AFTER some of the bloodiest fighting of the First World War, the poppy was the only thing that grew out of the complete devastation in the Flanders and Picardy regions of Belgium and Northern France.

To this day, the flower remains the symbol of remembrance for all those who have lost their lives in that and subsequent wars.

The first official Poppy Day was held in Britain on November 11, 1921, months after the formation of the Royal British Legion in the summer of the same year.

2011 marks the 90th anniversary of both the Legion and the Poppy Appeal and the organisation’s 380,000-plus members – 11,000 of which are in Dorset – are certainly not going to let the occasion pass without a bang.

Poppy Parties are being held in Sturminster Newton and Wareham this weekend and a number of other fundraising and awareness raising initiatives are taking place throughout the year.

“It’s quite an achievement for anything these days to keep going that long,” said John Hurst, Dorset County Chairman.

“Because of the commitment that the Legion has at the moment to all sorts of schemes whereby we can help wounded soldiers in particularly, but all members of the forces, in convalescence with the MoD, there’s an incredible need to raise funds.

“They’re latching onto the 90th anniversary to do that, to help people get back to a form of life or back into service.”

The event’s tagline is “standing shoulder to shoulder with those who serve” and John said the Legion is keen to emphasise the fact that it can and does help people still in service, as well as those people who have left the forces.

There are also hopes the publicity surrounding the anniversary will help to distinguish the charitable work of the Legion from its clubs.

“We have a huge image problem where people seem to only associate the Legion with its clubs,” explained John.

“That’s not the business of the Legion at all. We are primarily an ex-service people’s charity. The clubs are a by-line. It’s just this image that the Legion has to dispel of people sitting in a club in a cloth cap drinking warm beer.

“There are a lot of them shutting at the moment and people have a horrible feeling that, if the club shuts, the Legion shuts, which isn’t the case.”

The Legion has a certain amount of confidentiality to all it does, meaning many of its achievements remain unsung.

But nationally, the organisation admits it spends £1.4million a week on welfare.

It campaigns tirelessly for more support for service-people, and their families, and has just succeeded in getting the government to agree to write into law for the first time the principles of the military covenant.

“There’s a huge amount of welfare that goes on that’s unsung,” admitted John.

“But we’ve been helping heroes for 90 years, unlike some other organisations.”

That help translates into benefits advice, pensions advice, a website, residential care and even an inquest support service.

“That has not been running very long, but it’s incredibly popular because there’s no one else offering this sort of thing,” said John.

“If someone has been killed perhaps in Afghanistan, the legion is now offering independent advice so people don’t go in totally unprepared.

“That’s a most traumatic time in people’s lives.”

The Legion also offers help for those leaving the forces in search of a new career or self-employment and helps them make the transition back into “everyday” life.

It also has a range of residential and dementia care, as well as purpose-built homes where people can enjoy a care break, employing more than 600 staff delivering frontline care.

“Help for Heroes will build projects and we staff it and look after it,” explained John.

“That will be either in conjunction with the NHS or the MoD, because we have that expertise. We are also now working more with other charities that specialise in things like mental wellbeing.”

John really hopes the 90th anniversary events will help to raise the charitable profile of the Legion, and to increase awareness of its existence to the younger generation.

He added: “We really are trying to shift the emphasis onto the charitable efforts of the Legion rather than the image that the clubs give.

“Everybody thinks ‘what a lot of old codgers with medals’. But actually, we now have a lot of younger codgers with medals as well.”