Reward and Recognition | Our Centenary

Since the Royal British Legion was founded in 1921, our members, staff, volunteers and partners have dedicated their time and effort to supporting the Armed Forces community and remembering their sacrifice.

To mark our 100^th birthday, we launched the Reward and Recognition scheme where everyone across the RBL family was invited to nominate people who deserved to be recognised for their significant contributions to our work.

The awards recognise the outstanding actions of individuals in five categories; service, collaboration, passion, excellence and valuing our people.

From the moment we launched the scheme, the nominations came flooding in and after a robust check on the quality and standard of submissions, we were left with over 400 tales of inspiration and determination from groups and individuals across the organisation, all of whom are equally deserving of recognition in our Centenary year.

Here we celebrate the contributions of our amazing RBL People who have helped to make our organisation the fantastic place that it is. Search by name or use the filters below to explore the nominees.

Alan Harrhy

Alan has served as County President, County Vice-Chairman and then Chairman of the Eardisley and District Branch, Herefordshire, and he gets stuck into a huge range of RBL events – whether that's organising and compering a fundraising concert in Hereford Cathedral or planting hundreds of individual crosses in the Garden of Remembrance. Colleagues say that where Alan leads, others follow, and wherever he is, morale is guaranteed to be high at all times.

Ann Penistone

Knottingley Branch in West Yorkshire was struggling before Ann stepped in 12 years ago to become Poppy Appeal Organiser, Secretary and Area Representative. She has since ensured regular meetings and good communications, as well as boosting hugely the Appeal fundraising total. In 2014, she also undertook the onerous task of restoring the town’s war memorial, succeeding in obtaining a £20,000 grant and raising £15,000. Her efforts were rewarded when the memorial was rededicated in 2019.

Gaynor Dingley

Community Fundraiser Gaynor showed ingenuity in raising money for the Poppy Appeal 2020. She has built good contacts with Microsoft UK and she worked with the company to develop a poppy-themed background that its employees could use when making video calls using the Teams application. Hundreds of staff downloaded the background and donated, and the work has led to a broader partnership with Microsoft. The RBL is going to take this great initiative forward into 2021.

Sally Tideswell

Sally is the backbone of the Chapel-en-le-Frith Branch, going above and beyond as Secretary and Poppy Appeal Organiser. She overcame social-distancing constraints to organise VJ Day and Remembrance Services in 2020 that were well received by the local community. Sally collaborates rather than competing with other charities – including the hospice – so everyone benefits, and her events bringing local choirs and bands together enrich the life of the town.

Alex Orr

Alex didn’t let Covid-19 restrictions deter him when it came to organising RBL events in 2020. His Poppy Appeal launch saw cannons fired from Drake’s Island, off Plymouth Hoe. He also arranged the island’s first-ever Remembrance service – the Navy raised the Union Jack for the first time in more than 60 years and representatives from the Armed Forces and mayor’s office laid wreaths in an event that received much media attention.

Lorna McConnell

Welfare Services Co-ordinator Lorna has been supporting someone with complex needs for more than two years. The pandemic posed a particular challenge as face-to-face meetings weren’t possible, but Lorna always kept in regular contact. She made sure the individual’s wishes were taken into account and treated her with dignity, patience and respect. Lorna’s advocacy means appropriate mental-health support is now in place.

Kevin Tobin

Kevin is Membership Support Officer for Northamptonshire & Oxfordshire, and in August 2020, he began delivering online Branch Community Support training with Sharon Turton. Together, they have now trained over 50 supporters as Telephone Buddies, and the number of branches registered for Branch Community Support has increased. Kevin and Sharon’s willingness to deliver training to Membership Support Officers nationally has demonstrated collaborative working at its best.

Ian Thomson

Ian has been a Caseworker volunteer for many years now. In 2020, despite having to isolate, his continued commitment to helping the Northern Area office remotely has been invaluable. He contacts the Armed Forces community we help, listens to them in a sensitive and professional manner, and provides high-quality reports. This provides the basis of the Case Officers’ assessments and ensures that we are able to provide appropriate and effective support.

