The Marple Poppy Appeal was revitalised in 2017 with the arrival of new team leader Kevin Murray, who had some great ideas about how to raise the profile of the appeal and to make commemorations more personal to the local community. In that year the team arranged for 46 large Street Poppies to be put on lampposts in Marple, Marple Bridge and Compstall bearing the names of the men listed on the Marple War Memorial killed 100 years earlier in 1917.
This was well received and in 2018 Kevin and his team raised the bar by organising 198 street poppies to represent all the local men from Marple, Marple Bridge, Mellor, Compstall and High Lane who lost their lives serving their country during WWI. They also published “Who was I?” cards to encourage local people to find out more about individual names on the local war memorials by using the Timeline in Marple Memorial Park.
In 2019 the team went even further by honouring all the local men fallen from the beginning of WW1 to the present day by putting up 264 street poppies throughout Marple and District. All Street Poppies carried individual names and dates of death, which we believe may be unique to Marple.
In 2020, despite the restrictions of the global Covid19 pandemic, the Marple Poppy Appeal Team repeated their success by creating “Walls of Remembrance” in Marple Memorial Park, Compstall, Mellor and Mill Brow featuring the names of the 267 local men who have fallen.
In 2021 the Marple Poppy Appeal bounced back to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the RBL Poppy Appeal with an incredible Ride of Remembrance featuring 100 motorbikes, repeated the "Walls of Remembrance" in four locations and shattered fund-raising records to date.
In 2022 the Team decided to repeat the Ride of Remembrance, which was such a success in 2021, and also added "Marple Pals" guided walks led by local expert Andy Cook. They also pushed their fund-raising since 2017 through the £100,000 barrier with considerable room to spare!
The Street Poppies are sponsored by local people and local businesses as part of the wider Poppy Appeal and from 2017 to 2022 the Marple Team has raised an astounding total of £118,406 for the Royal British Legion. Read more about how they achieved this below.
The Marple Poppy Appeal Team has achieved remarkable success over the last six years since being reinvigorated by retired businessman Kevin Murray in 2017. Thanks to Kevin's new ideas and the generosity of the Marple Community they have raised an astounding £120,000 for the Royal British Legion in the intervening period. Plans are now taking shape to boost that sum with the 2023 Appeal!
In 2020, despite the restrictions imposed by the global Covid19 pandemic, the Marple Poppy Appeal Team found new ways to succeed without selling poppies by creating “Walls of Remembrance” in Marple Memorial Park, Compstall, Mellor and Mill Brow. This has quickly become a new Marple tradition, as has the Ride of Remembrance first introduced in 2021 and now a fixture in the Community Calendar!
The Marple Poppy Appeal Team are once again overwhelmed with the generosity of the local people and businesses that have supported this year's Poppy Appeal. We have managed to collect £23,523.65, which is an outstanding amount, especially in these difficult economic times.
As we all know, last year's poppy appeal was hindered with the dreaded Covid situation but thankfully this year's appeal was pretty much back on track and the response we received from everybody was phenomenal.
The final news for 2020 is that despite the fact there were no poppies to sell, there were no collection pots out in shops, pubs, restaurants etc. and despite having to shut down the Asda stand on Wednesday evening 4th November, loosing Thursday, Friday and Saturday, which are historically the busiest days, the Marple Poppy Appeal Team still managed to collect £12,079.75p, which is absolutely amazing!
Well done to the Marple Poppy Appeal Team and everyone who sponsored, donated or helped.
In a small award ceremony on Saturday 12 December the Team presented Certificates of Merit as a small token of thanks to the Scouts, Guides and Air Cadets who do such a great job collecting for during the campaign. It's nice to show our appreciation to these young people as they are a credit to our community. The awards were presented by the Mayor of Stockport.
The final counting is completed and the 2018 Marple Poppy Appeal has raised an amazing record total of £22,129.37. Very well done to organisers Kevin Murray, Mike Openshaw and Ron Townley plus everyone who helped in many different ways.
For various reasons the Poppy Appeal in Marple fell into decline last year. Jack Turnbull had taken over the lead role but sadly became ill and passed away in November 2015. Long term volunteer Ron Townley, who had organised the appeal on his own for well over 15 years was suffering from ill health and wasn't able to fill the breach left by Jack on his own, so the appeal suffered.
This year, former Marple business owner Kevin Murray took on the role of Poppy Appeal organiser for 2017 and with the help of ex-fireman Mike Openshaw and octogenarian Ron, the new team were determined to get things back on track and aim for a record breaking year.
