Armistice Day 2022: Fundraisers talk of Poppy Appeal pride
We've spoken to a former military reservist and an army cadet to mark the anniversary of the end of World War I
A woman who works with the Royal British Legion in the west country, who was once in the military herself and carried out a tour of Bosnia, has told us of her pride in raising money for the Poppy Appeal.
We spoke to Wendy Holt and a military cadet to mark Armistice Day, which commemorates the day fighting stopped at the end of the First World War, on 11 November 1918.
"I've always been in awe of the work that the Royal British Legion does for our service people and our veterans," she said.
"I saw that they needed a position as a fundraiser so that's how I got into it, and it's just been the most incredible experience.
"When we go out fundraising, I actually have veterans come up to me and grab me and cuddle me and say, 'thank you for the Royal British Legion, thank you for the Poppy Appeal, you've actually saved my life.'
"This isn't just once or twice, this has happened many, many times."
Money raised by the Legion and the Poppy appeal goes towards mental health support for current and former serving members of the armed forces and support around housing as well, among other things.
"It does incredible work the Royal British Legion and the Poppy Appeal," Wendy said.
"It makes me feel incredibly proud."
We also spoke to Lucy Hughes, who's a student at the University of Bristol, a senior member of the University's Officer Training Core (OTC) and is keen to join the army reserves herself in the future.
She recently ran a marathon with others from the OTC, to raise money for the Poppy Appeal.
"(I have) so much respect (for the military)," she said.
"When you're in the field or you're on exercise and you've got blanks firing at you and all of a sudden it feels so real, and then you remember it's actually not real and there's no threat to you at all, but you realise how scary it must be to actually feel that, if that's how you feel when it's blanks.
"And the stakes as well, when you're in a team, when you're in a platoon you get so close to the people that you're with so, imagining watching those people get hurt or fearing for their lives, it makes you understand how much camaraderie there is and how that can effect people when you're serving and things go wrong.
"I have so much respect for it."
In running a marathon for the Poppy Appeal, Lucy helped raise £2,000.
"That's for the Royal British Legion, which is going to go to serving and non-serving members of the armed forces, mental health as well, which is a hot topic in the army at the moment."
If you want to donate to the Poppy Appeal, you can do so here.