Valerie Swain and Helen Smart were this week thanked by Timsbury’s Royal British Legion Branch for their dedication to the Poppy Appeal collection, totalling an amazing sixty-nine years between them.

The Chairman of the branch, Barry Sewell, gathered with Chris Fiddes to present Valerie and Helen with tokens of appreciation for all of their dedicated years of service. He told The Journal: “The Branch very much appreciate the

tremendous amount of work the two ladies have done over the years with Valerie collecting for the branch for fifty-two years and Helen for seventeen!”

The ladies were both presented with a framed certificate of appreciation, a delicate metal poppy and a beautiful arrangement of flowers to thank them for giving up their time for the Branch.

Chris Fiddes, Poppy Appeal Organiser, said: “We really appreciate the work Valerie and Helen have put in, especially their dedication to the Appeal in all weathers and battling the wind and rain.

“Fifty two years is quite a feat so to be able to show how much we, as a Branch, appreciate the hard work and dedication is lovely.”

Valerie, who started collecting for Timsbury Branch in 1969, said: “I started collecting for the Branch in the 60s when walking from Camerton Hill, up to the farm and along Paulton Lane, including part of Camerton Parish and down towards Peasedown.

“I also took the poppies to work, the W.I. and many of my friends would ask if I had any for them to buy.”

On receiving the gifts of appreciation, Valerie said: “I did not expect any of this, thank you so much for the very generous gifts.”

Much-like Valerie, Helen has dedicated a lot of her life to Timsbury Branch, with this year being her seventeenth collecting for the Poppy Appeal. She said: “I started poppying when my daughter was ten, she used to come around with me and help.

“It was a good opportunity to tell her about the importance of Remembrance Day, what the significance of the Poppy meant and how the money we collected would be used.

“It was lovely to catch up with people and I am sure my round took me twice as long as it should have because of this, but I didn’t mind.

“It never ceased to amaze me the generosity of people, especially those who would donate even though they already had a poppy.

“Also the kindness, come would comment how dark and cold it was and would invite me into their homes for some warmth. I was even offered a bobble hat once.

“Thank you so much to the generous people of Timsbury for all of these years and to Barry and Chris for the lovely gifts to mark that.”

Timsbury’s Royal British Legion Branch volunteers will be collecting for the Poppy Appeal until Saturday, 13th November. Donation boxes can be found in the Timsbury Royal British Legion Club and shops in the village.