Poppy Appeal total up on last year

Dear Editor The Auchterarder area has had a particularly good Poppy Appeal response this year that has exceeded expectations.

A total of £5003.26p has been raised for the Earl Haig Fund Scotland. This is an increase of £600-odd (12 per cent) against last year’s record total.

May I please use your pages to thank everyone who has supported the cause of caring for our ex-servicemen and their dependents who have fallen on hard times? The money raised will go towards providing life-changing support to our Armed Forces community in Scotland.

As the area coordinator, I could not do the job without a lot of help from a lot of people – house-to-house collection volunteers, the Army Cadet Force, shops, bars, hotels, the Community School of Auchterarder and establishments that provide outlets for poppy cans and, not least, those individuals who put a coin in one of those red cans.

If you have any old £1 coins, we will still take them. The collection from the ecumenical Remembrance Service in the parish church totalled £595 – again, the church was full and the colour and numbers that the uniformed youth provided was a sight to behold.

If any local reader would like to help with next year’s appeal in some way, please do not hesitate to contact me on 01764 663049. David Homewood RBL Poppy Appeal area organiser Abbey Park Auchterarder