Poppy Day

"The Poppy Appeal helps 10,500,000 people"

FALSE. If you've seen the Poppy adverts (Nov 2006), you'd be forgiven for thinking that millions of people are helped by the Royal British Legion (the charity behind the poppies - see its profile).

One poster says 10,500,000 are eligible for British Legion support. That's anyone who has been in the armed forces for at least a week (sic) or who is dependent on such a person.

Another says there are 4,000,000 eligible people with long-term illness or disability.

Now, we like the Royal British Legion but there's a little disingenuity in all this. At any one time, the charity supports just over 40,000 ex-service people.

We think this makes the Poppy Appeal - as opposed to Remembrance Day, which the Legion has virtually co-opted - seem somewhat more important than it actually is.

So go ahead, buy a poppy, and do give a pound, not the pitiful 75p average. But if you want to help elderly people - the Legion's main beneficiaries - on the basis of need rather than on what they did up to 60 years ago, check out the alternatives. For example the two major elderly charities, Age Concern (see profile) and Help the Aged (see profile), do much the same work...

Peaceniks should know about the non-violent white poppies available from the Peace Pledge Union.

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