerous and destabilising activity in the South China Sea: 'From the Red Sea to the South China Sea — the high seas are more dangerous than at any point in generations.' The truth of these words is plain to see. Earlier this year, the Chinese navy conducted live-fire naval exercises in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, in the first recorded operational engagement in the area. The People's Republic tested new landing barges on ships that would be used in any amphibious assault on Taiwan, as well as cable cutters that could cut off the island's internet. It has been ratcheting up drills in the Taiwan Strait and targeting countries with which it has territorial disputes, such as the Philippines and Japan. Only yesterday, the Daily Mail reported how two Chinese vessels collided in the South China Sea while chasing a Philippine patrol boat at high speeds – just the latest in an increasing number of incidents between the two countries. The Australians have no choice but to be at the top of their game. All of which explains the urgency and importance of cementing the Western alliance in these waters. Once, Britain was at the heart of Australian security. But after the Second World War, the Aussies knew we were spent. In 1951 they signed the ANZUS Treaty with the United States, cutting Britain out of Australian defence – and leaving Churchill heartbroken. But our historic alliance has now been revived, most significantly via the 2021 trilateral AUKUS agreement, under which Britain and the US agreed to share nuclear propulsion technology with Australia with a view to cooperating on the design and build of a new generation of nuclear-powered submarines. This was the first time that America and Britain had shared such sensitive technology with anyone else. 'Today, the UK and Australia are two nations intertwined by shared goals, particularly in the Indo-Pacific,' a Foreign Office source told me. 'That means a level of integration unprecedented since the end of the British Empire.' But modern defence means reckoning with new technology that enables Davids to attack Goliaths. I have been deeply wary of Britain spending colossal sums on huge carriers that could be vulnerable to the sort of drone tech that, as I have seen first-hand in Ukraine, enabled Kyiv to destroy Russia's Black Sea fleet without any real navy of their own. It even took out Moscow's colossal flagship, the Moskva, near Odesa. And let's not forget, the Houthis of Yemen, backed by the mullahs of Tehran, have succeeded in terrorising Western cargo ships passing through the Red Sea using a range of cheap drones. Yet Healey assures me that the military fully understands these challenges. 'We learned from Ukraine how the accelerating development of technology is changing the nature of warfare,' he tells me. 'For your war fighters to have an edge in the future, you've got to harness the power of that new tech, and we are. The aircraft carrier is increasingly hybrid, with traditional fixed-wing aircraft taking their place alongside the latest in drone technology, just as the Strategic Defence Review said it should.' The proof of this is all around me. It's there as I sit in the captain's chair, surrounded byan array of winking interfaces, feeling as if I'm piloting the Starship Enterprise. But most of all, it's in the ship's hanger where I see the drones. Black circles amid a grey patina on the front of one make it resemble a human face. It almost seems to stare at me. Another drone resembles a small plane. Nearby are a couple of small D40s, Australian drones that can be launched manually or via a grenade-launcher. These so-called 'loitering' munitions buzz and swarm like lethal metallic wasps until they lock on to their target - and unload. It's clear that the British goal is to further develop capabilities that are now key to the future of war: detecting and striking adversaries autonomously. But does all this mean that the target of 5 per cent defence spending, demanded by both Donald Trump and Nato will, finally, be met? Healey cannot be clearer: 'Will we hit that target?' he replies. 'I'm absolutely confident we will. We signed up like the other 31 nations last month to that 5 per cent by 2035.' Healey is a serious man. But Britain, as we all know, is already facing financial disaster, and cannot possibly afford to put 5 per cent of GDP into defence without eye-watering sacrifices. And even if we somehow found the necessary cash, to hit the target only in a decade seems lethargic – at best. The threats we face are terrifying and imminent. Not least because Lammy correctly stresses the broader importance of this region in a global conflict. 'We see an indivisibility of security between the Indo-Pacific and the Euro-Atlantic,' he tells me. 'I have seen Iranian missiles shot into Kyiv. I've been in Beijing and challenged the Chinese about their dual-use technology [which can be used for both weapons and civilian purposes] that is shipped to Russia and fired at the Ukrainians. 'I've seen satellite images of DPRK [North Korean] troops engaged in battle on behalf of Russia against Ukraine, and of course we know that shells are making their way to Russia also from the Indo-Pacific. So the indivisibility is plain to see on a day-to-day basis.' This is spot on – as I know first-hand from my reporting across several continents. I've come under attack from Iranian technology in Kyiv, eastern Ukraine and Israel. I've seen up close the damage the Iranians have done in Baghdad and what the Russians have done in Syria. We are in the midst of a battle with an axis of enemies whose influence spans the globe. That is why the HMS Prince of Wales's presence here is so important. In a speech to the Washington think-tank The Hudson Institute last year, Lammy quoted former US National Security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, who warned that the West might one day face the danger of a 'grand coalition of China, Russia and perhaps Iran, an anti-hegemonic coalition united not by ideology but by complementary grievances'. 