Leighton Buzzard Royal British Legion raises £26k following November Poppy Appeal

The Royal British Legion Leighton Buzzard (RBL) has raised some £26,000 following its November Poppy Appeal.

The charity, which supports members and veterans of the armed forces, had support from local communities, individuals, businesses and projects. They included cadet groups who held supermarket collections, a church group who knitted poppies and a fundraising concert from The Grand Union Community Choir.

The legion also received an individual donation from one resident who gave £1,000.

Also among fundraising efforts was a raffle with a prize donated by artist Suzanne Sutherton. Tickets to win Suzanne’s oil painting of a hare in a field came to over £300.

The painter told the Observer her pop-up art event at Mimic Gifts, a venue supporting local artists, fell on Remembrance weekend and combining the two events was ‘a no-brainer’.

She said: “My husband is ex-army, he served for 13 years. I grew up in army circles, my dad was also in the army, and so the two came together and I was able to support a charity close to my heart.”

The sum will go to a bigger pot as part of the national RBL effort which will be distributed to families of veterans and armed forces members across the UK.

In Leighton Buzzard, six families have been supported financially by the funds raised by RBL.

Stuart Clarke from RBL described the total as ‘absolutely unbelievable’.

He added: “We’re very grateful to residents, businesses, and pubs, clubs and schools in Leighton Buzzard and surrounds, for helping us raise such an enormous amount of money in such a short space of time.”