Crucial services have been restored thanks to the Argus Appeal.

The appeal has stepped in to pay for a new freezer and tumble-dryer at Brunswick Older People's Project in Palmeira Square, Hove.

The project provides facilities and activities for pensioners including a laundry service and hot meals.

But when inspectors saw the poor state of the Seventies freezer at the project, they ordered that it be thrown out.

The project, which is run mostly with the help of volunteers, didn't have the money to replace it.

To make matters worse, the project's tumble-dryer collapsed soon after that, leaving regulars without their laundry service.

When the appeal trustees heard of the project's plight, they agreed to pay for replacements.

Team leader Caroline Ridley said: "We are enormously grateful to the appeal. When the inspectors told us the freezer had to be replaced we didn't have a clue where we were going to get the money from."

Jo Wingfield, 82, of Second Avenue, Hove, said: "The services that they have here are a godsend."