BARNARD Castle’s annual Poppy Appeal will go ahead, despite the town council no longer organising it. The Royal British Legion confirmed the campaign will happen this year after Yvette Farren stepped forward as organiser.
The legion’s north east community fundraiser Lisa Tempest-Hall said: “Yvette’s role is crucial… distributing poppy boxes, organising our dedicated volunteers, and counting money, but we can always do with more support.
“We would encourage anyone who is interested in volunteering for the Poppy Appeal to get in touch with us to find out more.”
Joining the Barney appeal is 84-year-old Sam Henderson. For the past 22 of the 25 years he has been collecting money for the armed forces charity, he has been inside Morrisons supermarket and has raised £175,000.
He said: “I get there at 7am and the staff are fantastic, they always look after me giving me hot drinks throughout the day.
He added: “People make a donation every year and they’ve become like friends. In 2022 we raised £8,750 and this year I would like to top £10,000 in my 25th year.”
Mr Henderson served with the royal Signals from 1958 to 1964.
He said: “I got my call-up papers in 1958 but I was unemployed anyway after leaving the mines. In the end, I signed up for the regular army so I could learn a trade and earn a bit more money. I loved my time in the army, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Keith Bell, operations manager at Morrisons in Barnard Castle, said: “The relationship with Sam goes back years, there are staff here who remember that very first Poppy Appeal, so they’ve built up a lovely rapport with him. Sam is a remarkable individual, and we look forward to seeing him in the store every year, and we always look after him.”
The legion said its Remembrance poppies have been given a makeover and will be completely plastic free and recyclable, which will be sold alongside the remain stock of the original poppies.
Barnard Castle Town Council withdrew its organising support because councillors felt it took too much staff time.
