POPPY Appeal organisers in Bournemouth have issued a plea for help as old age diminishes their number.

The Royal British Legion needs people to organise collectors in the run-up to November 11 as well as to rattle tins and hand out poppies.

The charity spent £290,000 helping 442 Dorset people in the year 2002-03. Its work ranges from helping war widows with their debts to arranging respite breaks for the carers of disabled ex-service people.

But Howard Fairman, the organisation's field officer for Dorset, said organisers were needed in several areas of Bournemouth, especially in north Bournemouth and the town centre.

"We have a certain amount of collectors in those two areas but they just need people to organise them," he said.

"I think people are so busy rushing around looking after their own affairs and generally life seems so much busier for everybody these days that they don't have any time to devote to good causes any more."

Some long-serving volunteers have had to stand down due to old age.

Poppy Appeal organisers need to invest considerable time in the work, making the role ideal for recently-retired people.

Street collectors can give whatever time they can spare. "Even if it's just a few hours on one day, it will still help," said Mr Fairman.

Bournemouth is one of the few towns where the council is still involved in the Poppy Appeal, with the mayor as its chairman.

The mayor, Cllr Emily Morrell-Cross, said: "We need to get some more organisers and some more collectors."

She added: "My father was at Dunkirk. It was due to the attention of one of his senior officers that my father got off the beaches from Dunkirk because he couldn't swim out to the boat.

"I wasn't born until 1943. If my dad hadn't made it across the channel, I would not have been born. We lost a generation of children - people who would have been born but didn't get born because their dads weren't there to have them. How many writers, artists and musicians did we lose?"

There has not been a single year since 1968 when a British serviceman has not been killed.

Anyone interested in becoming a Poppy Appeal organiser or collector should ring Howard Fairman on 01258 480805.

First published: August 23