The Royal British Legion has launched an appeal for “fresh faces” to help with this year’s Poppy Appeal in Stafford and Stone.

The campaign, called Poppy People, is aimed at recruiting a new generation of volunteers.

An army of volunteer collectors are crucial to the success of the annual drive. They give anything from two hours to two weeks of their time to distribute poppies and collect on streets, shops and workplaces across the country.

In addition to the collectors, the Legion needs volunteers to help as local organisers or with distributing poppies, driving, counting donations, organising poppy shops and getting their own workplaces involved in the appeal.

Stafford-based community fundraiser Nick Oldfield believes many people don’t realise that the Poppy Appeal collection is the Legion’s main way of collecting welfare funds, which are then used to provide financial, social and emotional support to service and ex-service men and women.

Mr Oldfield, who is the community fundraiser for North Staffordshire, added that although the organisation has around 30,000 Poppy People, the number falls every year, which is why the Legion needs more people to register now.

He said: “Many of our collectors are older people who are becoming frail and can no longer assist us. They have well and truly done their bit and now we need some new faces too step forward to take their place.

“We often hear that people are disappointed that they have not seen anyone selling poppies in their area. The only way to solve this problem is for more people to come forward and volunteer as Poppy People.

“We need to hear from you now so that we can ensure that the appeal runs with military precision when it begins in October.”

Anyone from the Stafford or Stone areas who would like to find out more about volunteering should contact Mr Oldfield on 07826 874889 or 01785 227564.

Alternatively, email noldfield@britishlegion.org.uk

In 2007 the Poppy Appeal collected a record £30 million and £303,000 was raised in North Staffordshire.

However, this is just a portion of the £75.5 million that the Royal British Legion spends every year delivering its poppy support services to those in need.