Poppy collecting | Why do we do it?

I have been a member of the Royal British Legion Riders Branch since I was 17 and ever since I have stood in shopping centres and supermarkets collecting for the Poppy Appeal. As a 17-year old this sometimes led to some socially awkward scenarios with classmates, however, I never thought of it as something I ‘had to do’ but something I ‘get to do’. There is a lot more to it than collecting money, I found that the part I most enjoyed was interacting with people; some of their stories were truly fascinating.

Although I have never served, and I have been very luck not to know anybody that was killed in action, there is a very prominent moment in my childhood that I think back to a lot; both when selling Poppies and attending Remembrance. My dad was involved in Operation ‘Provide Comfort II’ which meant he away from home for several months. It was the moment of his deployment that sticks in my mind the most and the fear of the unknown. The smell of a loved one around the house and on clothes, knowing it is bound to fade, so you cling to it as a sensory reminder that they once occupied that space. What then proceeded was months not knowing, waiting for the blue letters in the post and the odd phone call, communications to let you know they were still out there, somewhere. It is a very odd feeling and one I wish not to return to. It is these feelings I think about and the fact we were a lucky family and had our loved one return.

Words are that, just words. However, there are two groups of words that always put a shiver down my spine:

When you go home

Tell them of us and say

For your tomorrow

We gave our today.

and

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

It is the last line of this section of the poem ‘For the Fallen’ by Laurence Binyon, “We will remember them”, that is the most prominent. Not for the person that speaks the whole verse but from the response of the crowd. For anyone who has seen this or been a part of this, it is not said loudly, but neither is it quiet, it is said with conviction, with gusto, with respect. It is powerful and to me sums up why I collect for the poppy appeal:

I will remember them.