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The Royal British
Legion is the leading ex-Service charity protecting the
welfare, interests and memory of ex-Service people and
their families and dependants.
The Legion was founded
in 1921.
Some 10.5 million
people in the UK are eligible to ask for its help.
The Legion is the UK's
largest membership organisation, with over 400,000
members (including the Women's Section). Anyone can be a
member, ex-Service or not.
You don't have to be a
Legion member to receive assistance – but you must be an
ex-Serviceperson or a dependant. Anyone who has been in
the British Armed Forced for seven days or more (and
their dependants) is eligible for help.
People as young as 17.5
years can be sent on active service, so veterans are
often much younger than people realise.
There has only been one
year (1968) since the Second World War when a British
Service person hasn't been killed on active service.
Each year the Legion
answers thousands of calls for help to its helpline,
Legionline.
It helps with a huge
range of issues, including counselling, job retraining,
skills assessment, getting the right pensions and
benefits, advice and interest free loans for setting up
small businesses, welfare grants, Remembrance Travel to
war graves, convalescent and nursing care, and home and
hospital visits.
The Legion has close
links to many other charities, organisations and trusts,
enabling it to draw on the best resources and expertise,
and to refer people to those best equipped to help them.
The Legion will be
needed for as long as people continue to be affected by
conflict. It doesn't advocate war but is simply there to
support those who have been prepared to make a personal
sacrifice through serving in the British Armed Forces.
The Poppy Appeal raised
just under £30 million in 2007.
In 2007 the Legion
spent over £88 million on its work. Apart from
donations, funds come from legacies, sponsorship,
corporate support, fundraising events.
70% of the workers at
the Poppy Factory are disabled or suffer from chronic
illness. The Factory was designed to offer jobs to such
people and its remit remains the same today.
300,000 staff and
volunteers organise the Poppy Appeal each year
More than 30 million
poppies, 100,000 wreaths and sprays, 750,000 Remembrance
Crosses and other Remembrance items will be made at the
Poppy Factory in Richmond , Surrey, this year.
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