'This I think risks coming upon us,' Lammy said. Well, that day has indeed arrived. And our response must be decisive and bold. We must build a coalition of allies as resolute as the states ranged against us and it must straddle both the Indo-Pacific and the Atlantic. Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia — all these democracies want us there. The more alliances they have, the more strategic independence they maintain. Lammy points not just to Nato but the 'Indo-Pacific Four' (IP4), the alliance of Nato partners in the region – Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. He highlights the intelligence-sharing 'Five Eyes' group of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and the US and, of course, the G7 group of developed western nations. 'Our economic and military alliances are so multilateral. Yes, this is a time of peace through strength,' he says. 'But also peace through deepening our allied partnerships with one another.' What I saw in Darwin was merely the latest iteration of something Britain has been doing for centuries: creating and managing alliances. When we fought with our Empire in the Second World War, we sat at the centre of a web of allies. It's how we defeated not only Hitler, but the German Kaiser in 1918 and before that, Napoleon. Yes, it's been a long time since Britannia ruled the waves. But we still have global soft power, highly trained armed forces and vast geopolitical and military experience. If the world is more dangerous than ever, hyper-accelerating technology is ensuring that it's also smaller than ever. To deal with it, alliances must be global – and no one forges them better than we do. The HMS Prince of Wales is more than just a floating airbase and potent weapon. It is a movable hub: both the centre and the symbol of the type of global alliances that Britain will need in order to survive and thrive in the coming decades. 'This is what you're seeing. Allies. Arming-up. Ambition. This is our strategy for the 21st century,' says my senior government source. As I walk off the ship, slowly crossing the bridge connecting it to terra firma, I recall Lammy's words about the indivisible theatre of conflict we now face. The threat is indeed global – and at its head is China. Only it has the size, strength and resources to reorder the world in its totalitarian image. In 1962, former US Secretary of State Dean Acheson notoriously observed that 'Great Britain has lost an empire and has not yet found a role.' In Darwin, perhaps I finally saw us taking on that role, and not before time. In this age of mass conflict, our future depends upon it.
The Sun
9 minutes ago
- The Sun
Lottery results LIVE: National Lottery Set For Life draw tonight, August 11, 2025
THE National Lottery Set For Life numbers are in and it's time to find out if you've won the top prize of £10,000 every month for 30 years. Could tonight's jackpot see you start ticking off that bucket list every month or building your own start-up as a budding entrepreneur? 1 You can find out by checking your ticket against tonight's numbers below. Good luck! The winning Set For Life numbers are: 24, 27, 03, 34, 06 and the Life Ball is 05. The first National Lottery draw was held on November 19 1994 when seven winners shared a jackpot of £5,874,778. The largest amount ever to be won by a single ticket holder was £42million, won in 1996. Gareth Bull, a 49-year-old builder, won £41million in November, 2020 and ended up knocking down his bungalow to make way for a luxury manor house with a pool. £1.308 billion (Powerball) on January 13 2016 in the US, for which three winning tickets were sold, remains history's biggest lottery prize £1.267 billion (Mega Million) a winner from South Carolina took their time to come forward to claim their prize in March 2019 not long before the April deadline £633.76 million (Powerball draw) from a winner from Wisconsin £625.76 million (Powerball) Mavis L. Wanczyk of Chicopee, Massachusetts claimed the jackpot in August 2017 £575.53 million (Powerball) A lucky pair of winners scooped the jackpot in Iowa and New York in October 2018 Sue Davies, 64, bought a lottery ticket to celebrate ending five months of shielding during the pandemic — and won £500,000. Sandra Devine, 36, accidentally won £300k - she intended to buy her usual £100 National Lottery Scratchcard, but came home with a much bigger prize. The biggest jackpot ever to be up for grabs was £66million in January last year, which was won by two lucky ticket holders. Another winner, Karl managed to bag £11million aged just 23 in 1996. The odds of winning the lottery are estimated to be about one in 14million - BUT you've got to be in it to win it.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Parents occupy community centre with buggy blockade in protest over cost of childcare
