Issue 503 – Thanks as town’s Poppy Appeal raises thousands

ONCE again, the people of Westbury have given generously to the Poppy Appeal, with £5,946 collected in the town over the Remembrance period.

That’s on top of the Poppy Appeal in Bratton, which has also been well supported by local residents, collecting £3,473 as reported in the last issue of the White Horse News.
Bill Prior, Poppy Appeal organiser for Westbury said, “We’re down a bit this year but everyone is down a bit this year I believe, and we haven’t got the wreath money in yet, which will add to that figure.
“We’re quite happy with what we got, it is a good sum of money. We had a good collection at the parade, that was up on last year, and the collections at Morrisons and the Co-op were very good this year. Most of the shops, pubs, and clubs had a box as well.”
This year, the national Poppy Appeal hopes to raise £40million. The Legion has committed £50million over ten years to pay for the creation and operation of The Royal British Legion Battle Back Centre, and to fund operating costs of the personnel recovery centres, including four recovery centres in the UK and a facility in Germany. The Legion spends £1.4million a week delivering welfare support to serving and ex-Service people young and old, and their families. Money from the Poppy Appeal is also used in many other ways. Find out more at www.poppy.org.uk