HELP with everything from painting bathrooms to bringing up the abandoned children of those who serve Queen and country is still being given by a Malvern charity more than a century after it was founded.

The Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA) grew out of a time when all a wife whose husband was on foreign service in the Army could hope for was three pence per day - and sailors' wives got nothing at all.

When the Second Expeditionary Force set sail for Egypt in February 1885, Major James Gildea wrote a forceful letter to The Times appealing for funds and volunteers to look after families who had been left behind.

He had already raised substantial funds for widows and orphans of the Zulu and Afghan wars and the Indian Patriotic Military Relief Fund, earning him the nickname "The Soldier's Friend".

Four weeks after the letter appeared, a committee of ten ladies was formed and a fund set up to pay a small allowance for married women and aged dependents.

"In garrison towns, committees looked after individual families, which established the principle still at the heart of the association today - the ready help of friends to friends," explained Eileen Bridges, of Malvern and Upton SSAFA.

Gildea, by then a colonel, wrote to a distinguished admiral, raising the question of sailors' wives, who were not then eligible for help from the newly-established fund. "The Navy knows of no such useless appendage or encumbrance as a sailor's wife," was the less-than-sympathetic reply.

However, the fund quickly grew, with the Princess of Wales, the then Princess Alexandra, becoming the first president of its ruling council.

The role of the charity blossomed to incorporate nursing, regular home visits to families and information on deserted families and cases of non-provision of maintenance - many years before health visitors or the Child Support Agency were thought of.

The association's work continued through both world wars - airmen were added to its remit in recognition of their service after the Great War - giving friendship, nursing, helping communication and supplying compassionate, practical and financial advice and help to service families.

Among the many duties it carried out during the Second World War was that of defending the families of servicemen against unfair pressure from debtors and creditors. It also provided information to men serving overseas about the whereabouts and health of their loved ones by setting up an Air Raid Inquiry Service. By the end of the war, the association had 29,000 workers and was administering more than £1 million a year, had established 16 emergency children's homes all over the country and was handing out clothing from 400 sub-depots.

With the advent of the welfare state and the National Health Service, SSAFA's role gradually changed but became no less important.

"There's always someone somewhere in need of help who doesn't quite fall within a category," said Mrs Bridges.

Today, there are 15 helpers in the Malvern area, who provide assistance with everything from paying bills to providing a sympathetic ear to those who have served in the armed forces, their families and dependents.

More people come forward as and when they are needed and the branch deals with around 50 cases a year, although many of them are ongoing.

The charity does not administer cash directly - it aims to help people help themselves by showing them how to cope unaided - but can pay bills on behalf of those it helps and provides a free, voluntary service.

"I've been a voluntary case worker for Malvern for 20 years and have arranged wheelchairs, given debt counselling, done house painting and cleaning, as well as garden care," said Mrs Bridges, who herself, like the majority of SSAFA volunteers, served in the armed forces, joining the RAF in her late teens.

"I've visited, arranged respite care and travel and clothing allowances for an elderly couple struggling to keep up with the needs of their abandoned grandson," she said, as an example.

The association distributes money handed to it on behalf of regimental and other service funds, accepts donations from the public and organises occasional fundraising events, including a grand draw held every autumn in which three cars can be won.

Anyone who is, or knows of, a family or dependant of an ex-serviceman or woman - or of anyone who has served in the armed forces - who is now facing difficulties, should contact secretary Margaret Crouch on 01886 880013.