From left, Don Bridges, RBL standard bearer, with RBL Ryde branch president Kathy Taylor, Pat Drew and Dan Jones from Tesco and RBL branch chairman Ivor Millard.
THERE are signs this year may have been a bumper one for the Poppy Appeal on the Island.
The Newport and Carisbrooke branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) between October and the end of November alone reported an increase of £5,000 on the whole of last year.
In Ryde, the total was also up by around £5,000 on last year, partly thanks to successful collections at Tesco.
Newport and Carisbrooke branch chairman Andy Pound said the on-going fighting in the Middle East was one of the possible reasons for the collection’s success, despite the recession.
"One of our collectors had a young man who went to a cash point and took out £100 and put it all in the box.
"It was the first year we have had a collection at Lidl and Marks and Spencer had a record-breaking collection this year," said Mr Pound.
Ryde RBL branch president Kathy Taylor and chairman Ivor Millard made a special presentation to Tesco staff to thank them for their support in Ryde.
Certificates were presented to Dan Jones, general manager, and to Pat Drew, manager for the garage.
The main store raised £6,017 and the garage raised £155 and they helped to raise the town’s total for the year by more than £5,000 compared to 2008.
Reporter: ross.findon@iwcp.co.uk