Ken Pearson

Ken leads the small but active Netherton Branch in the West Midlands and has shown exceptional dedication to the RBL and the local Armed Forces community. He has established strong links with local schools and The Boys’ Brigade, organising activities and Remembrance services, and ensured he kept in touch with vulnerable people throughout the pandemic to support them.

Hannah Clarke

Advice and Information Officer Hannah is passionate about supporting people to live an independent life. Recognising that some individuals aren’t suitable for the Telephone Buddy service because of their specific welfare needs, she began offering a ‘moral support’ service. To date, she has provided support to many who needed it, including elderly and vulnerable people and victims of domestic abuse, referring them to relevant support services where appropriate.

Edward Sadler

Ed worked with the team at Coventry Building Society to ensure that its Poppy Savings products, now in their 13th year, achieve competitive savings rates for customers and generous donations to the RBL, even in these challenging times. Keen supporter Ed also joined the Society’s team for the RBL’s Pedal to Paris event, helping to raise more than £64,000, and volunteers his time for the National Memorial Arboretum, the Poppy Appeal, Remembrance and awareness raising.

Terry Steel

Terry has spent more than 50 years in the music business, working with many famous Big Bands and UK stars. He now leads the Astor Big Band, which puts on fundraising concerts across the south of England, giving audiences a trip down memory lane with his music and donating thousands of pounds of profits to the RBL. He is also an incredible ambassador for the charity when doing radio and TV publicity.

Chris Reader

Great Western Railway’s Chris makes a point of saying yes to every request thrown at him by Cornwall/Devon’s RBL Community Fundraisers, from bringing a huge poppy installation to Plymouth station to organising titled rolling stock for special events. In each case, he ensures maximum PR exposure and champions the charity among his colleagues and train users, ensures visible opportunities to donate or find out more about the RBL’s work.

Graham Damms

Always an active member of the Maidstone Branch, Graham serves as Treasurer and is also a member of the County Committee. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he has stepped up to assist his community even more, delivering meals, food parcels and shopping to 1,000+ people, organising a phone buddy system for those living on their own and working with other local groups to ensure that no one is left feeling isolated or forgotten.

Jackie Daly

Jackie is Membership Support Officer for Cheshire. When the role of Membership Support Officer for West Lancashire and Merseyside became vacant, she didn’t hesitate to step in and cover this, resulting in her overseeing 100 branches altogether. West Lancashire and Merseyside had recently been placed in County Administration, and Jackie has worked tirelessly to help take this process forward while continuing to provide a sterling service to Cheshire.

Emma Cox

Emma was elected as the first Membership Council representative for the RBL Women’s Section (WS) in 2017, and has rebuilt relations between the WS and the parent organisation. Keen to protect its legacy for the Armed Forces community, she has raised the WS’s profile, overturning the common belief that it had closed, and transformed the membership database, digitising renewals and helping achieve a clear basis for how it can operate going forward.

Kim Humann

From 1995 to date, Kim has held various RBL roles, including Branch and District Chairman, Poppy Appeal Organiser, Caseworker and District Training Officer. Collaboration is one of her many talents; she offers a drink and thanks in gratitude to those who offer their time or help, stays in touch with members who are struggling, and has been able to deal with sensitive situations in a tactful and diplomatic way that has prevented escalation and disharmony.

Hilary McKeegan

Hilary has served the RBL in Northern Ireland with passion and enthusiasm for nearly 45 years, including 27 in the Waterside Branch, and has been a committee member, Welfare Visitor and Poppy Collector. Since becoming Poppy Appeal Organiser in October 2016, she has increased fundraising totals by 30%, and continually motivates people to volunteer. In 2020, knowing that Covid-19 restrictions would reduce street collections, she had window stickers made and sold them to raise funds.

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Reward & Recognition