THE Poppy Appeal could miss out on £1MILLION in donations after they were forced to cancel their annual fundraiser due to rail strikes.
The Royal British Legion host their annual London Poppy Day event on November 3, their most successful collection day.
Volunteers take donations at train stations across the capital, with the total raised known to hit a massive £1m.
But rail and tube strikes have forced them to cancel the fundraiser this year.
Britain’s rail network will grind to a halt again on November 3, 5 and 7 – and London Underground and Overground on November 3.
A spokesperson said: “The Royal British Legion has cancelled its ‘London Poppy Day’, which raises up to £1m annually, on Thursday 3rd November owing to a rail strike called by the RMT.
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“The event sees 2,000 military personnel and veterans collecting for the RBL’s Poppy Appeal across transport hubs in London, it is the most successful single-day collection of its kind in the UK and is reliant on donations from commuters.
“The charity is urgently considering alternative arrangements to lessen the impact from the loss of funds caused by this cancellation on its vital work with the Armed Forces community.”
Volunteers have blasted the strikes for forcing the cancelation.
Former Coldstream Guard Barrie Padwick, 80, has – barring the pandemic – fundraised at London Marylebone Station for the past six years.
He said: “The British Legion will be losing out on over a £1 million in one day if they are unable to fundraise due to the strikes.
“That’s a lot of money to lose given the ex-servicemen who are suffering and need that money.
“It really narks me. I don’t know whether the railway unions understand what they’re interfering with.
“When I saw they were striking on that date, I was absolutely flabbergasted.
“I’ve tried to get a hold of the British Legion to see if they have an alternative plan but I don’t know yet.
“Servicemen and women will be coming from all over the country going into London and I know British Rail allows them to travel for free because it’s a national event.
“I know they’d be disgusted with the unions.
“I don’t think [RMT] are helping the country by striking and I don’t think they’re helping themselves.”
The former Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2), who served from 1960 to 1982, has said in the past he typically gets the second train from Newbury in Berkshire to arrive at 7.30am in the morning and then volunteers until 6pm in the capital.
He added: “It means a lot to volunteer for the Royal British Legion having done 22 years in the Armed Forces.
“It’s important to help other ex-servicemen like myself, especially those who have suffered the worst possible fates in war.
“I think it’s disgusting the way things are going on and I feel for everyone that will be affected by it.”
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The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal Director, Simon O’Leary, said: “London Poppy Day is one of the most important days in our annual Remembrance calendar, it is a huge logistical operation across the capital taking significant planning and resource, which we are now unfortunately in the process of cancelling and informing our volunteers to stand down.
“The same situation occurred during the rail strikes in 2016, and we were grateful to the RMT on that occasion for rearranging the strike action, however they have confirmed the strike will be going ahead on November 3 this year.”
