The Poppy Appeal is a nationally recognised campaign and the Royal British Legion’s biggest fundraiser, which strives to aid serving and ex-serving men and women, in addition to their families.

Every November when you pop into your local supermarket, the poppy stand is hard to miss. Appearing each year during the Remembrance period, the public are able to show their support and pay tribute to those who have served and sacrificed on behalf of our country through donations.

However, what few of us don’t appreciate is how much effort goes into organising these stalls on a local scale and the incredible volunteer force that fuels it.

Behind the scenes, Caroline and David Llewellyn, the Abergavenny local area’s Poppy Appeal co-ordinators have been working tirelessly alongside veterans and the residents of Abergavenny to put the Poppy Appeal into action.

Peter Farthing, Vice Chair of the Abergavenny Branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL), commented on how this fundraiser has united the community, saying, “there is a real diversity to our volunteers, we have people from the civilian population, RBL, veterans, Army Cadet Force and Air Training Corp – everyone has come together to support and have worked so hard.”

A week prior to the stalls going up, these volunteers work to manually open and seal the iconic red collection tins, build and fill blue boxes with poppies, before delivering them to several locations – ready to distribute to the public. They then go on to man the stalls, from 9:00am to 17:00pm.

This year in Abergavenny, stalls have been sited in Morrisons and Waitrose, as well as outside the Cenotaph.

Bryn Probert, Chair of the Abergavenny Branch of the RBL, pointed out that the Memorial to the 3rd Battalion Monmouthshire Regiment where services are held is often mistaken for the Cenotaph, however, the town’s offical war memorial can be found in Abergavenny market.

Bryn discussed how poignant the set up outside the Cenotaph has been, “it has been an important reminder of the town’s history, which holds such deep military connections.”

The local schools have also been a massive support to the campaign. Across Abergavenny, they have received Poppy Appeal school packs, containing paraphernalia such as wristbands and of course – a poppy.

Over the last two weeks, the fundraiser has been a great success. In response, Bryn praised the paramount efforts of all the volunteers and supporters of the campaign, stating “we want everyone one to know how grateful we are for their participation, it has been amazing to see.”