As Remembrance Sunday approaches, poppy sellers have been working overtime in Barry’s supermarkets to ensure that everybody has a chance to wear the iconic symbol of battlefield loss ahead of services across the country.
Vale MP Alun Cairns visited volunteers raising money for the Royal British Legion in Barry’s Waitrose branch in Palmerston and Tesco in Highlight Park to thank them for their work. Mr Cairns was impressed by the dedication of the sellers, many of whom are putting in eight-hour shifts five days a week before being relieved by Scout and Cadet groups on evenings and weekends.
The volunteers in both supermarkets told Mr Cairns that the public were being even more generous than usual in the week leading up to the commemorations of Britain’s war dead, with thousands of poppies sold and collection tins filled to the brim every day.
The Vale MP said, “The volunteers who work so hard to make and sell our poppies, in honour of the fallen and for the benefit of veterans, deserve our thanks and praise.
“I am pleased that collections this year seem to be greater than they have been previously. I believe that this may be connected to the anniversary of the Battle of the Somme, which will always have a solemn place in our collective memory.
“The Royal British Legion do a wonderful job in providing lifelong support for veterans and ensuring that we remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
“Despite ridicule pontification from FIFA about the Poppy being political, it is clear that there is nothing less controversial or more unifying in our society than respect for the war dead and the impulse we all feel to help those who have put themselves in danger for our safety.”