LEST we forget the relevance of the annual Poppy Appeal, the Royal British Legion in Christchurch is using the fund to help a local soldier recovering from injuries suffered on active service in Iraq.

Launching the two-week Poppy Appeal in the town, Legion branch chairman Eric Newman said the ex-services welfare organisation was involved in helping many cases in Christchurch.

And they are not just ageing veterans and their dependants from the two world wars and other conflicts of the 20th century.

"We have been helping a young man who has been invalided out of the Army after serving in Iraq," said Mr Newman.

"He wanted to give something back to the Legion which had helped him so I asked him to help me deliver the poppy boxes, which he did. This is what the Poppy Appeal is all about."

Mr Newman's wife Betty, chairman of the Christchurch RBL Women's Section, also serves as branch Poppy Appeal organiser.

She is hoping her army of volunteer house- to-house and street collectors and strategic placement of poppy boxes in shops, offices, and public buildings across the borough will have a successful outcome when the poppy appeal culminates in the annual Remembrance Day parade and service on Armistice Day, Sunday, November 11.

"Last year we raised more than £18,500 and it was even more the year before because we had a few substantial bequests and donations," said Mrs Newman.

Mayor of Christchurch Cllr Josephine Spencer, who attended the Poppy Appeal launch from the arches underneath her parlour in the old town hall, said it was the most important occasion in the borough.

"We should remember them every day, but at this time it is especially important to remember those who died and those who are still suffering as a result of wars," she said.