Praise for volunteers as Fife town nets £40,000 for poppy appeal despite lockdown
The remarkable total was generated by folk in Dunfermline as local volunteers pulled out all the stops.
It meant the total was only marginally down on the sum raised in 2019.
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Hide AdLed by Christine Evans, area organiser, who has been a Poppyscotland volunteer for 20 years, the appeal had incredible support from across the community, working for the first time with the Edinburgh and Fife branch of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community to help with supermarket collections, as well as the Legion Scotland Riders Branch, other local groups, clubs, businesses and individuals.
Christine said: “The generosity of the public has been phenomenal. We are all feeling overwhelmed by the support we received.
“I’m immensely grateful to the public who donated so generously, and to my fantastic team of volunteers who have worked so hard.”Christine said restrictions meant street collections couldn’t take place, and many pubs - which usually take collecting tins - were also closed, while large numbers of people were working from home.
She added: “We’ve achieved a huge amount under very difficult circumstances, but we couldn’t have done it without local help and support.
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Hide Ad“The Rotary Club was out in force and helped to distribute and collect in tins from businesses throughout the town.
Thanks to the support of Robert Stalker from Blachere Illuminations, we were once again able to decorate trees throughout the town with poppies as well as the poppy projection onto the City Chambers. “
Gordon Michie, Poppyscotland’s head of sundraising Gordon Michie paid tribute to the charity’s local fundraisers.
Her said: “Christine has led the appeal in Dunfermline for seven years, helping to raise a remarkable total of more than £320,000 during that time.
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Hide Ad“To continue that success in such challenging circumstances is a huge achievement that has only been possible thanks to the dedication of Christine and her amazing team of volunteers.
“We’re immensely grateful to them and to the people of Dunfermline, whose generosity will allow us to continue to provide our life-changing support to the Armed Forces community in Fife and throughout the country.”