A SOON-TO-BE 99 YEAR OLD WORLD WAR TWO VETERAN FULFILLED A LIFE-LONG AMBITION ON MONDAY 2 AUGUST WHEN HE FLEW IN A HOT AIR BALLOON OVER YORKSHIRE FROM YORK RACECOURSE

Ron Shelley, who is a resident at RMBI Care Co. Home Connaught Court in Fulford, York, confided to staff that he would dearly love to take to the skies to mark his 99th year, so they set about making it happen. He will be 99 on 3rd September.

Ron, who supported the D-Day landings 77 years ago, was delighted when staff revealed the surprise and he can’t wait to fly over the glorious countryside of North Yorkshire with his son, Peter.

He said: 'I thought it would be a thrilling one off experience, a once in a life-time trip, so I’m seizing the chance while I still can!'

During the Second World War, Ron was a wireless operator. He was sent to France six days after D-Day in 1944, aged just 22.

He was involved in sending out false missives to “confound and confuse” the enemy.

Ron explains: 'It worked. My dummy messages, which I sent from a radio truck, led the enemy to believe that there was a whole division of 3,000 men, too many to take on, so they didn’t attack.'

Ron recollects that he eventually got to Caen behind the infantry, escaping mortar attacks by parking his truck over the trench. He was also involved with the famous Battle of Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

Ron left the Army as a Sergeant, receiving a number of medals in recognition of his immense bravery.

Born in India in 1922, where his father was posted with the British Army, Ron came back to England when he was three years old and grew up in London.

He has enjoyed a life full of travel and adventure with army postings all over the world. He continued his passion for radio as an amateur radio enthusiast. During a posting to Hong Kong, he was in contact with the famed H.M.S. Amethyst, which was caught up in the Chinese Civil War, the story behind the film The Yangtze Incident.

Later Ron met and married the love of his life, Thelma and they had two sons. They lived in Fulford and for a while they ran the Masons Arms public house on Fishergate in York. Sadly, Thelma passed away in 2018 after 64 years of “wonderful marriage”. Ron now has five grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Ron has lived at RMBI Care Co. Home Connaught Court for three years. He is remarkably active and youthful, which he says is because he has 'always been sporty and used to be a physical training instructor in the Army.'
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Fran Tagg, an Activities Coordinator for RMBI Care Co. Home Connaught Court said: 'Ron is a modest gentleman who is well known at our Home for his adventurous spirit. When he mentioned to us how he’d love to go up in a hot air balloon we were keen to create the opportunity for him. We’re very grateful to The Association of Friends of Connaught Court whose generosity has made this possible. It’s a dream come true for Ron!'

To help more than 1.4 million people experiencing mental health issues, Freemasons are donating more than £550,000 to help citizens across the UK.

Many people are reaching crisis point with their mental health due to the pandemic. According to NHS Prevalence Data 2020, one in six young people have a probable mental disorder, while the Young Minds Survey 2020 found 83% of young people said the pandemic had made their mental health worse.

To help the population exit the pandemic in a better state of mental health, the United Grand Lodge of England (UGLE), the governing body for Freemasonry in England and Wales, are supporting various institutions, schools and universities.

Among the institutions receiving support, the Freemasons are donating £125,000 to Young Minds to help them to support approximately 1.4 million young people. The goal is to increase Young Minds’ reach by 10% and help many more young people find the support they need, when they need it, and be able to take practical, actionable steps to improve their mental health.

The donation will enable the project to proactively recruit more young Black people and disabled people, to diversify Young Minds’ pool of bloggers to expand the experiences and voices on the website. The idea is to create more content on racism and mental health, as well as for those living with bipolar disorder.

The UGLE and the Masonic Charitable Foundation’s (MCF) - the Freemasons’ charity - donations will also help 100,000 children and young people across the UK to access information, support and guidance online.

In addition, the donation will help to develop and pilot the Suicide Safer Schools programme in three to five schools in west Cumbria, supporting 1,000 young people and 500 parents, teachers and staff, by raising awareness of suicide prevention, understanding help-seeking behaviour, and training selected staff in suicide intervention.

In a separate project, the Freemasons also aim to reach 800 young people in London, who will benefit from better understanding about the prevention of young suicide through volunteers running awareness-raising events in their local communities.

Elsewhere, 2,188 children and young people through three projects will be supported with mentoring and skills workshops. About 270 parents/staff will receive awareness workshops and support, while 270 young people will be trained as peer mentors.

The Freemasons’ donations will also support at least 600 teachers, professionals and parents, who will be provided with support through three projects offering mental health first aid training, learning events and parental support, and this will in turn will help 25,000 children and young people.

The support will also fund seven projects to help 1,780 children and young people with counselling and group therapy, while 40 parents and carers will also benefit. Elsewhere, 100 young men with mental health issues will benefit from a project offering weekly talking group sessions.

During almost two years of the pandemic, Freemasons have donated millions of pounds to support people in need. They have donated many tonnes of food, tablets for hospitals, ambulances and PPE, as well as supporting carers, women’s refuges, care homes, hospitals, hospices and funds for NHS workers.  In 2020, the Freemasons total charitable donations topped £51 million.

In addition, Freemasons also worked 18 million hours as volunteers in a range of different areas where there was a need, including driving vulnerable people to hospital, preparing meals, taking care of people at risk, organising care packages, as well as producing scrubs, PPE and hand sanitiser.

Dr David Staples, chief executive of the UGLE, said: “The pandemic has been devastating and mental health is a very important topic to us and our members. During the pandemic, thousands of Freemasons supported people in their communities, preventing mental health problems and supporting many families. This issue must be one of our priorities and we are joining forces to keep the population safe and feeling well.

"The UGLE has carefully chosen the institutions we are supporting, focusing on those with important objectives to achieve in the areas of tackling racism, mental health issues, living with bipolar disorder and prevention of young suicide. We need to do everything we can to help as many people as possible.”​

In addition to the £1m donated in 2020, the Freemasons have committed a further fund of £2.1m to support the ongoing Covid-19 crisis response. Of that £2.1m, £850,000 has been allocated to support homeless people through several charities with which UGLE partners, while £715,000 is earmarked to support adult, young and parent carers.