THE launch of this year's Poppy Appeal comes as the Royal British Legion marks 100 years of service to members of Britain's armed forces – and in Newport, one family has been at the heart of the charity's fundraising in the city for five generations.

Patricia Husselbee has been supporting the British Legion for 65 years, and before that helped her father assemble poppies at home.

“I can remember when I was a little girl, him taking me out selling poppies," she said. “He used to take me through the town to all the pubs and things, and I had to wait outside as I couldn’t go in the pub.”

She added: "When my dad was a poppy organiser, you had to put the poppies together in boxes. We used to sit there as a family and put the poppies together.”

The family's poppy-selling has spanned decades and generations, and for the past 10 years her daughter Anne-Marie Cobley has been the poppy organiser for Newport, manning the British Legion stall in the Kingsway shopping centre.

Ms Cobley's son and daughter also help out during the Poppy Appeal, and recently her granddaughters have been getting involved, too.

Watch our video of the Royal British Legion being granted the freedom of the city of Newport:

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For the family, supporting the British Legion remains as important today as it did 100 years ago, when the charity was formed to help those who had suffered while serving in the First World War, including 1.75m illion men who had suffered some kind of disability.

The first-ever Poppy Appeal, held that year, raised more than £106,000 - equivalent to £5.3 million today - to help veterans with employment and housing.

Since then the British Legion has expanded its work and now helps serving and former members of the armed forces, and their familes, with things like care, rehabilitation from injury, and financial support.

To recognise 100 years of that vital work, the Royal British Legion was today granted the freedom of the city of Newport at a special event.

“It is just something that I’ve been born into and I grew up with, but I don’t think you can dedicate time to it if it’s not a cause you don’t believe in," Ms Cobley said.

“I’ve met some really interesting people. I was County Poppy Coordinator for about two years, and I was sitting listening to stories from some of the beneficiaries that the Legion has helped out, and you can’t help but cry when you hear their stories.

"It’s the emotional side of it as well, it’s one of the charities that you know the money is going to that place.”

She added: “It’s something that should never ever be forgotten.”

South Wales Argus: (L-R) Anne-Marie Cobley, Anne-Marie’s daughter Kyrie Jones, Anne-Marie’s granddaughter Poppy Jones, Anne-Marie’s granddaughter Imogen Jones, and Patricia Husselbee. Picture: via RBL(L-R) Anne-Marie Cobley, Anne-Marie’s daughter Kyrie Jones, Anne-Marie’s granddaughter Poppy Jones, Anne-Marie’s granddaughter Imogen Jones, and Patricia Husselbee. Picture: via RBL

Bill Bailey, also from Newport, was in the Royal Navy for 12 years, fulfilling a boyhood dream and seeing the world while serving on a destroyer called the Diana.

“Travelling everywhere was the thing for me," he said. "We went to Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok, The Philippines, I just went everywhere. It was marvellous.”

In 2011, Mr Bailey and his wife Jane joined the Royal British Legion, and as part of the charity's 'Riders Branch' of motorcycle enthusiasts they have spent the past decade selling poppies.

“It's a community-family feel," he said. "We’ve made loads of friends in the Riders Branch and the South Wales branch. I’m in another motorcycle club, and the two are completely different, the atmosphere is completely different. The Legion is literally a family."

On the British Legion's work, he added: "It does so [much] good. There’s a lot of ex-servicemen who need supporting, and there’s going to be as long as there are armed forces."