Parents are occupying a London community centre with a buggy blockade in protest at a lack of affordable childcare and school holiday support. The parents have been joined by grandparents and youth workers in the occupation of the recently-closed centre, which was run by the Living Under One Sun (LUOS) charity, in Tottenham Hale on Friday evening. The group, averaging 50 to 60 people a day over the weekend, has said the occupation will continue for as long as possible to provide a community space throughout the summer holidays. Amid a UK-wide shortfall, the protesters said they are demanding urgent action to increase the borough's childcare and school holiday provision. They said they are also calling on Haringey Council to protect the centre in Down Lane Park from demolition and guarantee its long-term use as a space for community groups to run services and activities. With a buggy blockade at the entrance and a family fiesta outside, the demonstrators have begun running a programme of free meals and kids activities from the space. Gemma Brown, a local mum and dance teacher said: 'We didn't know what kind of reactions we might but support from the community has been overwhelming. On Friday when we reclaimed the centre over 100 neighbours turned up to celebrate with us. We already have a programme planned for the summer but it keeps growing. Rebecca, a single mother and kitchen volunteer at the community centre who only wished to give her first name, added: 'When the centre closed, I felt like I lost my other home... We won't let them take our community centre.' The six-week summer break poses a severe challenge for thousands of London families. Childcare costs in inner London now average £306 per week for a childminder, which totals more than £1,800 over the course of the summer holidays, according to a survey conducted by the children's charity Coram this year. Many parents, therefore, cannot afford to work while schools are closed, with many relying on community centre programmes over the school holidays. Haringey, the borough where the Tottenham Hale community centre is located, has some of the highest child poverty rates in the UK. However, demand for the government's Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme, appears to exceed supply, with nearly three-quarters of eligible children not attending the programme last summer, according to a Department for Education report this year. Nationally, HAF reaches only 29 per cent of eligible children, according to the government's latest data, while most councils offered just four weeks of clubs, leaving a gap of up to two weeks with no funded support. According to the protesters, the community centre run by LUOS was one of the last in Haringey to run a programme of free kids activities throughout the summer holidays, including multi-sports, crafts and gardening. But the council has announced the centre is now set to be demolished. Local newspaper Haringey Community Press reported LUOS confirmed it was leaving the premises in March following a funding dispute with the council. In response, the local parents and childcare workers said they decided to occupy the centre and run a free community holiday programme to support families who are struggling over the school holidays with food and childcare. Alongside their childcare calls and demands for the centre, the protesters are also urging transparency and real community control over money spent on planning in Tottenham Hale. Pamela Berrocal, a play worker involved in the occupation, said: 'I run playgroups and parent support groups for the Latin community in Tottenham. 'All the council cares about is 'regeneration' plans that are making private developers rich while local families are priced out. And now they want to bulldoze the one community space we all rely on. 'Tottenham has a long history of community resistance and we won't let them get away with this. We fight because we care.' Haringey Council cabinet member for placemaking and local economy, Councillor Ruth Gordon, said individuals 'stormed the building' in an 'unlawful occupation' on Friday and 'injured a member of staff'. 'We want to provide the best services for our residents and the council has already held discussions with community groups about the short-term usage that included summer holiday activities for young children and had already purchased equipment from LUOS to support this,' she added. 'The council will be seeking possession of the building to remove the unlawful occupants so we can ensure the parties we have engaged with are able to run activities through the correct channels. 'As part of the planned long-term programme, the council have engaged extensively with residents and will be providing a new building and other facilities in the park to ensure long-term community provision.' The Metropolitan Police told The Independent the protest was not a police matter. A Department for Education spokesperson said: 'We recognise the school holidays can be a pressurised time for parents, which is why through the Plan for Change this government is putting pounds back in parents' pockets both during the holidays and in term time. 'We're rolling out 30 hours of government-funded childcare from this September, helping to give every child the best start in life and saving parents up to £7,500 a year. We're also continuing to fund free holiday clubs through the Holiday Activities and Food programme, which provides six weeks of activities and meals for children from low-income families during the school holidays. 'To support families feeling the pinch, we're also expanding free school meals to all children in households on Universal Credit and introducing free breakfast clubs in primary schools.'
