Donor leaves £10,000 for legion

The Southwell branch of the Royal British Legion has received its largest ever donation.

The donation of £10,000 was left in the will of a former poppy collector who lived in the Southwell area.

Her family wish for her to remain anonymous.

The branch chairman, Mr Andy Gregory, said he was overwhelmed by the generosity.

He said: “I was stunned. It is absolutely incredible. I am still in shock.

“When I opened the envelope and saw it was £10,000 I was shaking. I couldn’t believe someone could be so generous.

“It is wonderful because it will really make such a difference.”

Mr Gregory hoped the money could be used by the Southwell branch to support local welfare issues.

He said: “We will probably invest it and then we can use the interest for things locally, rather than spending all the money at once.

“Things we have done locally include helping one man with heating repairs and to another we gave an orthopaedic chair and we also got him a wheelchair because that was what he needed.

“The only thing we really don’t do for people as a charity is the debt side of things so if people get themselves into debt we don’t use British Legion money to help them but obviously we do try and help them as much as possible.”

Mr Gregory encouraged more people to remember the Royal British Legion in their will.

He said: “It is a way people can keep on helping their communities even when they are no longer with us.”

For more information about the legion contact Mr Gregory on 01636 813166.