Volunteers going beyond duty

Ms Cottingham, 59, and friend Brian Tegg, 71, have been Poppy Appeal volunteers in the town jointly for 68 years.

Next year they will each be awarded their 35-year service medals.

Former professional singer Ms Cottingham, of Buckingham Road, Bicester, said: “I would not miss it for the world – it’s something I just feel is the right thing to do. I’m here with a passion.”

Retired RAF serviceman Mr Tegg brings along his vintage Jeep, which was recently used in a video to accompany the Poppy Appeal song I’ve Gotta Get a Message to You by band The Soldiers and Robin Gibb.

The Air Training Cadet leader said: “In recent years we have seen a lot of casualties from Afghanistan and it’s brought everything home to us.

“Soldiers never go where they want, they go where the Government sends them.

“The need for the Royal British Legion has been there for many years and we still need this money to support the troops coming back injured, and their families.”

Royal British Legion community fundraiser for Oxfordshire Laura Laffan said: “Poppies seem to have flown out the door this year.

“Many said they were inundated with demand for wrist bands, poppies and pins.

“We have been getting lots of calls to refill boxes.”

Heather Wood, of Langford Village, whose husband, Warrant Officer Class 2 Charles Wood, was killed in Afghanistan, last December, is a big supporter of the appeal.

She said: “I think it’s a massively important appeal to support. The Royal British Legion has supported people like myself, young war widows, and will do for many years to come.

“It’s the little things the RBL do. They are very helpful and it’s good because sadly there are young widows who suddenly find they are on this earth alone and have nowhere to go and don’t know what to do.”

The Oxfordshire Royal British Legion hope to break the £460,000 barrier this year and set a fundraising record.

Last year the county raised £455,000.