News 07.11.13

Poppy Appeals

On Thursday 7 November 2013 London Poppy Day became the largest street collection of its kind ever held in the UK. A staggering £1 million was raised in less than 24 hours, as more than 2000 members of the Armed Forces and their supporters took to the streets of London to collect donations for this year’s Poppy Appeal.

Now in its eighth year, London Poppy Day saw personnel from the Royal Navy, Army and RAF hit 80 tube and train stations across the London transport network, Heathrow Terminals 5 and British Airways Waterside, Cargo and Engineering, and at hubs including Leadenhall and Covent Garden.

Once again Vigilance Properties put its weight behind efforts at Victoria Station where £35,000 was raised in a single day, smashing the previous highest total fund raising.

Duncan Welham, London Poppy Day organiser said: “A big thank you to all Londoners who helped to achieve this total that just a few years ago seemed impossible.”

London Poppy Day was supported by Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prime Minister David Cameron, London Mayor Boris Johnson, actor Barbara Windsor and BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing crew among others.

The day included 20 military bands, a touring Routemaster bus, abseiling Royal Marines, a river-class patrol ship HMS Tyne docked in Canary Wharf, poppy branded transport, and a full day of music on stage at Covent Garden.

Tales of generosity from Londoners emerged, with one collector left surprised when an office worker, finding he had no change to buy a poppy, withdrew his daily limit of £300 from a nearby cash point and stuffed it into the Poppy Appeal bucket.

Many companies allowed uniformed personnel to ‘walk the floors’ of their offices to collect, with some generously matching what their employees raised. There was also in-kind support from key corporate partners including TfL, Network Rail, Barclaycard and G4S.

Charles Byrne Director of Fundraising at the Royal British Legion said:  “The generosity of the people of London has been overwhelming. We are so grateful to all those who donated, plus all those who gave up their time to volunteer – London Poppy Day wouldn’t have been possible without them.

“Every poppy helps raise the £1.6 million needed by the Legion each week to deliver direct practical care and support to the Armed Forces community.”