Fundraiser who sold the first poppies retires at age of 103
BRITAIN’S longest-serving poppy seller is to hang up her collecting tin, after 97 years.
Rosemary Powell, 103, believed to be Britain’s longest-serving and oldest poppy seller, is planning to hand over to a new generation of fundraisers as, she says, she is “getting old”.
As a child, Mrs Powell lived close to where poppies were made in Richmond, Surrey, and, alongside her mother Evelyn, sold them at the age of six on Richmond Bridge for the Royal British Legion’s first Poppy Appeal in 1921.
She has sold poppies ever since – even when living abroad with her husband – and has carried on since moving into a nursing home three years ago.
Recalling the first appeal, Mrs Powell, a widow and great-grandmother who still lives in west London, said: “The poppies were so popular I remember that we ran out in no time.
“My mother was very good at making things with paper and she left me to sell the last few while she nipped over to this sort of general flower shop not far from the bridge to buy some red crepe paper to make her own poppies for us to sell.
“She made these very simple little poppies and we soon sold out again. It was the very first one [appeal] and it really caught the public’s attention.”
Charles Ashton James, Mrs Powell’s father, served with the 126th Baluchistan Infantry and was wounded during the Battle of the Somme. She lost two godfathers and three uncles during the First World War.
Her first fiancé, Robin Ellis, a commander in the Royal Navy, died in 1944 when his Lancaster bomber crashed near Inverness, and her younger brother Peter, a major in the Army, also died during the Second World War.
“Right from the beginning, people talked about the Poppy Appeal. It has always been a very important cause for me,” she said.
“We did it in memory of those men who were killed; for their sacrifice.” During the Second World War, Mrs Powell trained as a Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD) nurse providing civilian nursing to the military. She went on to train at St Thomas’ Hospital in London and later worked as a matron at Powderham Castle, Devon, a finishing school.
In the Fifties, she lived in Africa for a year and made poppies out of paper to give to local people during Remembrance. From 1975 to the mid-nineties, she lived in France with her Royal Navy officer husband Selwyn and sold blue cornflowers, the French equivalent of the British poppy. When she returned to the UK, Mrs Powell sold poppies in London including at Kings Mall shopping centre in Hammersmith. In 2015, she moved to a nursing home in Chiswick but contin- ued collecting for the appeal by selling poppies to fellow residents.
Giles Powell, Mrs Powell’s son, said he was “incredibly proud” of her.
“Mum has led a fascinating life and now it’s time, poignantly during the national Volunteers’ Week, for her to hang up her collecting tin and encourage the public to volunteer their time
‘It has always been a very important cause for me’
to the legion, which is a fantastic cause.”
Emma Cannings, director of membership and volunteers at the legion, described Mrs Powell as “an incredible woman”. “Her volunteering effort has been nothing short of phenomenal, and we are incredibly thankful for her support over the generations,” she said. received threatening letters and numerous complaints to the council,” he said.
“If you’re just upset because you look out of your upstairs window and see a big green vehicle which is the size of a van, then I think you’re being a bit selfish.”
Mr Cleator, who is a disabled Blue Badge holder, provides his services free of charge to charity events and gives rides in tanks to disabled children and to people at the end of their lives.
He added: “Being a member of the Armed Forces, you’re very aware of what you can do for the community.”
Billy Macleod, founder of the Veterans In Action charity, said Mr Cleator’s charitable work was helping him adjust to civilian life after being medically discharged from the army last July.