A magnificent effort by the people of the British Legion who have already raised a total sum of £17,555 towards the 2016 Poppy Appeal. The funds raised are a vital element of the support the British Legion can provide deserving ex servicemen. There is still a chance to swell the funds further as the 2016 appeal remains open until it is replaced by the 2017 appeal which will commence on armistice day in November.
Each British Legion Branch has it’s own area from which they operate the Poppy Appeal. The Burghwallis branch covers Skellow, Carcroft, Adwick-le Street and the Redhouse Interchange. Here, the A1 acts as our boundary both South and West. The A19 acts as our easterly border, Thornhurst Golf Club is where the Bentley branch begins their area. To the north our border is the M62, so we also cover Whitley Bridge, Little Smeaton, Kirk Smeaton, Womersley, Campsall, Norton and Askern. As you can see, it’s a large area, but sparsely populated.
Their main collecting can be split into 2 main areas. 1) Manned sites, ASDA Carcroft & Co-op at Askern. 2) Unmanned sites for example shops, schools etc.
Undoubtedly the manned sites are the key to a successful poppy appeal. This is where the bulk of the money is collected . When you consider that our total this year was just over £17,500 , our total from the manned sites came to just over £10,700. This is why it is critical that we man these sites for as long as possible during the Appeal Period in early November, and hence the continual appeal for volunteers to help with these sites, or if you feel you could help in other areas we would be glad to hear from you!!
A number of churches, parish councils and individuals request wreaths at this time of year, as well as offering them for sale at our manned displays. This year, the total spent on wreaths was just over £700.
Poppy Appeal 2017 began late October, and doesn’t finish until late September this year, so the total will grow, as we do collect from shops and pubs that have our all year round boxes which we exchange when they are full. Some of the members also have smaller all year round boxes for the individual households to pop in their loose change, these can be obtained from robert.lomas@btinternet.com should anyone want one (they particularly like pound coins!!)
This year, one of the members wife’s along with a friend, made unique hand made poppies which went so well, that they intend to repeat the process but start the manufacture earlier, so we have more stock to sell. Look out for them on our manned stalls!!!