Colleen Towgood, one of the co-ordinators of the Whangārei RSA Poppy Day, with some of the thousands of remembrance poppies that will be sold across Northland on Friday for Poppy Day.
Colleen Towgood, one of the co-ordinators of the Whangārei RSA Poppy Day, with some of the thousands of remembrance poppies that will be sold across Northland on Friday for Poppy Day.
Thousands of Northlanders will show their respect and remembrance on Friday with the annual RSA Poppy Day Appeal.
Poppy Day will see people across the country wear remembrance poppies to remember all those who have died in wars.
Colleen Towgood, one of the co-ordinators of the Whangārei RSA Poppy Day, said collectors would be out on the streets across the region on Friday selling poppies to the public.
Towgood said all money raised from poppy sales would go to the local RSA trust fund to provide aid and support to veterans and their widows.
“All the money raised goes to the area it was raised in,” she said.
Towgood said poppies had been dropped off at businesses and supermarkets across the region, and volunteers, including members of the armed forces, would be on the streets with them on Friday.
"There will be plenty of places people can get their poppies from."
And many of the poppies will be worn at Anzac Day commemoration events across Northland on Tuesday.
Every April, the RSA holds its Poppy Appeal to raise much-needed funds for support services, and the RSA says veterans can be almost any age.
RSA national president Sir Wayne “Buck” Shelford said that today’s veterans don’t necessarily feel that their service is valued.
"Our more recent veterans of operational deployments come home with little fanfare, and return to a country that has no real understanding of what they’ve been part of. They have faced real danger, some have lost their lives or been physically injured - and even more face long-term effects on their mental health as a result of their service," Shelford said.
“The RSA remains committed to improving the wellbeing of all of New Zealand’s veterans of military service. From World War I to Afghanistan, we’ve been there providing support when it’s needed, and we’re still here today and looking at new and innovative ways to support our veterans and their whānau.”
One of the images used to promote the RSA Poppy Day Appeal this year.
New Zealand has had over 60,500 veterans of military service since 1990, and with an estimated 140,000 living veterans across the country, the need for veteran-specific support services is stronger than ever.
This year’s Poppy Appeal runs throughout the month of April, with the street appeal, known as Poppy Day, on Friday, April 21. All donations are used to support New Zealand’s veterans and their whānau through the RSA’s network of 250 support advisers across the country.
A short history of the Poppy Appeal
This year marks 101 years since the first Poppy Appeal was held.
In 1921, Colonel Samuel Moffat, Madam Guerin’s poppy emissary, visited New Zealand to promote the concept of selling poppies to both commemorate the fallen and raise funds to assist living veterans. As a result of his visit, the RSA ordered 360,000 French-made poppies to sell in New Zealand to mark Remembrance Day on November 11 that year.
Legend has it shipping delays meant that the poppies arrived too late to be sold for Remembrance Day, so the RSA decided to sell them in advance of Anzac Day instead.
On April 24, 1922, the first Poppy Day was held, making New Zealand the only nation of the World War I Allies not to mark Poppy Day in November, in conjunction with Remembrance Day.
Poppy Day is normally held on the Friday closest to Anzac Day. RSAs throughout New Zealand assemble teams of volunteers who line the streets in towns and cities across New Zealand, collecting donations in exchange for poppies.
The poppies are all manufactured by volunteers in Christchurch, and it is an almost year-long job to make the nearly one million poppies required to support the Poppy Appeal.
2020 was the only year in which a street appeal hasn’t been held after the Covid lockdown forced the collection to be cancelled. An online appeal was conducted in its place, meaning the Poppy Appeal remains the longest continuously running appeal in New Zealand’s history.
Where to commemorate Anzac Day in Northland on Tuesday
Whangārei
There will be the usual march from RSA in Hannah St to the cenotaph for the Dawn Service at Laurie Hall Park at 6am.
Anzac Day won’t be publicly commemorated in Whananaki this year as organisers have been unable to find a volunteer to manage the service.
Instead, they encourage everyone to participate in the neighbouring services in Hikurangi or Ngunguru. Garry Martin, a long-time resident of Whananaki, had been managing the Anzac Day service for the past seven years. Organisers are hopeful of finding someone suitable to manage the event next year.
Waiotemarama World War I Monument, behind the school, from 2pm.
■ This list only includes those services that have been notified to the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ national office. If you can’t find a service for your community, please contact your nearest RSA for details.
