Poppy Appeal 2009

thumb_poppy09 There's a bit of a mystery about The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal, and how it all works. So we sent Sgt Braille to report on the process.

I had been selected to be the mascot for the local Children's Poppy Appeal, as special efforts were being made to inform and educate the younger members of the community. They were using a cartoon image of me, so I felt it my duty to have a good nose around and generally make myself visible at the same time.

There's a LOT more to Poppy Appeal than just having people standing on the street with a collecting box and a tray of poppies, as I discovered when I visited the local Poppy Depot for the 2009 Appeal.

On Monday 19 October there were at least 20 people busy setting up tables, unpacking crates of collecting boxes and laying them out neatly in rows of 5. The boxes were then fitted with their numbered seals, and a matching numbered slip inserted inside in case the seal came off. Every single tin was specifically allocated to a collector or static point, so that the whole process could be managed and accounted for. One Thousand boxes later, it was time for tea and biscuits, where I exercised the necessary supervision.

The next task was to make up the mountain of cardboard trays, all properly labelled with details of the collection point and the matching collecting box number. The Task … place box in tray, add two good handfuls of poppies and a pack of pins, the collector's official badge, a few car stickers and memorial crosses … close box, stack neatly and keep moving on, and on, and on!

All those boxes were then carefully laid out for collection by some two dozen distributors, who would get them out to the shops, pubs, churches, schools and and offices - and of course to the door-to-door and street collectors. Other helpers were making up big collections of items for the main static points, such as supermarkets, churches and schools. By Wednesday morning most of that work was completed, and 1000 boxes were magically disappearing to their intended locations. Meanwhile, in a back room, another small team was managing the pre-ordered wreaths which would be laid at the Town Cenotaph and at other Memorials, together with a massive collection of badged crosses for the Field of Remembrance and other locations.

Our Poppy Appeal was formally launched on Saturday 24 October, where I helped on a stall in the High Street. In addition to collecting for the normal paper poppies, we were also selling our specially-produced 2009 metal Poppy Pins, a plastic Children's Poppy, and Poppy Appeal and Sgt Braille windscreen stickers. We are really lucky, because our very own "Mr Pin" organises the production of metal poppies and the like for sale - it has become an annual tradition, with a different design every year and the occasional "Special Issue" for the uniformed Services. We spent the morning sheltering under the frontage of BHS, as the rain and drizzle seemed non-stop, but the weather finally cleared enough for us to move out onto the pavement. Sales were non-stop until we packed in at 1700.

The following day was the Dedication of the Field of Remembrance at the Town Cenotaph; I did not attend, as that was too serious an event for a Bear to be 'On Parade'. The BMG was there, though, and represented me at the Town Hall afterwards for coffee.

Throughout the next two weeks, the collections continued. Dozens of volunteers manned Static Points, others collected door-to-door. Our visiting Team of 4 Chelsea Pensioners (Paddy Fox, Bill Titchmarsh, Michael Murphy and Les Perrier) manned selling points in the High Street, and during the second week visited 14 special School Assemblies where, accompanied by the RBL Standard, the meaning of Poppy Appeal was explained. All the effort and planning was paying off, and it was unusual to see someone on the streets not wearing a poppy. At the same time, the door-to-door collections had been completed, and the work of checking in the collecting boxes and counting money began.

On Thursday 5 November, there was a lunchtime reception for all the busy volunteers as way of saying 'Thank You' for all their hard work. I was personally pleased to discover I'd got a mention in a local paper, which was nice! Sadly, none of the sandwiches contained honey.

Sunday 8 November was Remembrance Sunday, and again I stayed back at HQ and let the BMG go out and get cold. The rain held off for the duration of the Service and the Parade, and there was an excellent public turn-out. The March-Past had the Band of the Island, The Royal Jersey Militia, the Police, Fire and Ambulance Services, Cadets of every size and Service, Scouts, St John Ambulance, Lifeboat Crews … and of course the Veterans of so many wars.

Then it was all hands to the pumps at the Depot on Monday, when all the collecting boxes had to be recovered for registration and cash counting. At least a dozen Counters concentrated on handling and registering the money, and the Treasurer's computer was working non-stop! Meanwhile, all unused materials were separated and re-boxed for use next year, collecting tin seals were cleaned off, and the team were really working against the clock to get everything sorted and safely banked.

At 1100 on 11 November there was a small service at the Cenotaph with the Last Post, the 2-minute Silence and Reveille. Not for me, again, just the BMG … and a bugler, our Branch President Gen Sir John Wilsey, RBL Branch Committee Members, The Standard Bearers and about 150 members of the public.

By Friday 13 November, all the late materials were gathered in and the accounting continued at a pace. Finally, all the crates were filled up and closed down, ready to be placed in storage until next year. Phew!!

How many people did that all take? In total, over 400 people were involved in one way or another. How much planning and letter-writing and phone calls throughout the year? A massive effort!

Everyone who can offer an hour, or a day, or a week [or two] is SO important. Go on - be a Proper Poppy Person in 2010! Contact your local Branch of the Royal British Legion.

[There are many more related stories and photographs at the RBL (Jersey) website. ]