Royal Russell CCF raise over £34,000 for the Poppy Appeal 2025

After a very bright and early 5am start, Royal Russell CCF arrived at one of London’s busiest train stations. Here, the cadets were volunteering for The Royal British Legion and taking part in the London Poppy Day 2025, where they would collect donations and do their very best to raise as much money as possible for the charity. The cadets looked pristine, with very sharp uniforms and extra shiny boots!

Rush Hour in The Station

After a delicious McDonald’s breakfast and a quick lesson from RBL in sales and customer service, and once they’d familiarised themselves with the products that could be sold, the cadets were ready to tackle the first of the rush hour crowds. Knowing it was a peak time to sell and raise vital funds, the cadets split off into teams of 3 to 5, selling both from the RBL stand and walking around in groups in a bid to reach more potential customers.

Smashing the Fundraising Targets

The Royal Russel CCF cadets did an incredible job fundraising. As a contingent, they raised over £34,000 for RBL in just one day! The contingent was proud to smash their target and raise vital finds for RBL and had lots of fun working together as a team.

Cadet Lance Corporal M Goossens comments “throughout the day, we got to meet lots of interesting people who were also involved in volunteering for the Poppy Appeal. We saw Royal Air Force officers in their number 1 uniforms, and we saw many Army soldiers from different regiments, all of them with trays of poppies and buckets! We also got to watch and listen to the Band of the Royal Marines play all sorts of music, from movies such as Jurassic Park and Top Gun to everyday songs too! I really enjoyed listening to the band play – it was a great pick-me-up after a few hours of volunteering, and they all looked extra smart in their uniform with white hats and instruments.

We also had the opportunity to team up with the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (Princess Royal’s Volunteer Corps) (FANY) cadets and collect donations together, along with Leader of the Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch. It was a fantastic experience!”

An Annual Event

This was Royal Russell CCF’s 5th year of volunteering for RBL. The contingency volunteered tirelessly for 13 hours and were extremely proud to receive a special pin from RBL which acknowledges them all as volunteers.

Congratulations to all at Royal Russell CCF who worked hard and helped to raise an incredible amount of money for such an important cause. Everyone at CCF is so proud of you!