£26,000 for poppy appeal "shows we care" (From Stourbridge News)

£26,000 for poppy appeal "shows we care"

12:26pm Tuesday 1st December 2009

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QUARRY Bank’s poppy appeal has topped a staggering £26,000 this year.

With the atrocities of Afghanistan continuing to make headlines - people in the area dug extremely deep into their pockets to help support this year’s appeal.

The collecting kicked off at Merry Hill back in October, in a fundraising drive launched by Midlands funnyman Don MacLean and Stourbridge MP Lynda Waltho.

And dedicated volunteers from Quarry Bank Royal British Legion helped to pull in the pounds in the mall and on the streets of Quarry Bank in the ensuing two weeks.

Poppy appeal co-ordinators also raised £750 from their annual concert at Quarry Bank Labour Club on November 6 - bringing this year’s branch total to £26,242, almost double last year’s figure of around £14,000.

Gloria Donovan, the legion’s assistant poppy appeal co-ordinator, said: “People are always generous with the poppy appeal, but even more this year with the war in Afghanistan.

“We never expected more than £26,000. It’s absolutely fantastic.

“We’ve worked very hard to get it, like everyone else; and I’d like to thank everyone who supported us including all local shops, pubs, schools and factories, Asda Brierley Hill, Sainsburys at Merry Hill and Westfield Merry Hill.

“The money will help people who come back from this war injured and people who have fought in the past and their families.”

Steven Probyn, whose nephew Daniel - a soldier with the 1st Battalion Grenadier Guards - was killed in Afghanistan in 2007, said: "It's a terrific amount.

"To raise that much money shows how much we care about the soldiers."

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