THE Portadown and Lurgan branches of the Royal British Legion have said they are deeply disappointed after they were unable to sell poppies at Rushmere Shopping Centre this year.
For the first time since the store opened in 1976, the local branches were unable to sell poppies in the centre with Rushmere insisting they were unable to cater for the sellers because of the demand from other charities.
In a statement, managemen
t at Rushmere said that while they are ‘committed to supporting local charities’, they simply weren’t able to accommodate the Legion this year.
“Every year we invite charities wishing to collect at the centre to apply for permission to promote their work. In recent years there have been many more applications than we are able to accommodate,” said a Rushmere spokesman.
“Over the past month we have been in discussions with the British Legion about the Poppy Appeal. The Legion has accepted that because of the demand it was not possible to accommodate them this year.
“We were in contact with the local British Legion a number of weeks ago and they have expressed their satisfaction with this situation and we hope to be able to welcome poppy sellers back to Rushmere in future years”.
disappointment
In a joint statement, the Lurgan and Portadown branches of the Royal British Legion said they were disappointed they hadn’t been able to collect at Rushmere.
“We’ve been collecting there since it first opened. The correspondence to say we couldn’t collect this year left a lot to be desired,” said the group.
“The Poppy Appeal and the Legion is a non-sectarian, non-political organisation. The five walls on the inside of the War Memorial shows the names of those who gave their lives were from all over the town. It’s sad to hear how people have politicised the Poppy Appeal.”
In another row, it was claimed that a poppy tray and collection tin at nearby B&Q was hidden by staff who objected to poppies being sold in the Craigavon store.
In response to the claim, a B&Q spokesperson said the DIY retailer was a ‘long supporter’ of the Poppy Appeal.
“With more than 35,000 staff and nine stores in Northern Ireland we have a diverse workforce. We celebrate that diversity and strive to respect different backgrounds and cultures.
“This year it was brought to our attention that certain staff members at our Craigavon store were unhappy with the symbolism associated with the poppy and the display of a collection box. In recognition of this feedback the collection box was removed from the customer-facing store area.”
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The full article contains 468 words and appears in Portadown Times newspaper.
