Poppy Appeal

First off, I must thank Charlotte for blogging about the cyber poppy otherwise I would not have know about it.

The Royal British Legion was founded to support ex service men and women who need that support. Their main fund raising and awareness drive is the sale of poppies in the days up to 11th November - Remembrance Day, the day marked in Britain as the day to remember the war dead.
The British Legion provides help and assistance in many ways these are some of the stats I nicked from saw on their website.

Some 11 million people in the UK are eligible to ask for its help.

You don't have to be a Legion member to receive assistance but you must be an ex-Serviceperson or a dependent.

Anyone who has been in the British Armed Forced for seven days or more (and their dependents) is eligible for help.

People as young as 17.5 years can be sent on active service, so veterans are often much younger than people realise.

Each year the Legion answers 300,000 calls for help to its helpline, Legionline.

It helps with a huge range of issues, including counselling, job retraining, skills assessment, getting the right pensions and benefits, advice and interest free loans for setting up small businesses, welfare grants, Remembrance Travel to war graves, convalescent and nursing care, and home and hospital visits.

In 2004 the Legion spent over £59 million on its work.

I have a very personal and good reason to wear a poppy. My Grandmother's father was gassed in the first world war he survived but his health was never the same, he and his family were helped by the British Legion. My Grandmother met my Grandfather because he was helped by the legion as he caught TB whilst in the Army and was sent to Preston Hall in Kent where my Grandmother and her family lived in the British Legion Village.

Unfortunately the need for the British Legion has not gone away, so please consider getting a poppy this year.