Veterans should receive more support in Britain and extra provisions should be put in place to ensure they don’t end up on the street, Britons have told Patrick Christys.
The GB News host spoke to people in Brighton, where the Royal British Legion has been forced into a last minute scramble to find someone to ensure poppies are sold on the streets ahead of Armistice Day.
Volunteers normally line the streets with collection boxes and card-readers to sell poppies to raise money for armed forces members and veterans.
In Brighton this year, a replacement “poppy appeal organiser” could not be found after the previous incumbent quit at short notice.
Britons want more support for veterans
PA / GB NEWS
In Brighton this year, a replacement “poppy appeal organiser” could not be found after the previous incumbent quit at short notice.
In a bid to help drum up support for the appeal in the wake of the development in Brighton, Patrick Christys launched his own appeal which has so far seen Britons raise a staggering £100k.
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Speaking to people in Brighton, Christys learned the sentiment remains in favour of providing additional support for veterans.
One man told him that Britain could learn lessons from America in how it pays tributes to its military heroes.
“We have to look at the Americans and see what they do for their veterans”, he said.
“All the while, half of ours are sleeping on street doorways. Once people come out of these services, they are hard to employ because their sector is not compatible with a lot of things, which is a shame.”
Patrick Christys has launched an appeal for veteran support
GB NewsAnother commented: “We should treat them with more respect. You see a lot of ex-veterans who become homeless and live on the streets.
“That’s completely wrong.”
Another Briton concurred with statements surrounding how America treats its veterans, saying: “I think there is a lot more we can do.
“You look at America and how they honour and respect their veterans, that is something we could do a lot more in this country.”
Poppies won't be sold on the streets of Brighton this year confirms Royal British LegionPACommenting on what he had learned from Britons throughout the day was Patrick Christys, who said sentiments regarding America were something he “heard a lot of” during his travails.
“If the measure of a country is how well you treat your veterans, unfortunately we are maybe lacking behind”, he said.
According to the Royal British Legion’s website, the designated poppy appeal organiser is “responsible for ordering poppy stocks, coordinating a team of collectors, receiving the collections, banking poppy money and completing poppy paperwork”.
Poppies are available to buy at selected supermarkets, shops and restaurants.
But as a result of central Brighton lacking an organiser, poppies are not being stocked in pubs and independent businesses, and are also not being sold on the streets.
A Help for Heroes spokesman told the Telegraph: “We have seen a significant drop in active volunteers since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which has had a real impact on the volume of local fundraising activities we’re able to undertake.
“The public and volunteers are critical to our fundraising efforts, to ensure we can support the veteran community and their families for as long as they need us.”
A spokesman from the Royal British Legion said: “We want to reassure the people of Brighton that, as usual, they will be able to get a Remembrance Poppy this year, including our new plastic-free version.
“In Brighton and Hove, poppies will be available in supermarkets, including Sainsburys, Tesco, Morrisons, and One Stop, and our poppy collectors will be in suburbs including Patcham and Woodingdean.
“We want to encourage everyone to get a poppy this year and show the Armed Forces they care.”
