Royal British Legion launches 2025 Poppy Appeal, aiming to rebuild lives in AF community
The Royal British Legion has launched this year's Poppy Appeal, highlighting how the charity is helping to rebuild lives across the Armed Forces community.
Veterans and their families, whose lives have been transformed with the aid of the RBL, gathered at Frameless in central London, where a spectacular immersive poppy landscape was projected.
An installation of images of poppy fields and a mosaic of veterans was broadcast live in the multi-sensory art gallery.
"The Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal this year is highlighting how if a veteran gets into difficulties, things start to unravel, their life even falls apart, the Royal British Legion is there to step in and help them," Lucy Inskip, the director of the RBL's Poppy Appeal, told BFBS Forces News' Alexander Walters.
The appeal aims to raise more than £50m to fund the RBL's crucial work in supporting serving personnel, veterans, and their families throughout their lives, providing whatever they need, whenever it is needed.
At any given moment, the RBL is helping more than 7,000 members of the Armed Forces community by providing expert advice and practical support.
For some in the Armed Forces community, issues from service can affect them later in life, often with swift and devastating consequences.
Many reasons cause a veteran's life to disintegrate, including the lasting impact of a training incident, the loss of a friend, or battlefield trauma.
Veterans at the launch shared personal accounts of the struggles they faced after their service and how the RBL has been there for them.
It is "really important" to put a spotlight on the Armed Forces community in wider society, Ms Inskip said.
"There are serving people and veterans all around us, and you may not even know," she added.
"But, these people obviously serve; they sacrifice; they have very unusual lives; they're away from their families; they're putting themselves in harm's way; and, have very difficult circumstances to deal with.
"So, it's really important that the public recognise the service and sacrifice through wearing a poppy."
In 2024, the RBL provided £12m in welfare grants to support more than 22,000 people, including £1.4m in food and clothing vouchers, and spent £5m on housing issues.
The charity also gives funding to Shelter, a homelessness charity, to help with veteran homelessness and supports veterans with mental health challenges.
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