The Royal British Legion Murcia Branch And The Annual Poppy Appeal 2021
This year’s Poppy Appeal kicked off with the Poppy Appeal Launch in Benidorm on 16th October 2021. It was attended by dignitaries such as the Mayor of Benidorm, Don Antonio Perez; Mr Joe Falzon, National Vice Chairman of the Royal British Legion; Captain Ian Clarke RN, British Defence Attache Madrid; Mr Bob Chambers, Overseas Representative of the RBL Membership Council; Mrs Fi Hedges, Overseas Membership Support Officer; British Consul in Madrid and Alicante, Sarah-Jayne Morris and Mr Don Cubbon, District North Spain Chairman; the Torrevieja Pipes and Drums; The Royal British Legion Concert Band and representatives of the Royal Naval Association, Royal Air Force Association and the Royal Marines Association.
Our two Chelsea Pensioners were Skippy Teasdale now aged 91 and Canadian Wayne Campbell aged 83, who have for many years attended the parade.
Our Standard Bearers carried the Standards of many of our Spain North District Branches and of course some of our veterans and our veterans’ families attended.
I had the pleasure of taking part in the parade being a veteran myself, a welfare caseworker and Murcia branch community support representative. It was an absolute privilege to be part of this parade. Many holiday makers and locals came out to applaud as we went past.
All the money raised in Spain is spent helping our serving members, our ex-servicepersons and their families, especially during COVID and we are still supporting those who needed our help. Even with COVID last year we raised 75,000€. We had some 200 cases that received assistance in the past 6 months alone.
Poppy Tide starts from when the Poppy Launch takes place to the Day of Remembrance on 11th November so you will see Poppy Stalls out in the Murcia region including one in Consum, Camposol B and The Food Co, Puerto de Mazarrón. We work side by side during Poppy Tide with the Ex-Serviceman’s Association Mazarrón District to collect for the Murcia region. This is such a large area to cover and this has worked well over the past few years and we thank them most sincerely for their assistance. Some of the bars, restaurants, cafés and other shops will have Poppies and collections tins.
The collecting does not stop there; we hold events and collect for the RBL all year round. Many events have taken place this year already; quizzes, entertainment evenings, meals with entertainment to name but a few. At the Diner, Camposol, Sue Pipe and her team put on a meal and live entertainment from Nicci Gale. We held a raffle and an auction and raised an amazing figure of 710.58€.
We can help in so many ways and have telephone buddies if you want a chat on the phone or home and hospital visitors, we can help fill out forms and if you need someone to talk to we are here to help and listen. In some circumstances we can help financially, from wheelchairs, adaptions to a home, to repatriation. The last act we can do for one of our veterans is to be there to show our marks of respect when they are laid to rest with a standard bearer and presence, so please remember to wear your Poppy. The Royal British Legion doesn’t need it to be worn in a certain way as long as it’s worn with pride.
If you need assistance, or you know of anyone who may need assistance, please contact us on the following: Spainnorth.communitysupport@rbl.community
Pamela Twissell-Cross 0034 676 451 780
Murcia.chairman@rbl.community Carl Thomas
Murcia.bcs@rbl.community Billie Graham-Thomas Murcia.secretary@rbl.community Lynn Symonds
The Costa Cálida Chronicle has once again this month organised their RBL Poppy Appeal and the following advertisers and groups have agreed to donate to the appeal for having the official RBL Poppy logo on their advert or header:
- Airpark Murcia
- Anchor Landscapes
- Another World Properties
- B Clean (Jim Scott)
- Blacktower Finance
- Management
- Brian Jones
- Camposol Cleaning Co
- Camposol Heating &
- Maintenance
- Camposol Property Sales
- Car Registrations Spain
- Chatterbox
- Compusurf/The Beauty Palace
- Currencies Direct
- Curtain Call
- Eriks Metal Work
- Freesol
- Fuente Old Guards Golf Society
- Furniture Plus
- Golf Delux
- Harlequin Rock Choir
- Healthy H20
- IBEX
- Iphones
- Ken Sherwood
- Kevins Flyscreens
- Kwik fix
- Locksmith Murcia/Keysmar
- Los Amigos Golf Society
- Los Palacios Gardening Group
- Los Reyes Golf
- Mass in English
- MCC Golf Championship
- Mike Smith Cruising
- Nails ‘N’ Tails
- Olive Branch Christian Fellowship
- Open Door
- Oven Cleaning Specialist
- Pals Solicitors
- Pinturas Acosta
- Prime Property Murcia
- Puerto Lumbreras Church
- Puerto Pelo
- Rainbow Satellites
- Solar Light Centre
- Sooty & Son
- Sovereign Construction
- Spangles Ladies’ Harmony Chorus
- Telecable
- The Forge
- The Loft Hair & Beauty Salon
- The Old Market Tavern
- The Rockin Vicar
- The Salon & The Salon 2
- TJ Electricals
- Top2Toe
- Watermaid
- Welcome House
- Workking
