Foresters Charity Appeal Monthly Roundup – August 2026

Welcome to the August edition of our Foresters charity appeal roundup, where we provide updates on our current charity appeal and celebrate the efforts of our wonderful Foresters members, as they unite to support Shelter, a national UK housing and homelessness charity.

An Update from our High Chief Ranger, Bruce Hicks:

August has certainly been a busy month for Helen and I, with plenty of miles travelled, lots of Foresters met and, it has to be said, a considerable amount of afternoon tea consumed along the way!

We began with a visit to Court 7626 in Oxfordshire, where we enjoyed a lovely afternoon tea and, more importantly, some wonderful company. Once again, we were made extremely welcome and it was a pleasure to spend time with members while supporting the Shelter Appeal.

Our travels then took us to two Foresters Area meetings, firstly with members of the East London and Essex Area, followed by the North London Area.

Both meetings gave me the opportunity to share some of my thoughts about the future of our Society, but also to recognise and celebrate the tremendous amount of good work that continues to be carried out by Foresters every day.

Just as importantly, these visits give me the opportunity to listen. It was good to meet members, hear their views and have some interesting and constructive discussions about all things Foresters. I believe those conversations are incredibly valuable. There is much we can learn from one another, and meeting members face-to-face is one of the great privileges of my year as High Chief Ranger.

Midway through the month, Court 4893 invited us to join them for something a little different, a trip on the Nene Valley Railway.

Our journey through the Cambridgeshire countryside was accompanied by some superb fish and chips. We had been expecting steam power, but the exceptionally hot and dry weather, and the resulting wildfire risk, meant that the railway had sensibly switched to diesel locomotives. It certainly didn’t detract from what was a thoroughly enjoyable day.

It was also particularly fitting that, while raising money for one charity, we were supporting another volunteer-run organisation whose dedicated volunteers work hard to preserve our railway heritage for future generations.

And yes, there was a raffle, although holding one aboard a moving train required a little ingenuity!

Our final visit of the month took us to South London for a wonderful afternoon of close-up magic based around Tolkien’s classic The Lord of the Rings. Our magician for the afternoon was Court Secretary and Past Society Chairman Mike Wilkinson, who treated us to a hugely entertaining combination of magic and storytelling.

Once again, the tea flowed freely alongside sandwiches, scones with jam and cream and a very tempting selection of cakes, and naturally, the customary raffle also made an appearance!

It was also a pleasure during the afternoon to meet a representative from the local special needs children’s playgroup, an organisation regularly supported by the Court. Hearing about that relationship was another reminder of the important work our Courts carry out within their local communities, often quietly and without a great deal of recognition.

Thank you for your support!

The raffles, collections and fundraising taking place alongside these events all contribute to our appeal for Shelter, and Helen and I would like to thank the Courts, Areas and individual members who have supported the appeal throughout August.

But these visits demonstrate something else as well. Foresters is about people coming together, enjoying friendship and fellowship, supporting good causes and contributing to their communities. Whether that is supporting Shelter through the High Chief Ranger’s Appeal, helping to preserve a heritage railway or supporting a local children’s playgroup, it is all part of the Foresters spirit.

It is something we should be proud of and something we should never lose sight of as our Society continues to evolve.

Helen and I are very happy to come along and support your activities whenever we can. So, if your Court or Area has an event planned and you would like us to join you, please get in touch. We cannot promise to make every event, but we will certainly do our best.

We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting so many members already and look forward to meeting many more of you during the months ahead.

Thank you for your continued support of the High Chief Ranger’s Shelter Appeal, now let’s see where our travels take us next!

Bruce Hicks
High Chief Ranger

Shelter’s Impact

Every three minutes, a household becomes homeless and today, more than 135,000 households are living in temporary accommodation, including over 177,000 children. This is the highest number since records began.

Shelter works across every aspect of the housing emergency to provide both immediate help and long-term solutions. Their ambition for everyone is that they have a safe, settled and affordable home.

A snapshot of 2025/26

In 2025/26:

  • 2,672 households received advice from Shelter’s emergency helpline.
  • 11,373 households attended a Shelter local hub in England for advice and support.
  • Shelter England’s legal advice services helped 4,346 households.
  • Shelter’s professional advice services responded to 17,201 queries from other organisations needing the charity’s housing expertise.
  • Shelter’s justice services assisted 7,309 cases with people in custody and in the community.
  • There were 6.2 million visits to the Shelter England online advice and services pages.
  • 24,647 conversations were had on the Shelter webchat England service.

You can read more about Shelter’s impact in the 2025/26 Impact Report, which highlights the progress made in the fight to end the housing emergency and ensure that everyone has a safe place to call home.

If you need support, please visit Shelter’s website where you can find information about their helpline, online housing advice service and webchat facility across the UK.

How you can get involved

There are plenty of ways that you can get involved with our 2026/27 Annual Charity Appeal:

Funds raised by Foresters members throughout the year will go directly towards Shelter’s mission, helping to make a meaningful difference to the lives of people facing homelessness and housing insecurity across the UK.

 

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