On 31 October Andrea volunteered for the Royal British Legion City Poppy Day at London Paddington, working alongside a network of 2500 volunteer Poppy Appeal collectors and Armed Force Personnel to raise vital funds for the charity.
The Royal British Legion is the country’s largest Armed Forces charity, working to provide support serving and ex-serving personnel and their families. City Poppy Days are one of the key events of the charity’s largest fundraising campaign, the Poppy Appeal, held every November. For more information about the charity, visit their website.
The Poppy Appeal collectors were supported on the day by the Band of the Grenadier Guard, who played popular seasonal hits including Ray Parker Jr.’s Ghostbusters and Michael Jackson’s Thriller for the crowd to sing along to.
Speaking about her experiences, Andrea said “This is my second year volunteering, and it has been such a privilege to take part alongside the many wonderful volunteers including veterans and serving members of the RAF, Army, and Navy.
“I volunteer because my father was a teenager during the war in Poland and risked his own life cycling 20 miles to the Ghetto in Warsaw to bring food to those who were in need. He was captured numerous times and managed to escape; after one perilous escape he managed to stow away on a ship to America and eventually to the UK where he met my mother based at the Military site in Didcot.
“My uncle lost his life in Dunkirk; whilst offering his place on the ship to a friend whose mother was very ill, he boarded another ship a few days later which was unfortunately sunk. His wife was expecting their first twin girls, my cousins – we have the letter he wrote to my Aunty explaining why he would arrive home later than expected.
“The importance of City Poppy Days goes far beyond fundraising, we are helping by bringing communities together and participating in an opportunity where the public can engage with uniformed personnel and veterans, and I was honoured to listen to their stories.”
