‘It is unbelievable’ - Mirfield’s Poppy Appeal raises over £17,000

The appeal is the charity’s biggest fundraising campaign which Dave Horrobin was in charge of for the first time in Mirfield last month ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

And the former Royal Artillery serviceman has thanked volunteers, branch members and the Mirfield public for all of their donations which will now go towards helping war veterans, serving soldiers and their families.

He said: “It is unbelievable. I am dumbfounded. It is way more than what I was expecting.

"It is my first year being in charge of it and I was thinking that if we could get around £14,000 then I’d have been really happy.

“So to come back with just over £17,000 is tremendous.

“I’d like to thank all of our volunteers and members as without them I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t have done this without the help that I got.

“I’d also like to thank everyone for contributing in buying a poppy and for making a donation.”

Mr Horrobin, from Mirfield, explained why each donation - and why every single poppy bought - was so important.

He said: “It is mainly for veterans and sometimes serving soldiers who have got injuries, disabilities or have fallen on bad times, and it helps them out financially.

“Soldiers coming out of the forces with disabilities, sometimes they need help adapting to properties so they can live with some form of normality; the Legion step in there and help out and they will pay for the adaptations to be made and look after the welfare of the family as well.

“People with really severe disabilities may need wheelchairs and wheelchairs these days can cost around £6,000.

“It is really important that we have this Poppy Appeal and that we continue to raise these funds so that we can actually support our veterans, and serving soldiers, and their families as well.

“It has been a hard two months in terms of preparation and running it but now I have got that sense of relief and I think, ‘That was worth doing,’ and that sense of knowing that we have done some good.

“Mirfield has done some good. It could be that some time in the near future we could have a veteran that’s living in Mirfield that needs help and support and that money would go to helping them and supporting them.”

The 64-year-old has first-hand experience of the Royal British Legion offering support following his youngest son, Paul, being injured when stationed in Afghanistan in 2010.

“That is one of the reasons that drives me on and spurs me on,” he said. “It gives me the drive to do what I do. I see it from a first-hand perspective

“He suffered a lot of PTSD and had physical injuries but he is really improving. The Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes and other veteran organisations got him into using sport as therapy, which became a massive thing for him.

“He is living his life as best he can. He has come on leaps and bounds. He still has problems, but he looks at it and thinks, ‘there are other people worse off than me’.”