Nearly £15,000 raised for British Legion in The Mall, Blackburn

A staggering £14,939.14 was collected in the Mall, Blackburn, the majority of which was taken in a unit that management had donated and decorated to boost awareness.

Cadets collected £1732.51 around The Mall and the remaining £13,206.63 was made through selling poppies as well as cash and contactless donations at the unit for the 100th Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

Neil Shorrock, who spearheaded the appeal for the Blackburn branch of the Royal British Legion is absolutely delighted with the total.

He said: “I would like to thank Loraine, Laura and the team at The Mall Blackburn for their unwavering support of the Poppy Appeal.

“It would not have been possible to collect that amount of money without the unit and we went all out to make it a hub where people could come and learn about our organisation and its work.

“The cadets and volunteers worked extremely hard and that is reflected in the total. Last year we raised £5,300 before the country was placed into lockdown and we wanted to beat that amount this year.

“Not only did we double it, but we almost tripled it - which is absolutely magnificent. I look forward to working with the team again next year.”

General manager at The Mall, Loraine Jones said: “The generosity of our shoppers never ceases to amaze us, but this appeal in particular really seems to have inspired people to donate.

“It has been our pleasure to donate and decorate the unit and we have already committed to working with Neil and his team again next year.

“Donations in 2020 got off to such a wonderful start so it was such a shame when they had to close due to the national lockdown.

“We were determined to make this year bigger and better and it was lovely to see so many people in The Mall wearing their poppies with pride.

“It was a joy to work with the Blackburn branch of the Royal British Legion and we look forward to beating this year’s total for the 101st Appeal next year.”