Another good fund-raising year for Copythorne

Through the hard work of the Copythorne & District Royal British Legion members and the generosity and support of people in Copythorne and beyond, our Branch continues to collect many thousands of pounds for the annual Poppy Appeal.

There is a misconception that Royal British Legion members are only active during the Poppy fortnight in November.  This couldn't be more wrong.  Copythorne is just one of the many Legion branches across Hampshire and throughout the country that work 52 weeks a year to raise money to boost the Appeal Fund.

This is done through a wide and imaginative range of events, concerts, raffles, lotteries, donations and legacies and Copythorne's exceptionally active Branch has been particularly successful in recent years.

The annual Poppy Appeal is, of course, a major source of fund raising and the generosity of the public has enabled us to raise over £22,000.

Our army of Poppy Appeal collectors benefit from outstanding leadership.  Our two Poppy Co-ordinators, better described as 'Poppy Generals', are branch members Helen Kinley and Denise Wiltshire.

The two ladies work tirelessly throughout the year, initially laying the foundations for the Poppy fortnight, preparing collecting jars and boxes, liaising with our friends at Morrisons supermarket at Calmore and Paulton's Park at Ower along with the numerous local shops, businesses, schools and community centres that offer to display Legion collecting boxes.

As October approaches Helen and Denise contact and deploy their teams of collectors and after two weeks of standing in supermarkets, leisure attractions and knocking on doors the collectors, members, friends and volunteers alike, report back to our Poppy Co-Ordinators.

The teams of money counters then zip into action and set off to bank the money. But, there's no respite.  Helen and Denise continue to record the additional monies raised for the Poppy Appeal  through other activities during the year.

Nothing motivates like a pat on the back and our dynamic duo constantly work hard to maintain the enthusiasm and commitment of our remarkable Copythorne Collectors.