The Poppyscotland Blog

I’m just back from a week’s holiday in Berlin, re-charging my batteries before pitching into the rigours of the impending 2011 Scottish Poppy Appeal.  Most capital cities have a fair bit of history to them, but few can be quite as haunted as Berlin.  What a city!  It’s been transformed by reconstruction since the Wall came down in 1989, but the ghosts of past events are everywhere.

Berlin 1945

But thinking again, is it the city?  Or is it me?  I first visited Berlin in 1974.  I was working in Hamburg before starting University and went with two colleagues, an Indian and an Irishman.  En route to West Berlin we teamed up with a South African to form a multi-national group intent on having a good time – and a good time was indeed had by us all.  I do however, recall finding it quite chilling, when we made a six-or-so hour trip into East Berlin, to witness even for those few hours the drabness and austerity of that half of the city and the intimidating conduct and demeanour of the East German border guards.

 

Berlin 2011

Fourteen years later, I was once more in Berlin, this time as an RAF serviceman.  I again went to the eastern part of the city, this time as a representative of one of Berlin’s four occupying powers, for such was our legal status as UK servicemen.  We were given a card stressing that we were not on any account to acknowledge the East German police or border guards.   If accosted by them we were to say “I do not recognise your authority.  Fetch me a Russian officer”.  I of course spent the day itching for the opportunity to utter that line with a suitably dramatic flourish, but alas, the opportunity never arose.

As a British serviceman, my status in East Berlin was secure.  The sense of menace nonetheless remained every bit as palpable as in 1974.  The East Berliners were under the heel of a particularly nasty and oppressive regime.  If anyone doubts that, I urge them to read about some of the lives it ruined, in Anna Funder’s Stasiland.

Haunted minds

My memories of Berlin have stayed firmly with me.  They are among many striking experiences I had during my time in uniform.  These were, on the whole, pretty good.  I’m not troubled by nightmares, flashbacks, or self-reproach.  I was left with no physical or mental scars.  The same cannot however, be said of a good number of Service veterans.  My very vivid but positive memories, and my good fortune in making a trouble-free transition to civilian life, make me one of the lucky ones.  As we approach the Poppy Appeal and the period of Remembrance, it’s important to remember that not everyone was lucky and that memories, consequences and scars can stick around for a very long time indeed.  For some, they never fade.  That’s why Poppyscotland is here to help and support less fortunate veterans for as long as it takes.  It’s a powerful thought to take into the coming weeks.

Ian McGregor
CEO Poppyscotland

Factory Manager Charlie Pelling with the final poppies for the 2011 Appeal

No, you haven’t misread the headline.  Here at the Lady Haig Poppy Factory we like to plan early and so as poppy production for this year’s Scottish Poppy Appeal draws to a close today our attention now turns to the 2012 Appeal.  Yesterday we dispatched the national order via our couriers to hundreds of Poppy Appeal Area Organisers across Scotland.  The Glasgow and Edinburgh orders were dispatched last month and so the Factory’s part for Appeal 2011 is done, less a very few supplementary orders that we will furnish from our reserve stock.

Drawing this year’s production to a close allows us to clear the production area and give the Factory a really good clean before we re-start production on Monday 3rd October.  This time we will be producing for Appeal 2012, still 13 months away.  We have to plan this far ahead as it takes us a long time to hand-produce 5 million poppies, as well as all the other activities that go into putting the annual order together, such as box making, tin preparation, paper cutting, silk cutting, etc. etc. Plus the wreath department manufacture 10,000 wreaths in the same period so the tempo of activity never really slacks off.

Charlie and Storesman Joe Smith load the final batch onto the lorry

Why hand-produce rather than source from abroad or make on machines?  Because by so doing we employ nearly 40 disabled ex-Servicemen who would really struggle to find employment elsewhere.  So it’s a double whammy.  You get a fantastic product, hand-made by people who really care about what they are doing and we are the biggest dedicated employer of disabled ex-Servicemen in the United Kingdom – job done!

If you have any questions on how we produce and distribute all those poppies each year please let me know.  And remember, you can also arrange a tour of the Poppy Factory.  Just visit www.ladyhaigspoppyfactory.org.uk for more details.

