JCB digger badges raise £12,500 for Poppy Appeal
Employees snapped up 2,400 commemorative badges featuring a JCB digger, helping boost a Staffordshire fundraiser supporting veterans and their families
JCB employees have helped raise thousands of pounds for this year’s Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal by buying commemorative digger-themed pin badges.
The poppy badges, the idea of retired Staffordshire firefighter Kelvin Chell, feature a JCB backhoe loader and were sold at all 11 of the company’s UK manufacturing sites in the run-up to Armistice Day. The initiative raised more than £11,400, with JCB boosting the total to £12,500.
Within days, employees bought all 2,400 badges. Kelvin also sold another 850 through local retail outlets and online, with orders from the United States, Canada, Ireland and the Orkney Islands.
Kelvin, of Audley near Newcastle-under-Lyme, who has produced 39 different themed poppy badges in recent years, approached JCB after hearing it was the company’s 80th anniversary last year. After approving the design, JCB and Fenton-based supplier Rayne Engineering worked together to help fund production.
The bespoke design has helped take Kelvin’s Royal British Legion fundraising past £150,000 over the last six years. He said: “Sales of the JCB badges have been brilliant. I have had orders from all over the world and we could definitely have sold more. I am very grateful for the support of JCB and Rayne Engineering in bringing this idea to life. The Royal British Legion is a cause close to my heart and every badge sold will help veterans and their families.”
JCB Head of Defence, former Army Brigadier Adam Fraser-Hitchen DL, officially handed over the funds at JCB World Headquarters in Rocester. He said: “It has been a real privilege for the company to support Kelvin’s incredible fundraising work and it is no surprise that the badges have sold out so quickly. As a company we hold the UK’s Armed Forces in high regard and we employ many veterans.”
Annemarie Jones, Regional Poppy Appeal Manager for the Northeast and Northwest Midlands, said she was grateful for the continued support of JCB and Kelvin and described the initiative as a lovely one that had raised important funds for the armed services community.
The fundraiser continues JCB’s support for the Royal British Legion, including a special poppy-themed machine auctioned for the charity in 2018 to mark the centenary of the Armistice.
Kelvin has also produced Staffordshire-themed poppy badges such as the Staffordshire Knot, Potteries bottle kilns and the Spitfire fighter plane.