CUSTOMERS at an Amblecote supermarket have been praised after helping their local store raise £8,089 for this year’s Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Sainsbury’s Amblecote store collected £2,000 more than it did in 2015, after a number of veterans, staff and their family members who gave up their own time to support the appeal.

Staff were supported in their fundraising quest by the Worcester Branch of The Royal British Legion Riders, Amblecote Holy Trinity Scouts, members of Amblecote Royal British Legion, as well as the store’s craft club and Jill El-Asli, who donated the proceeds from the sale of her own homemade poppies.

The Amblecote store’s PR ambassador Julie Bate was one of 23 regional Sainsbury’s staff members who were given the opportunity to help plant crosses at The Royal British Legion’s Fields of Remembrance.

She planted crosses at the Korean War Memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, on Friday, November 4.

Julie said: “I was humbled and honoured to be a volunteer planting crosses at the National Memorial Arboretum, in honour of those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.

“I read each and every heartfelt inscription and prayed silently for the lives lost and their loved ones bearing the grief.”