LegionLive

Now here’s an unusual - but definitely appetising! - way to help support this year’s Poppy Appeal…cupcakes!

It’s not so strange an idea as it sounds. Fiona Harris, owner of Angel Desserts in Lincoln and cake maker extraordinaire, has created a special poppy seed and lemon muffin. This sweet fancy - complete with a very appropriate iced red poppy on top -   donates to the Legion £1.25 each time it’s  sold. Fiona said: “We wanted to do something to honour the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Day, and this seemed a way we could help.”

She added that the response from customers has been very positive, which is definitely no surprise!

The muffins are now on sale at a number of city cafes and shops, priced £1.75. Go get one before they completely disappear from the shelves!

I never get tired of hearing about all the ways supporters of The Royal British Legion work hard to help raise awareness of the charity and encourage vital funds.

The kind people over at the Army Rumour Service website have been running special auctions every year, with the proceeds going towards the Poppy Appeal. In the last two years they’ve raised  £6,000 and £5,000 respectively through supporters donating items for auction, bidding on those items and purchasing a special virtual poppy for their site avatar from the Poppy Shop.

Just wanted to say a huge thank you to the ARRSE team - do let us know how you fare this year! Anyone who is interested in taking part in the 2009 auction should take a look at this forum thread for more information.

The nice people at iChild have once again thought of a great way to get children involved in the annual Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Day.

Sometimes it’s difficult for children to appreciate the significance of all these collection tins, red flowers on lapels and fundraising events, which is why iChild’s site is offering them lots of inspiring activities to try.  These include making a bravery medal, printing out some special Remembrance Day writing paper, and, of course, fashioning a poppy!

I think this is a great way of teaching children about the relevance of the Appeal - do pass on to those with young ones!

West Ham United legends Tony Gale and Tony Cottee helped The Royal British Legion launch the local East Ham branch’s Poppy Appeal yesterday, pledging their support at the club’s Boleyn Ground.

The national Appeal launch takes place on Thursday, but under the slogan, ‘For their sake, wear a poppy’, the pair wanted to speak on behalf of West Ham United in urging as many people as possible to show their support this year for ex and currently serving members of the Armed Forces.

Tony Cottee said “Everyone at the club belives it’s very important to honour and support those who have given up so much in the service of their country. It’s especially important in this part of London, which went through so much during World War II.”

West Ham United are also going to unveil a special memorial plaque to the 13th Battalion of the Essex Regiment on Remembrance Sunday. It’s going to sit right at the entrance of the Boleyn Ground.

Last year West Ham alone raised £30,000, which is an incredible amount; fingers crossed they can beat that for 2009 and set a new record!

What did you get up to at the weekend? Jack Holloway, 89 years old and a staunch supporter of The Royal British Legion, was up bright and early to kick off the Poppy Appeal Walk in Lurgashall.

Jack’s Walk has become the traditional curtain-raiser for the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal in and around the Petworth area; last year he and fellow supporters managed to raise £3,900 of the branch total.

Other key events coming up in the area is a coffee morning next Saturday (United Reformed Church, Golden Square, Petworth, from 10am to midday), house collections on  October 24th to November 7th and street collections start from October 31st. On that day, historic military vehicles will be on display in Petworth.

So lots going on in Petworth; if you’d like me to help you shout about what’s happening in your local area, just send me a mail at poppy@legionlive.org.uk

I don’t know about you, but I spent my weekend trying my best to avoid the wind and the rain, which is why I’m mightily impressed by the thousands of people who completed the Royal Marine Commando Challenge!

Saturday saw participants enter a 4k fun run, continuing with a 10k marine challenge on Sunday. Happily caked head-to-toe in mud, 4,000 people in 800 teams took part part, raising a huge £300,000 for The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.  Organiser Alan Hardy said that all entrants had to “negotiate mud, tunnels and all the elements that the marines face as part of their training.”

Can’t help but feel inspired by such great effort and team spirit

I love this….just to demonstrate that there really are some weird and wonderful ways to fundraise for the Poppy Appeal, Friday night saw the Bergen and Hohne branch of The Royal British Legion in Northern Germany take part in a 24 hour Guitar Hero challenge! Rocking out to the likes of Bon Jovi, Mettalica and AC/DC, the dedicated Ant Oaks, Mike Kirkham Ingham and Gini Carlin from BFBS Radio - as well as a mysterious Anthony with no surname - managed to raise nearly 700 euros for the cause.

Fantastic work, guys - make sure you rest those aching fingers!

A massive well done to members of The Royal British Legion in Flackwell Heath who have managed to help fill more than a hundred Christmas boxes for British troops who are either serving abroad or are in hospital overseas.

These boxes (or ’square stockings’ as they’re also called!) are given to the Armed Forces who are apart from their families over the holiday. I think it’s a lovely idea to send them a reminder that they’re being thought of back home, as well as a delivery of  some much-needed festive cheer.

Late last month around £1,700 was raised through raffle money and cash donations alone. This money has gone to uk4u-Thanks, who provide the special boxes to all servicemen and women, whether they’re in the Army, Navy or RAF. In 2008 uk4u was able to send Christmas boxes to 24,500 personnel, so fingers crossed we’re on track to do even better in 2009!