A huge total of £22,317 has been raised by generous Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge residents for the Royal British Legion during last month’s Poppy Appeal, it has been announced this week.
Generous local residents across the Burnham-On-Sea area dug deep to donate to the appeal by buying thousands of poppies in the run-up to Remembrance Day.
Organiser Ruth Crosby, pictured above, told Burnham-On-Sea.com the total “far exceeded expectations” and she has thanked all those who supported the fundraising.
“Burnham and Highbridge has once again done themselves proud by donating a fantastic sum,” she added.
The money collected this year was up on last year’s total of £18,235, which was affected by the Covid restrictions.
“A massive thank you also goes to all our wonderful collectors and fundraisers who are so crucial to the Poppy Appeal’s success – we plan to embark on a recruitment drive next year for more volunteers.”
Ruth adds: “Special thanks go to Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Lidl for allowing our Poppy collections to go ahead in a Covid-safe manner, and also to the local schools – including King Alfred School, Burnham Infants, Berrow, Churchfield, St Jospehs and St Andrews – and GW Hurley who also raised big sums.”
“We also thank Burnham’s fantastic Sea Cadets and Army Cadets for also joining the collections, selling poppies for us.”
“A further thank you goes to the wonderful two ladies who made poppies for us using crochet and knitting then donated the proceeds to us.”
“Thanks also go to the Town Council for installing large poppies on lamp posts in Burnham and Highbridge in support of the fundraising during the fortnight – they looked wonderful, especially in our centenary year.”
“By way of a comparison, our collection in 1921 raised £58, 18 shillings and 4 pence – which in today’s money is estimated to be equivalent to £3,085!”
