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£5k set back for Poppy Appeal as collections scaled back at Membury Services





With just days to go before the appeal launch the parent company said that it was cutting the amount of time collectors from Hungerford and Lambourn may spend on site from two weeks to three days.
The decision could cost the local collections thousands of pounds in the First World War centenary year.
Welcome Break, which operates 27 motorway services around Britain, including at Membury, said the cut-back is because it has picked Children In Need as its chosen charity this year.
The announcement has disrupted local collection arrangements and led to some customers calling for a nationwide boycott of the service stations via social media.
Representatives of both the Hungerford and Lambourn collections said they were unable to comment, and referred queries to the national press office for the Royal British Legion.
A memo sent to collectors in Lambourn, and seen by the Newbury Weekly News, said: “We are extremely disappointed that this has happened, particularly at very short and unacceptable notice and in Centenary Year... we can offer you our assurance that we, and Royal British Legion HQ, have explored every avenue and attempted negotiations with Welcome Break, but to no avail. We will miss the opportunity of collecting around £5,000 in donations from Membury.”
An appeal has now gone out for volunteers to make door-to-door collections, or take collections boxes to work, to try to make up the anticipated shortfall.
A spokeswoman for Welcome Break, Kelly Sylvester, said: “Poppy collection boxes will be visible at all sites throughout the campaign and collectors will be welcome on-site in the run-up to the Remembrance Sunday.
“Welcome Break has chosen Children in Need as its charity of choice and raised over £520,000 for this great cause last year.
“This choice means that we must also find space to display Children In Need collection boxes during the same time period as the Poppy Appeal.”
She added: “We believe customers will understand that it’s important for us to prioritise our official charity of choice, and whilst we have the utmost respect for the Poppy Appeal, and will display collection boxes at every available opportunity, we don’t want to overload customers with charitable requests.”
The Royal British Legion issued the following statement: “The Legion is grateful for the support that Welcome Break is providing to the Poppy Appeal, including permission to collect on-site, and the Legion also understands that their chosen charity, Children in Need, will at times receive priority.
“The Legion is always grateful for the support that it receives from corporate enterprises and recognises that any organisation or individual has the right to choose which charities to support.
“The Legion respects and admires the support that Welcome Break gives to Children in Need as their chosen charity, and is also grateful for the support it gives to the Poppy Appeal.”



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