THIS year will mark the 102nd year of the Poppy Appeal, which Wells Royal British Legion has supported since its inception.
The local Poppy Appeal team will be setting up a stall at Wells Market on Saturday, October 28; Saturday, November 4; and Saturday, November 11. It will also be present in Waitrose, Tesco and Lidl, and will have collection tins and poppy boxes distributed across the city.
All funds raised from the Poppy Appeal are used to support the service community and their families.
The Royal British Legion has been working for the past three years to create a plastic-free paper poppy. The new paper poppy is made from responsibly sourced recycled materials; 50 per cent of the material comes from recycled coffee cups and it has a 40 per cent smaller carbon footprint than the original.
The new paper poppy is the first change in design for 28 years and it will be available alongside the original poppies until those stocks have been used up. The new poppies can be recycled as paper, the plastic poppies can be recycled through Sainsbury’s, which will accept poppies for recycling through the Poppy Appeal period and for two weeks afterwards.
Wreaths are available directly from the Wells Poppy Appeal Organiser Alistair McBride on 07848 110161 or via email on wellsrblpoppyappeal@gmail.com
If anyone is interested in volunteering to support the Poppy Appeal, even for an hour, they should contact Alistair as above. It is not necessary to be a member of the Legion or a veteran to be able to help.
There will be a short service of Remembrance by the Wells Branch at the Conduit in Market Square on Saturday, November 11, starting at 10.45am, which all are welcome to join.
The branch will also support the civic ceremony on Sunday, November 12. The service at St Cuthbert’s Church will be followed by a two-minute silence at the war memorial at 11am and a wreath-laying ceremony, and then a march up High Street where the Mayor will take the parade salute as usual.
The parade will continue to the Harry Patch Memorial outside Wells & Mendip Museum where there will be another wreath-laying ceremony.
• The Wells Branch Royal British Legion AGM will take place at The Venue, South Street, Wells, on Monday November 27, at 7pm. All are welcome to attend.