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North Staffordshire
Royal British Legion News January 2007 |
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News Friday
5 January 2007 |
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BURTON BRANCH ...YEAR'S FUND-RAISING TOPS £25K
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 BURTON'S
branch of the Royal British Legion has smashed its
fund-raising record by collecting more than £25,000 for
former servicemen and their families.
[Burton Mail Photograph: Ken Compton Burton Branch and
County Chairman with Burton Mayor Cllr. Trevor Hathaway and
Branch Members]
The branch raised £26,768 during the 2006 Poppy Appeal and
related events — beating last year’s amount by thousands of
pounds.
Anne Compton, branch secretary, told The Mail that donations
had increased year on year since the September 11 attacks on
the United States.
The fact the Staffordshire Regiment — including scores of
soldiers from Burton and South Derbyshire — returned to Iraq
for its second tour of duty in November also helped swell
donations.
She said: "Afghanistan and Iraq have been in the news so
much and there are so many soldiers in the Burton area so
there is always a need."
The Legion gives an award each year to the school which
raises the most cash during the Poppy Appeal and for the
last seven years Belvedere Junior School, in Outwoods
Street, has won the trophy.
However, this year the title has been taken by Blessed
Robert Sutton Catholic Sports College, in Bluestone Lane,
Stapenhill, after pupils raised £500.
Mrs Compton has thanked all the individuals, shops, and
offices who helped to make 2006 a record year. She said:
"People were very generous in the town."
The future of fund-raising for the Legion also looks very
promising in Burton after the town’s branch linked up with
the Royal Corps of Signals regiment to help with on-street
fund-raising around Remembrance Day.
The regiment, which was based in Bulford, Wiltshire, is
moving to Stafford this year and the Legion hopes that its
success in raising £900 in November will be repeated in
future.
Mrs Compton said: "We will be able to form closer links with
them. They raised £900 last year and it was a big boost to
us."
With declining numbers of World War Two veterans left alive,
it could be perceived that the legion’s role will decline,
but Mrs Compton is keen to remind the public that donations
are still badly needed for servicemen and their families
wounded in modern conflicts..
She said: "There are ever increasing demands for assistance.
For elderly ex-servicemen stair lifts and mobility scooters
are needed.
"Soldiers today who suffer horrific injuries and would not
have survived in the past but are now surviving. We need
donations because we have to look after them."
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- Photograph (Ken Compton
Burton Branch and County Chairman with Burton Mayor
Cllr. Trevor Hathaway and Branch Members) and article by
Tom Sloan republished by permission of the Burton
Mail. Original article published 4th January 2007
Link to Burton
Mail
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