Ok, for those outside the UK you may not know but every year the Royal British Legion runs the Poppy Appeal from about mid-october until remeberance sunday to raise money to provide physical, finanical and social support to those who are currently serving or have served in the armed forces.
This appeal has probably the highest profile of any charity in the UK and the poppy is pretty much ubiquitous in British media and in day to day life during the period of the appeal - politicians, tv presenters, media personalitys and members of the general public will wear one irrespective of political affiliation. In fact for an appeal supporting the armed forces it has always struck me as suprisingly non-political - people tend to support it even if they are anti the specific wars we're involved in (or at least so it seems). It's also surprising how much support it gets given that the armed forces have never really held a 'special' place in our culture - we've always been somewhat uncomfortable around our armed forces.
So my questions are thus. If your in the UK do you take part in the appeal? What do you feel about it? How common are poppies in your workplace/day to day life? For those outside the UK, do you have any similar appeals that reach this level of exposure and non-partisan support? If so what?
I work with members of the armed forces, so you can imagine the poppies are pretty ubiquitous at my workplace and of course you see them constantly on tv, but I'm wondering what it's like in other people's work.
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I buy one every year, and think its important to do so, to educate the next generation.
I think the reason I support poppies while I disagreed with the Iraq war was that it wasn't the servicemen's fault. They are just doing an incredibly courageous job on behalf of sleazy politicians (British and US)
Eofaerwic wrote:For those outside the UK, do you have any similar appeals that reach this level of exposure and non-partisan support? If so what?
We have the "majblomman" (lit. May flower). It has been sold by school children every April-May since 1907, but not to support anything stupid and immoral as the armed forces. It is sold to collect money for sick and disabled children. An actual worthy cause. Sometimes, one has to admire our sanity in comparison to other places...
Last edited by Fassitude on Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Frankly I think when you have a large, nationwide and important appeal (not just the Poppy Appeal, but also Children in Need and Comic Relief for example) such rules are a bit ridiculous.
Economic Left/Right: -7.12 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.38 Grave_n_idle: That's much better, that's not creepy at all. Nothing creepy about dropping a hook in someone's brain soup. Mad hatters in jeans:Why is there a whirlpool inside your head?
Fassitude wrote:We have the "majblomman" (lit. May flower). It has been sold by school children every April-May since 1907, but not to support anything stupid and immoral as the armed forces. It is sold to collect money for sick and disabled children. An actual worthy cause. Sometimes, one has to admire our sanity in comparison to other places...
The Poppy Appeal is more important than a mere charity collection for former servicemen.
It doesn't matter how big your hammer is, eventually you'll come across something that isn't a nail.
Eofaerwic wrote:For those outside the UK, do you have any similar appeals that reach this level of exposure and non-partisan support? If so what?
We have the "majblomman" (lit. May flower). It has been sold by school children every April-May since 1907, but not to support anything stupid and immoral as the armed forces. It is sold to collect money for sick and disabled children. An actual worthy cause. Sometimes, one has to admire our sanity in comparison to other places...
We also have Children in Need every year which I'd say is the second most high profile charity appeal.
Economic Left/Right: -7.12 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.38 Grave_n_idle: That's much better, that's not creepy at all. Nothing creepy about dropping a hook in someone's brain soup. Mad hatters in jeans:Why is there a whirlpool inside your head?
Eofaerwic wrote:For those outside the UK, do you have any similar appeals that reach this level of exposure and non-partisan support? If so what?
We have the "majblomman" (lit. May flower). It has been sold by school children every April-May since 1907, but not to support anything stupid and immoral as the armed forces. It is sold to collect money for sick and disabled children. An actual worthy cause. Sometimes, one has to admire our sanity in comparison to other places...
The money is used to support veterans, as far as I know, only a small ammount goes to the armed forces, and only individual personnel for medical costs.
Last edited by Boico on Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:18 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Eofaerwic wrote:For those outside the UK, do you have any similar appeals that reach this level of exposure and non-partisan support? If so what?
We have the "majblomman" (lit. May flower). It has been sold by school children every April-May since 1907, but not to support anything stupid and immoral as the armed forces. It is sold to collect money for sick and disabled children. An actual worthy cause. Sometimes, one has to admire our sanity in comparison to other places...
