Mayor urges support for Poppy Appeal

---

in Putney & Wandsworth

Wandsworth’s Mayor Cllr John Farebrother is urging residents of the borough to give generously to this year’s Poppy Appeal.

Cllr Farebrother said, "At a time when Britain's armed forces continue to face great peril while on active service in Afghanistan and Iraq, I would urge everyone to do all they can to support the vitally important work of the Royal British Legion.

"As well as the current conflicts, no-one should ever forget the enormous sacrifices that have been made by members of the armed forces in two world wars, the Korean War, the Falklands conflict, Northern Ireland, the first Gulf War and more recently in Bosnia and Kosovo. In fact there has only been one year since 1945 when someone in the armed services has not been killed while on active duty."

The annual Poppy Appeal, organised by the Royal British Legion, raises funds to provide practical help to ex-servicemen and women and their dependants, especially during times of hardship and distress. The appeal generates around one third of the legion's income each year.

The first donations for artificial poppies were given in Britain on 11th November 1921, inspired by John McCrae's 1915 poem 'In Flanders' Fields'.

Some of the bloodiest fighting of World War One took place in Flanders in Belgium and the Picardy region of northern France. In the aftermath of the war’s total devastation the only thing which would grow on the battlefields was the poppy. McCrae, a doctor serving there with the Canadian armed forces, wrote these verses about what he saw:

 

In Flanders’ fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place: and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders’ fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high,

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders’ fields.

This support includes helping widows and relatives visit the graves of loved ones buried overseas, providing residential and nursing home places, making visits to the housebound and long term sick, and representing veterans and their descendants at war pension appeal tribunals. Around £20m is provided each year in grants for disabled ex-servicemen and women and on helping equip people for civilian life through interest free small business loans and job training.

Wandsworth Council has arranged for poppy collection boxes to be placed around the town hall and civic offices in order to assist the appeal. The council has also provided office accommodation for a Poppy Centre in Magdalen Road cemetery in Earlsfield. This office is now open between 4pm and 7pm every day for anyone that would like a collection box to sell poppies or volunteer to help with this year's appeal.

And in the run up to Remembrance Sunday, the flag of the Royal British Legion will fly from flagpoles at the town hall in recognition of the charity's invaluable work.

 

November 4, 2008