Oxfordshire Poppy Appeal launch event cancelled for 2024

The Poppy Appeal is the Royal British Legion's (RBL) biggest fundraising campaign held every year in November during the period of Remembrance.

Organisers from the Oxfordshire branch of the RBL had hoped to have an event similar to last years, which took place at Blenheim Palace.

The stately home hosted the Lord Lieutenant for Oxfordshire, Mrs Marjorie Glasgow BEM, last year and for the first time in over 100 years, during a ceremony of this nature, the Lord Lieutenant attended on horseback.

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This year it was hoped the event would take place at RAF Benson but 'operational requirements' meant it was unable to take place at late notice. 

Rob Lovesey, county secretary for RBL Oxfordshire, was the prime organiser of the 'huge' event last year which took over a year's worth of planning. 

"It made a huge impact, it's sad as we had hoped to top that this year, but we just weren't able to achieve that unfortunately," he told the Oxford Mail. 

"It wasn't a decision that was taken lightly."

There will still be a host of Remembrance parades across the county and each town and village will still have their own Poppy Appeal. 

Mr Lovesey said the Poppy Appeal National Launch is 'no longer the big event it was in the past' and that the RBL is 'moving away' from a large event. 

Poppy Appeal Launch at Blenheim Palace, 2023 (Image: Rob Lovesey) "As for the county's doing the launch, there's a drive to move us away from that and I think that's more because of the timescale that it takes to put it all together, as it all falls onto volunteers and volunteers are becoming fairly thin  on the ground," said Mr Lovesey.

He said these events are becoming 'more and more difficult' with the constraints that 'all organisations' are suffering from.

"We're suffering, as all organisations are, from a lack of volunteers.

"It's a major problem.

"We're suffering through the lack of volunteers coming forward to be members as well, but that's not unique - all organisations up and down the country are suffering the same."

Mr Lovesey believes the lack of volunteers is due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I think since Covid, like everything else in the country, it's changed the mindset unfortunately of people's free time and their ability to commit to things, and the RBL is not unique.

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"Covid has had a massive impact across the sector."

Mr Lovesey was unable to say whether the launch is likely to go ahead next year. 

"Last year was very special, achieving what we did," he said. 

"We haven't lost anything, as we are still pushing forward for the poppy appeal on a local basis.

"What we did lose is the one event that marks Oxfordshire, which is sad in some respect, but all the constraints that are put on us now - time, financial, availability, volunteers - has a major impact."