The Royal British Legion

The Royal British Legion is a national charity that offers financial, emotional and social support to Armed Forces members and veterans and their dependants. As Remembrance Sunday approaches, the charity is preparing for its biggest annual fundraiser, Poppy Day. Millions of people across the nation will buy poppies to commemorate and honour those who have lost their lives fighting for their country.

The annual appeal raises money so that the British Legion can continue with its vital work. Traditional services are held across the UK on the nearest Sunday after the 11^th November - this year it will be held on Sunday 12th November - to mark the official end of World War One in 1918, at 11am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

The British public and people in other Commonwealth nations will be remembering those who lost their lives defending their country, not only during World War I and World War II but also during conflict in modern times, such as the Gulf War and in Afghanistan.

The tradition of laying wreaths of poppies on war memorials dates from the 1914 to 1918 war. With much of the fighting taking place in Western Europe, bombs and constant fighting destroyed its once tranquil and beautiful countryside. All that was left after the war was a sparse and barren landscape of muddy fields, with no signs of any greenery.

However, it wasn't long before the soon-to-become symbolic red Flanders poppies started to grow in their thousands, with the resilient little flowers creating a colourful blanket that rose out of the scenes of destruction and misery to instil the feeling of hope for the future.

Poppy Day was created after Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian doctor, lost his good friend in the battles of Ypres, Belgium, in 1915. The blooming poppies later inspired him to write an emotional poem, In Flanders Fields.

After reading Lieutenant McCrae's moving tribute, American academic Moina Michael made many red silk poppies and sold them to support ex-servicemen's welfare after World War I. The poppies were shipped to England by Anna Guerin and the fledgling British Legion, launched in 1921, ordered nine million of the beautiful flowers right away and sold them on 11th November.

In a nation still in mourning for lost loved ones, the British public embraced the idea. The nine million poppies sold out and raised an unparalleled £106,000 - the equivalent of £4.3 million today. The money helped to create jobs and build housing for World War I veterans and their families, in a nation still devastated after the effects of the war.

The first Poppy Appeal was such a huge success that Major George Howson set up a Poppy Factory in Aylesford in 1922, offering employment to disabled ex-servicemen making silk poppies. Today, the factory produces millions of poppies and the Poppy Appeal continues to be the Royal British Legion's biggest fundraiser.

In addition to selling poppies, the Legion also operates a network of charity shops nationwide, where members of the public, organisations and businesses can donate unwanted items such as clothing, DVDs, jewellery, furniture, toys, etc. to be sold in aid of the worthy cause.

With pride in our country and the greatest respect for the fallen, at 11 o’clock on the 11^th November, Solent Plastics will be observing the 2 minutes silence. Lest we forget.