I’ve written about volunteering before, which is something that is so good for us as we age.

This week, I’m returning to that theme in order to highlight two charities I know and love, because what they do is such good news – and sometimes we need a dose of that, don’t we?

Also, they are both utterly inspirational, and demonstrate that amazing results can come from small beginnings – and that ordinary people with no specific experience can step up to become heroic and indispensable.

The Rural Coffee Caravan, established in 2003, was the brainchild of Canon Sally Fogden.

(Image: Lucy Brown)

Its aim was to promote community spirit and tackle rural isolation in Suffolk.

It has grown enormously since then, and now has four vehicles making 473 visits across 67 locations every year. In 2019, it was awarded the prestigious Queen’s Medal for Voluntary Service for its contribution to the people of the county

The RCC meets a crucial need in providing company and conversation for isolated and lonely men and women. But its staff and volunteers also provide residents with useful information about the support services that exist to help them stay happy, healthy and independent.

For example, many people don’t recognise themselves as carers, when they most definitely are. And this advice helps them apply for benefits that can offer not just a financial boost but a real difference to the quality of their lives.

As Chief Executive Ann Osborn says, “Rural residents have to endure many frustrations and inequalities, especially if they don’t drive. Our friendly, listening volunteers and staff can make sure they feel seen, heard and valued”.

Volunteers are drawn from many walks of life; often, they’re retired folk with a particular desire to make a difference to other residents in their area.

Many professional working people also give their expertise freely to the RCC.

Ann says, “Our volunteers are our life support system and are beyond price”.

In Norfolk, another admirable organisation, the Norfolk Zipper Club, has been doing remarkable work, quietly and without fuss, for over 40 years.  

Let me tell you how it started. One day, back in early 1981, when I was a news presenter for Anglia TV, I received a letter from a chap called Reg Harvey. He told me that there was a growing number of people in East Anglia who had had extensive heart surgery but that there was no support group for them. This got me thinking.

It’s hard to believe now, but cardiac operations such as bypasses and valve replacements only began in earnest in the 1960s, and the first successful heart transplant in the UK, performed at Papworth by Sir Terence English, didn’t take place till 1979. So, you can see that open heart surgery was novel to most of us in the early ’80s. And it felt rather more frightening than it does today.

So, I decided to try to get some sort of support going, and broadcast about this possibility when I next presented the social action slot on About Anglia. I urged viewers to get in touch if they would be interested. And then, I booked a hotel room for a Sunday two or three weeks later and hoped that a few of them might turn up.

They did! What I remember most was that the men among them were all keen to take their tops off for the photographer and show their long chest scars which resembled zip fastenings. That meeting launched several groups around the region, including the Norfolk Zipper Club – and I am proud to be its founding patron.

Over the years, its members have been able to support, and be supported by, each other as they faced the challenges of cardiac surgery.

And that has always been an essential part of the club’s purpose.

But additionally, NZC has raised a massive £1.4 million for Papworth Hospital, and they continue to surprise and delight me with their untiring efforts.

Just the other day, I read in their newsletter about a new venture which has raised £49,640.80.

And I was really pleased to see that the powers-that-be at Papworth had expressed their gratitude and explained that this money is going to fund a project, which will make it easier for surgeons to identify the “transplantability” of donor hearts and know which to choose and which to reject. This should lead to more organs being available for cardiac patients, thus saving hundreds of extra lives.  

Isn’t this wonderful? And isn’t it great that this his smallish band of men and women continues to selflessly counsel patients and their families going through the drama of major surgery, and also raise such staggering amounts of money? It’s the human spirit at its best.

I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling incredibly heartened that the Rural Coffee Caravan and the Norfolk Zipper Club, and so many other charities like them, remind us just how much can be achieved when kind, thoughtful people are committed to doing good.