Huge thanks as Royal British Legion appeal tops £39k

This year's Royal British Legion (RBL) Poppy Appeal managed to raise over £39,000 for the charity.

The fantastic amount was collected despite their efforts being cut short by a second national lockdown.

People were asked to remember at home this year to help curb the spread of coronavirus, but that didn’t stop the residents of Tameside from digging deep for the cause.

Alex Kershaw, member of the Ashton-under-Lyne branch of the RBL, says that he was humbled by the support of local people.

“With everything that has been going on we’ve actually managed to raise, so far, £39,345.76 which is a tremendous amount to have raised over the ten day period,” said Alex.

“All the money raised for the Poppy Appeal goes into a big pot of money which is used, not just across our town, but across our country to support veterans both past and present.

“This money covers a wide spectrum of things from welfare to housing to rehabilitation.

“It covers funeral costs, people applying for grants, it also covers emergency food, any bills or financial problems people are going through. 

“Some of the money goes towards care homes which the British Legion have across the country and some goes to break centres where veterans can go when they’re having a tough time and they just need a break away or some counselling.”

With a second national lockdown announced during the fundraising campaign, Alex explained that Remembrance took on a different look this year.

“It was a much smaller service but some members of the public did turn out. It was different, but we all still paid our respects in different ways. We did a lot where people were remembering at home, on their doorsteps, with a two minutes’ silence. 

“We had a lot of posters distributed around the schools where children would colour them in or print them off with the poppy, sticking them in windows. 

“This year schools have been absolutely fantastic, designing and making poppies. The schools this year have done even better than they have before and the money they raised this year is up on previous years, which is tremendous.

“People have been so generous and it’s been nice to see these people out and about, engaging with us and chatting with us. It’s almost a sense of normality - we’re there every year. 

“The amount of people who have come up to us and said thank you for being here, just to bring some normality back.”

The charity had to adapt to the new conditions in a variety of ways, such as leaving their stall in ASDA set up for 24 hours, manned by an honesty box overnight. 

Alex explained: “We were short on stock levels so we didn’t have as much out, but the Manchester bee pin and the Poppy Appeal 2020 pins were flying out. 

“We had a 24 hour stand in ASDA which was unmanned overnight with an honesty pot and I’m really humbled that the people of Tameside have donated so generously over this period.”

He also had a final word on how important remembrance is throughout the year, saying: “Remembrance is not just for that two week period. We’ve got people who remember every single day because they’ve got relatives or friends who’ve sadly passed away due to war and conflicts.”