THIS year’s Poppy Appeal has been hit by the coronavirus as the Royal British Legion has revealed street collectors will be unable to collect donations.

John Mason, president of the Royal British Legion for Powick and Callow End, told the Worcester News it will be difficult to fundraise for the Poppy Appeal this year due to cutbacks.

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The 86-year-old veteran said: “There won’t be any street sales, door to door sales or anything like that because we cannot interface with the public for fear of spreading the disease or catching it ourselves.

“Nobody is going to hold the can or contribute like that, and of course people like me who go knocking doors won’t be able to do that.

“You have got your people who you call on every year. I have to do it because there’s a lot of sheltered accommodation where I live. and the people who want poppies are all my age.

“They have very important reasons for wanting a poppy and if I don’t go, they don’t get one. They don’t get out to the supermarkets and this year it will be difficult.”

The Poppy Appeal fundraising will be done this year through their sponsors, such as supermarkets. The stores can have cans on the counter, but the public will not be able to meet the sellers in the shop.

Mr Mason added: “It’s been a major part of my life for the past 25 years.

“This is something we do. Those of us who were in the services, we don’t forget the people who didn’t come back and we don’t forget the people who did come back and have nasty problems to cope with for the rest of their lives.

“It makes an impression on you for the rest of your life – especially after having someone try to kill you for six years.

“An awful lot of people today don’t seem to care about that. They’re only interested in themselves.

“I’m of an age where I lived through the Second World War and I know what it was like to be in a war. We are in a war now of course; with an enemy we can’t see which is insidious.

“It’s one thing to know your enemy and confront them, but when you have an enemy you can’t see, that is very difficult.”

He said all charities are suffering, adding: “Everybody is crying out for help.”

The pensioner became a social media sensation after he spent hours collecting for the Poppy Appeal from motorists stuck in traffic due to floods last year.