Major Charlie Pelling
Manager, Lady Haig Poppy Factory

On the face of it, you may think of a number of reasons, not least of which might be the current financial climate and higher than normal rates of unemployment.

The vast majority (96%) who are eligible to use the services of Career Transition Partnership (CTP) are in sustained employment within six months of leaving the Services. That is the good news. However, there is a significant minority who have been adversely affected by their military experiences or post-Service life issues, leading to a vulnerability or disability.

Why can't veterans find a job?

These are the ones most in need of support when it comes to finding employment. The specific issues faced by this group include:

• Lack of awareness of suitable opportunities for employment
• Difficulty in translating and transferring military skills into the civilian work environment
• Accepting the need for and then acquiring new skills for civilian employment
• Low confidence
• Adapting to new workplace cultures and values
• Attitudes and knowledge of employers regarding service leavers

Additionally, some have physical disabilities or psychological issues that will greatly exacerbate their difficulties in addressing the above issues.

Through Poppyscotland funding, matched by the Gannochy Trust, the Regular Forces Employment Association (RFEA) has expanded its ‘Service of Care’ provision in Scotland by recruiting a specialist employment consultant. Jenny Robertson will work with charities, Job Centre Plus and other organisations to address and overcome the issues and barriers to employment that face these vulnerable service leavers.

Have you left the Armed Forces and struggled to find suitable employment? What support was available to you? What else do you think the government and charities like Poppyscotland and RFEA be doing to address these challenges? Please share your experiences with us.

If you know of someone who would benefit from this specialist support please contact Jenny Robertson at RFEA on 07814 050921.

Let me begin with an apology.  While it may seem that Scotland has yet to experience any sort of summer, I’m afraid this blog is all about Christmas.  I am sorry for starting a discussion about the Festive period in June, but please allow me to explain.

I have just started work on developing our new range of poppy-branded products for the winter/Christmas season.  As I am sure you can imagine, it takes a long time to go through the design and production process and so the planning must start now to ensure we have the items ready for the Poppy Appeal and Christmas rushes. 

The Poppyscotland Store, which was in Edinburgh’s Holyrood Park for Armed Forces Day last weekend, was bustling with supporters who cleared us out of many of our remaining items.  While the most popular items, such as the ladies umbrella (especially popular last weekend!), will be re-ordered we are looking to expand the range by introducing some new items. 

The Poppyscotland ladies umbrella sold especially well at Armed Forces Day thanks to a traditionally Scottish summers day

Certainties are new pin badges for 2011, gents hoodies and ladies jewellery but I wanted to get your suggestions on what else the new range might include.  Of course, it may not be possible to bring every idea to life but there really is no such thing as a bad idea.  Please let us know your thoughts and hopefully they’ll be coming to a shop near you soon!

I’ve just recently had a wonderful time volunteering at the Poppyscotland show garden at Gardening Scotland and not only did I learn so much about the great work they do, I was able to put my skills to helping build the spectacular garden. When I heard about the garden, I couldn’t work out how this was going to help the organisation – it wasn’t about selling poppies. But the idea of the garden was to show the public that Poppyscotland is a modern organisation, helping today’s veterans with the issues that affect them. And given the tremendous reaction of the public, it worked. One of my duties was to explain the concept of the garden to the public and their response was overwhelmingly positive with many people saying how clever an idea it was. It was also great to be able to explain that thanks to sponsorship and other corporate support the garden cost Poppyscotland nothing.

Poppyscotland's show garden won four awards at Gardening Scotland 2011 in a clean sweep of prizes

 I’m a gardener to trade so it was great to be able to use my skills to help. I like nothing better than working with plants and getting my hands dirty but knowing that I was also helping a great charity made it all so worthwhile.  I appreciate that I was lucky to be able to donate my time during the week and that the garden might be a one-off for Poppyscotland.  But I’ve learned that volunteering isn’t always what you might think it might be.

I will however be helping out in November and I would encourage everyone to support Poppyscotland at that very important time for the charity – without the appeal,  Poppyscotland can’t do their vital work with veterans.

