How you can show your support with a poppy

4:18pm Thursday 9th October 2008

ONCE again we are coming to the season of remembrance, and this year’s Poppy Appeal will begin on October 25, 2008.

I am always proud to see how magnificently the people of Herefordshire respond to this appeal, each year breaking the previous year’s record for giving - and rightly so, for as the years go on we realise more and more how much we owe to those who paid with their lives for our freedom and peace.

The need for support never goes away, and last year the Poppy Appeal helped more than 300,000 people. Every day we hear on the news of loss and injury to our servicemen and women deployed all over the world, and we owe it to them to look after them when they are injured and to care for the dependents they leave behind.

There are two ways in which you can help. The Royal British Legion always needs more “Poppy People” - the wonderful band of volunteers who go out selling poppies for the two weeks prior to Remembrance Sunday. If you are over 16 and you think you could help, please ring 0800 0855924. Secondly, buy a poppy, and wear it with pride and with gratitude.

In July, when we bestowed the Freedom of Entry to the City of Hereford on The Rifles, the people of Hereford lined the route to applaud them as they exercised their right to march through the city centre. I know that this generous pride in our serving soldiers will be expressed through generous support for the Poppy Appeal, and on behalf of all those who will be helped through this year’s appeal, thank you very much indeed.

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