Recently the Royal British Legion has started a television advertising campaign to bolster the Annual Poppy Appeal.

However, local branches have to raise money to help fund locally held functions as well as passing on money to the national effort.

This year is especially significant as it is 100 years since the Battle of the Somme when hundreds of thousands of soldiers of all the nations involved lost their lives, some whose bodies were never found. British casualties alone were over 42,000.

It is to the Remembrance of all British soldiers who were killed or maimed in action that the Royal British Legion was founded in 1922.

Over the years the legion has evolved to include all service men and women and their families right up to the present day who may need help, care and companionship.

This care does not come cheap. The Royal British Legion spends approximately £1.25 million a week nationally.

So when you see a Royal British Legion fund raising event being held, please remember what the funds will be used for.

JOHN AITCHISON Secretary Soham Branch RBL