Royal British Legion fundraisers have predicted the amount of money raised by the people of Oxfordshire during last year’s Poppy Appeal will top £500,000.

Although the final total for the county will not be known until May, RBL county chairman Mike Henderson last night said that £461,826 had already been banked.

That figure is £49,263 down on the previous year’s final total of £511,089 — excluding a single donation of £100,000.

But Mr Henderson said he felt confident the shortfall would be made up over the coming months, because bills for a number of wreaths still needed to be collected and further donations were expected.

He paid tribute to the thousands of volunteers who helped raise the money, as well as the generosity of the thousands of individuals who had made a donation, however small.

He also thanked the Oxford Mail, which ran a series of stories on war heroes, long-serving poppy collectors and Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day commemorations to promote the appeal.

He said: “I think we will beat last year’s total, excluding the single, large anonymous donation, which is a fantastic effort, absolutely terrific.

“I think Bicester and Banbury did particularly well, but it’s always a countywide effort.

“People were very generous, especially young people.

“I think there are a lot of people who have relatives or friends serving in Iraq and Afghanistan or know someone who knows someone who’s serving — it’s a small world.”

Mr Henderson, a Poppy Appeal co-ordinator in Oxford, said topping the previous year’s final total would be a tremendous achievement given the current economic climate.

He said: “I think we were lucky in so much as the credit crunch only started to bite for many people in December.

“People were very generous in November and we are very grateful.

“Without the money, we couldn’t carry out the welfare work we do.”

All the money raised provides financial, social and emotional support to ex-service personnel, both young and old, and their families.

In Oxford, RBL fundraisers raised £58,200 — up 29 per cent on the previous year.

Like scores of towns and villages across the county, Wheatley’s RBL branch also raised a healthy amount — £7,534 — up from £6,806 the previous year.

Secretary Peter Jackson, 71, who served in the RAF in the 1950s, said: “People in the village were very generous. We’re very pleased with our final total.

“RAF Benson is nearby and there’s a lot of support for soldiers and servicemen in the Middle East.”

* Anyone who would still like to make a donation to the RBL appeal should call 0800 085 5924 or see the website poppy.org.uk tshepherd@oxfordmail.co.uk