THE people of Frome have responded with unprecedented generosity to this year’s Poppy Appeal, with a record collection of over £21,000.
Along with gift aid and £1,600 from the village of Nunney, the overall combined grand total for Frome and Nunney is over £22,000.
Organisers are delighted with the effort, which has raised over £3,000 more than last year’s appeal.
Jane Wood, poppy appeal organiser for Frome and Nunney said, “It has certainly been an incredible year for the 90th Anniversary Appeal with help from so many people, shops and businesses. I always need more though!
“I would like to thank everyone who contributed in Frome and Nunney to this year’s Poppy Appeal. You helped to achieve record collections, for Frome of £21.288.50 and for Nunney £1,602.38. These figures include a record number of gift aid donations which should yield just over £726 from the Chancellor, which will make our overall combined grand total for Frome and Nunney £22,890.88.
“The Poppy Appeal is the major single source of revenue for the Royal British Legion’s Benevolent Fund. Each year more people come to the Legion for help and the cost of that help is continually increasing. Daily we see and read of young servicemen and women employed in peace-keeping duties in many parts of the world, often in considerable danger, and this means that there will always be a need to provide help for them and their dependants, when they themselves no longer can. That is why it is so important that the Legion can continue with its vital work.
“Thank you on behalf of those who will now benefit from your support.”
All for a good cause
Nationally, this year alone, the Royal British Legion will spend more than £72 million by providing assistance to over 160,000 serving and ex-Service Armed Forces personnel and their families, as well as campaigning on their behalf. 2010 also saw the culmination of the Legion’s campaign to improve the compensation scheme for wounded personnel, and this came on the heels of the introduction of a free, independent legal advice scheme for bereaved families.
2011 is the 90th anniversary of the Royal British Legion and it aspires to raise £90million which will include money to provide for two major new projects.
The Legion has committed £25million over 10 years to cover the cost of running centres which will place it at the forefront of caring for the wounded of current conflicts. This will provide for the operation of Personnel Recovery Centres across the country.
The Legion will be in partnership with other Armed Forces charities, including Help for Heroes which is also investing £20million on the construction of purpose-built Personnel Recovery Centres in the towns of Colchester, Tidworth, Catterick and Edinburgh. The centres will be operated by the British Army in partnership with The Royal British Legion for personnel from all 3 services. The first of these, in Colchester, is expected to open in spring 2011.
Part of the £25million will also go towards the funding of a Challenge Centre. This will provide adventure training and sporting activity, delivered by a dedicated ‘Battle Back’ team, to challenge the injured and act as a ‘recovery accelerator’.
