 More volunteers are needed to sell poppies in Wales |
The Royal British Legion in Wales says it cannot find enough people to sell poppies and collect money for ex-servicemen and women. The organisation says that its current volunteers are getting too old and are not being replaced by a younger generation of fund-raisers.
The annual poppy appeal, which leads up to Remembrance Day on 11 November, raises money for thousands of ex-servicemen and women.
In some areas, including Gwersyllt, Wrexham, the recruitment problem means that poppies will not even be on sale.
Kevin Blanchfield, North Wales Field Officer for the Royal British Legion, said the organisation's main problem was not a lack of donations, but finding volunteers to collect them.
"This is not about donor fatigue - people in Wales are extremely generous," he said.
"Last year, they gave more to the poppy appeal than ever before.
"But if we don't collect the money the public wishes to give us, we are failing the ex-service community."
Replacing veterans
Mr Blanchfield added that the Royal British Legion was not alone in finding it difficult to attract volunteers.
He said: "Increasingly, we've had to abandon door to door collections because, frankly, it's quite dangerous in modern society.
"We are not alone, many charities are experiencing a shortage of volunteers but they are also suffering donor fatigue. We are not.
"What we want are people to come forward to replace the mainly Second World War and national service veterans who are now elderly and who themselves need the help we provide."
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This is not about donor fatigue - people in Wales are extremely generous 