Lee Morton, Poppyscotland Volunteer

Challenge events are growing more and more popular as a way to test stamina and raise money for charity at the same time. This year I have set my own challenge and, at 07.00 on 11^th June, I and my lifelong friend Iain Willis will get on our bikes at John O’Groats and begin our cycle to Land’s End.

I look after Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory, located next door to Poppyscotland, where we are responsible for manufacturing and distributing poppies for the annual Scottish Poppy Appeal.  We also make around 10,000 wreaths a year and have a framing business.  To do all this we have a workforce of around 40, mostly disabled, ex-Servicemen and we work all year round to achieve our targets.  Both Iain and I served in the Royal Tank Regiment (for those of you who know the military we were in 4RTR, the Scottish arm of the regiment, although Iain latterly transferred to the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards) and between us we have close on forty years’ service.   We decided to do the cycle to raise funds for Poppyscotland and have set ourselves a target of £15,000.

Charlie Pelling (r) and Iain Willis in training for the 2011 Ride Across Britain

Although we are both keen cyclists the challenge of cycling 1,000 miles in nine days does sometimes seem a little overwhelming, especially as our combined age is only just short of a hundred.  We may truly be the real definition of mid-life crisis!

We are doing the cycle as part of the ‘Deloitte Ride Across Britain’ and the organisers provide all the back up and technical support so all we have to do is cycle.  The event is organised into nine legs each of about 100 miles per day.  All things being equal we will cross the finishing line on the 19^th June.  In all about 600 riders will do the event and they come from all over the world so it should be a fascinating experience.

We’re doing not too badly so far. Our training is going well – we have already had two serious training sessions in France and the cycling in Scotland is getting warmer by every weekend, although a few weeks ago we were in the Lammermuir hills and the combination of wind and cold air was truly grim.  As we used to say in the Army ‘if it ain’t raining we ain’t training’ but that was a long time ago and I am not so sure it holds true anymore! We both have pretty good machines too – Iain a Cannondale and a Cube for me.  Both modern road bikes with all the bells and whistles.  Last week we took part in the Etape Claedonia, an 82 mile closed road race in Perth and Kinross.  It was a really good event and I thoroughly recommend it.

We have a page at www.justgiving.com/charlieandiain where you can find out more and donate, or if you wish send a cheque to me at the factory 99 Warriston Road Edinburgh EH7 4HJ).

If you are in Edinburgh and would like to visit the Factory you would be very welcome.  Mornings are best as we start early (some of the blokes start at 07.00) and finish early.  Give our office manager, Jackie, a call on 0131 550 1573 and she will book you in.

Is anyone doing a similar challenge this year? If so, we’d appreciate hearing about your experiences and any advice you have to offer. Perhaps you have come up with an original idea for a challenge event or have found novel ways of raising sponsorship money. Whatever your story please let us know.

Charlie Pelling, Manager, Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory

In the week that Poppyscotland began running online advertising to promote leaving the charity a legacy, a poll commissioned by Standard Life showed that 71% of respondents would not include charities in their will. Furthermore, 43% said that they would rather leave their estates to family and friends than to charity.

So, should charities encourage supporters to leave a gift in their will and is this unfair on friends and family?

71% of respondents would not include charities in their will

Legacies are a vital source of income for charities. Many charities are only able to deliver the level and quality of service their service users need by relying on what is termed ‘planned giving’ or ‘bequest giving’. In fact without the gifts left in wills many of the charities we know today would not exist.

But 75% of the UK population actively support charities and 10% of those surveyed in the Standard Life poll stated that they believe they give enough to charities during their lifetime. So surely it is correct that when your final gift is being considered family and friends should receive all the benefit? Maybe the reason that such a high percentage would not include a charity in their will is because their favorite charity hasn’t respected the fact that for the vast majority of us our family and friends are the most important things in our lives. Or perhaps charities are just not good enough at helping their supporters understand just how vital legacies are. I firmly believe that when raising the matter of legacies with a supporter, it must be on the basis that familiy and friends are considered first. But just a 4% change in behaviour would raise an extra £1billion for good causes in the UK. It’s a thought to conjure with.

