A fundraiser for London Poppy Day which was expected to raise £1million has been cancelled because of train strikes.
The event was due to take place on November 3 but the Royal British Legion (RBL) confirmed ‘it will not go ahead as planned’ due to industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.
The RBL says it is now ‘urgently considering alternative arrangements to lessen the impact’ from the loss of funds on its work with members of the Armed Forces community.
It was expected that up to 2,000 personnel, veterans and volunteers had been lined up to help with collections at 70 locations across London’s tube and train stations, office blocks and out on the streets from 7am to 7pm.
This year’s event would also have included performances from 10 military bands at various locations, with volunteers helping to raise ‘crucial funds’.
In a statement the RBL said: ‘Raising up to £1 million annually, the event sees 2,000 military personnel and veterans collecting for the RBL’s Poppy Appeal across transport hubs in London.
‘We are urgently considering alternative arrangements to lessen the impact from the loss of funds on our vital work with the Armed Forces community, and we will update you as our plans progress.’
London Poppy Day has taken place on the first Thursday in November since 2006.
The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal director Simon O’Leary said: ‘London Poppy Day is one of the most important days in our annual remembrance calendar.
‘It is a huge logistical operation across the capital taking significant planning and resource, which we are now unfortunately in the process of cancelling and informing our volunteers to stand down.
‘The same situation occurred during the rail strikes in 2016, and we were grateful to the RMT on that occasion for rearranging the strike action, however, they have confirmed the strike will be going ahead on November 3 this year.’
Railway workers at 14 train operating companies will strike again next month in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
RMT members are set to walk out on November 3 and 5.
The action will coincide with strikes on the same days by RMT members on Network Rail, London Underground and London Overground.
The strikes will cause widespread disruption to services across the country after a summer of discontent in the deadlocked row over pay, jobs and conditions.
The 14 train operating companies involved in the fresh strikes are: Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and GTR (including Gatwick Express).
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