THERE have been celebrations for the Pershore Poppy Appeal committee after it was announced they raised £17,749 during last year's appeal.

The thousands of pounds was raised through a variety of events, put on by the members of Pershore and District Branch Royal British Legion and Women's Section, from a travelling museum of First and Second World War artefacts to the highly successful Poppy Concert at Number 8 which brought in £3,500.

Social evenings were also thrown by both the legion and the women's section, which raised around £1,600 altogether.

This year saw the end of door to door collections but the extension of collecting in ASDA to two weeks from just one brought in around £3,000.

Chairman Ken Tallis said he was thrilled with the amount raised.

"This last year has seen a lot of loyal and dedicated members working extremely hard all throughout to ensure that the centenary of the First World War was properly commemorated and that the maximum amount of money was raised for the Poppy Appeal by holding a host of different events," he said.

"I am enormously grateful to Roger Sainsbury and his wife Zena for all their hard work in co-coordinating and overseeing the Appeal.

"Also to all our stalwart members who have worked tirelessly to raise money and of course our colleagues in the RNA.

"I would also like to pay tribute to the staff at Pershore ASDA for their continued support in allowing us year after year to fund raise in the store and to all the schools, local businesses, pubs and clubs who had a collection tin.

"We are very fortunate in Pershore to have a strong community spirit and that is reflected in this magnificent total."

And it's not done yet as there is still money to come in from the sale of Pershore fundraiser Trudy Burge's successful book Pershore Men of the Great War, which has already raised £300 with £2 from every book going to the Poppy Appeal.

The committee is now organising and planning a schedule for collecting in Pershore for the 2015 Poppy Appeal.

Anybody or business willing to help out with collecting or hold a fund-raising event should contact Ken Tallis at ken@kctallis.wanadoo.co.uk or Roger Sainsbury on rogerandzena@btinternet.com.