I’d be interested to know if you agree with the view that charities get enough from supporters in their lifetimes?  Do you intend to include a charity in your Will or will it all be given to family and friends?

Colin Flinn, Head of Fundraising, Poppyscotland

Yesterday’s announcement that the 2010 Scottish Poppy Appeal raised £2,343,150, an increase of 5% on the previous year, is wonderful news in itself. It is however, even better news for veterans and their families. Not only does it mean that we at Poppyscotland can continue to deliver our present wide range of services but it also gives us the confidence to move forward with new developments. In addition, this result clearly underlines the care and concern the public have for the welfare of our ex-Servicemen and women, young and old.

Another record breaking year for the Scottish Poppy Appeal

It would be churlish to be anything but delighted at such a result, especially in the current very difficult economic climate.  As Poppyscotland’s Head of Fundraising, I could not be more ecstatic at this hugely generous support of our veterans by the Scottish public. However, as the demand on our services increases year-on-year we have to be alive to the fact that the Poppy Appeal alone cannot fully fund all of our work.  That’s why when the celebrations have died down, we will continue to provide you, our supporters, with other opportunities to support our vital work.  No charity in the UK, outside of the very smallest, relies on a one off Appeal –they simply can’t – like Poppyscotland the demand on their services is just too high. Since it is our ambition to deliver the highest quality of service, meeting the ever-increasing need, we have to be fundraising continuously, 365 days a year.

Still, it’s nice to be able to pause for just a moment and reflect on the 2010 Appeal total.  On behalf of everyone at Poppyscotland, thank you most sincerely for helping to make it a record sum. We’re looking forward to the challenges the new financial year will bring, and it’s especially  good to know you continue to be there for our veterans.

Recent events in Libya have once again put the work of our Armed Forces, and the many demands placed on them, very firmly in the spotlight.  In addition, they have highlighted just how many British people, including very many Scots, live and work overseas.   I recall years ago hearing people described as being Scotland’s greatest export.  Given what Scots exiles have contributed over the years to their new homes overseas, that may not be such a glib observation as it might at first seem. 

When Scots move abroad, only a minority choose to sever ties with their homeland.  Most maintain a strong interest in what is happening in Scotland.  It can take some emigrants many years to stop thinking of Scotland as home, indeed sometimes this perception can transcend generations.  Second, third and fourth generation – and more – Scots living abroad think of themselves very much as Scots, albeit as Scots Australians, Scots Americans, Scots Canadians or whatever.  They take with them Scottish customs and practices; I still have vivid memories, when myself living and working in Australia for a spell, of being woken in the mornings by the Sydney Scots College Pipe Band practising behind my digs.

Robert Currie, left, President of the Clan Currie Society in New Jersey, presents a cheque to Poppyscotland Chief Executive Ian McGregor

Bearing this in mind, it was with particular pleasure that last week we welcomed a visit by Mr Robert Currie of New Jersey, the President of the Clan Currie Society.  The Clan Currie Society runs the Pipes of Christmas event in New York and New Jersey and in 2010 the event included a tribute to the late legendary piper Bill Millin, who defied enemy fire to pipe for his comrades during the D-Day invasion.  Mr Currie also very kindly presented us with $300 donated to Poppyscotland by members of the audience at the Pipes of Christmas concerts.  We were touched and impressed by the interest these Scots Americans showed in our work.  There are of course, ties between the different poppy charities around the world so we should perhaps not be surprised at the Scottish poppy being known far beyond our own shores. 

We would however, be very interested to learn of anyone else overseas who follows our work.  Is there anyone else out there who would like to get in touch?

Ian McGregor, Chief Executive, Poppyscotland

BBC One’s Panorama programme tonight (Wednesday 9th February) will focus on a number of issues affecting the Armed Forces community. I’m keen to get your thoughts on whether the issues raised are consistent with your experience of leaving the Forces, or of friends that have left.

You can read a preview to the programme here – http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12386376. Tune in to BBC One at 9pm and leave us your comments below.

Paul Hayllor, Head of Charitable Services, Poppyscotland