We also have Children in Need every year which I'd say is the second most high profile charity appeal.
And Comic Relief.
It doesn't matter how big your hammer is, eventually you'll come across something that isn't a nail.
Eofaerwic wrote:We also have Children in Need every year which I'd say is the second most high profile charity appeal.
It says a lot about a country that a charity for children is lesser than a charity for the military. And that it has a charity for the military at all.
Last edited by Fassitude on Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
Ok, for those outside the UK you may not know but every year the Royal British Legion runs the Poppy Appeal from about mid-october until remeberance sunday to raise money to provide physical, finanical and social support to those who are currently serving or have served in the armed forces.
This appeal has probably the highest profile of any charity in the UK and the poppy is pretty much ubiquitous in British media and in day to day life during the period of the appeal - politicians, tv presenters, media personalitys and members of the general public will wear one irrespective of political affiliation. In fact for an appeal supporting the armed forces it has always struck me as suprisingly non-political - people tend to support it even if they are anti the specific wars we're involved in (or at least so it seems). It's also surprising how much support it gets given that the armed forces have never really held a 'special' place in our culture - we've always been somewhat uncomfortable around our armed forces.
So my questions are thus. If your in the UK do you take part in the appeal? What do you feel about it? How common are poppies in your workplace/day to day life? For those outside the UK, do you have any similar appeals that reach this level of exposure and non-partisan support? If so what?
I work with members of the armed forces, so you can imagine the poppies are pretty ubiquitous at my workplace and of course you see them constantly on tv, but I'm wondering what it's like in other people's work.
It is almost Armistice Day, isn't it? I like to call it that, though here in the US it's officially Veteran's Day (and one of the few US holidays that hasn't been nailed to a specific Monday but still moves with its date). I'll look around for folks asking for donations for poppies, though I can't recall seeing anyone in recent years.
I'm sure you know what the poppy symbolizes, Eofaerwic, but I wonder how many others do.
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Fassitude wrote:It says a lot about a country that a charity for children is lesser than a charity for the military. And that it has a charity for the military at all.
You still don't "get" the Poppy Appeal.
It doesn't matter how big your hammer is, eventually you'll come across something that isn't a nail.
Eofaerwic wrote:We also have Children in Need every year which I'd say is the second most high profile charity appeal.
It says a lot about a country that a charity for children is lesser than a charity for the military. And that it has a charity for the military at all.
You seem to be under the impression the money becomes the armed forces' bedget. It's not, it is used to support veterans and to support those soldiers who are harmed in war.
Last edited by Boico on Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Eofaerwic wrote:We also have Children in Need every year which I'd say is the second most high profile charity appeal.
It says a lot about a country that a charity for children is lesser than a charity for the military. And that it has a charity for the military at all.
Farnhamia wrote:It is almost Armistice Day, isn't it? I like to call it that, though here in the US it's officially Veteran's Day (and one of the few US holidays that hasn't been nailed to a specific Monday but still moves with its date). I'll look around for folks asking for donations for poppies, though I can't recall seeing anyone in recent years.
I'm sure you know what the poppy symbolizes, Eofaerwic, but I wonder how many others do.
Which is the point about the poppy appeal. It's not supporting war or the military, it's about helping veterans, many of whom fought in a war for our country's very survival. In many ways the poppy appeal drives home the horrible, pointless nature of war and the sacrifices made for it.
Economic Left/Right: -7.12 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.38 Grave_n_idle: That's much better, that's not creepy at all. Nothing creepy about dropping a hook in someone's brain soup. Mad hatters in jeans:Why is there a whirlpool inside your head?
I always buy at least three, due to their flimsiness. The Year 7s at my school volunteer to sell them so by the end of the first week in November the whole school is wearing poppies.
Soratsin wrote:Why do disabled veterans not deserve charity?
Obvious reasons, of course. An additional question is, of course, why are they even in need of it? If they are these esteemed heroes that protect you (haha, I couldn't type that without laughing at the absurdity), why do you have them dependent on handouts?
