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 100th 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.
Terrie Kendal-Archer
Terrie Kendal-Archer
Secretary of Bishop’s Stortford Branch in Hertfordshire, Terrie’s enthusiasm and drive has been central to the success of activities. She has organised the Armed Forces Day for six years; worked with a supermarket for the Poppy Appeal and arranged the Thank You event for supporters; seen to the wellbeing of the district’s veterans; organised the restoration and move of the Old Contemptibles Standard to a museum; and supervised Branch Standard Bearers.
Lord Jitesh Gadhia
Lord Jitesh Gadhia
Lord Gadhia approached the RBL about creating a poppy made from khadi, a spun cotton cloth produced in India, which he felt would strike a chord with communities of South East Asian descent and highlight the contribution of Indian troops in the two World Wars.
In 2018, 10,000 were produced and distributed for free. This allowed the RBL to engage new audiences, and Lord Gadhia’s ambassadorship led to much coverage in Indian and UK news.
Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs
As big supporters of the Poppy Appeal, Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club allowed the RBL to produce an Exeter Chiefs poppy pin in 2018, which has generated more than £6,000 in donations and raised awareness among supporters.
Marina Harden
Marina Harden
Volunteering Officer Marina always does her best to make others feel valued and appreciated. When the first lockdown started and the office-based team began working remotely, she set up a weekly Morale Boost group in Microsoft Teams, so that staff had somewhere to meet and reconnect. She ran the sessions with sensitivity and care, ensuring staff felt supported in a time of isolation and uncertainty.
Claire Pickess
Claire Pickess
In her role as Events Officer at the National Memorial Arboretum, Claire demonstrates excellence in everything she does. The pandemic caused massive disruption, with 250 events being cancelled, postponed or rescheduled, but Claire has managed this while maintaining full engagement from a complex cohort of external stakeholders. She is always willing to support others, from helping the Retail team when they were relocating the shop to overhauling the admin system for the Grounds team.
Jeff Matthews
Jeff Matthews
In his 21 years as member, Jeff has held many positions in his dedicated service to Devizes Branch, Wiltshire. As Chairman, he saw the membership strengthen and the branch become more prominent in the community, and he was an enthusiastic advocate for the RBL as President. In 2019, for Armed Forces Day, he coordinated a branch effort to identify and pay respect to lesser-known fallen soldiers, raising the profile of the memorials and the charity.
Mark Wakeman
Mark Wakeman
Bakewell's Poppy Appeal Organiser, Mark has made an all-round contribution to the branch, not least with his professional retail expertise in establishing its Poppy Shop. He organises stands at country fairs and community events and helps out other Derbyshire branches too. His own generosity inspires the same in others.
Ann Morley
Ann Morley
Ann became Poppy Appeal Organiser of the Brussels Branch in 2012 and has spent a significant amount of time reaching out to schools, businesses and international organisations in the city area to promote the Appeal’s aims, maximise interest and broaden opportunities for fundraising. She has also developed and motivated her volunteers to great effect. Her success can be seen in a year-on-year increase in totals, with nearly €90,000 raised during her tenure.
Olga McKeown
Olga McKeown
Olga is now in her 16th year as Poppy Appeal Organiser for the small village of Saintfield in Northern Ireland. In this time, she has raised in excess of £85,000 for the Appeal, much of it from door-to-door collections – an impressive feat in a village of 3,000 people. She is a dedicated and committed volunteer who has put aside considerable personal challenges to ensure that the local Appeal can continue to run each year.
Alby Oldham
Alby Oldham
Alby has been an incredible asset to Ramsey Branch, in the Isle of Man, since he joined in 2017, working as a committee member, Branch Parade Marshal and Poppy Appeal Organiser. In 2020, he led the organisation of a VE Day 75 and VJ Day 75 street party, with free food and entertainment. He also overcame administrative difficulties to run the Poppy Appeal, ensuring ample volunteers and distributing poppy boxes, and raising just under £22,000.
Matthew Tomlinson
Matthew Tomlinson
Matt served for 28 years and is one of the most highly decorated living Royal Marines. In 2019, he took part in the Tribute Ink project, displaying his tattoos. Since then, he has been a passionate advocate for the RBL. He has been a key speaker at a number of events, telling his personal story and promoting the role of the RBL as Armed Forces charity and national champions of Remembrance.
Juliet Price
Juliet Price
Over the past year, Juliet has gone above and beyond her role as Advice and Information Officer. She has supported Membership with more than 100 calls under the Branch Community Support service, helping to tackle loneliness and social isolation. She has also assisted other area offices, providing advice to those they serve. Juliet is a great advocate for the RBL and has spoken on BBC Radio Wales to help raise awareness of its work.
Claire Smith
Claire Smith
As a Community Fundraiser, Claire recognises the importance of Poppy Appeal Organisers, and she works hard to support each one. She has stepped up to cover the Community Fundraiser role in a neighbouring area and maintained relationships with volunteers there, ensuring the RBL has a strong supporter network across the country. Claire is also helping the RBL develop regional corporate partnerships to safeguard community income.
Declan Dossett
Declan Dossett
As the Head of HR Advisory, Declan provided invaluable support during the closure programme for the Break Centres and the Handy Vans Service. It was a complex project and he was involved in preparing the HR solution, from developing the business case to the comms and rollout plan. He understood the impact on those affected, treating everyone with dignity and ensuring the service provided by the HR team was exemplary.
Andrew Baud
Andrew Baud
Andrew has provided PR consultancy services to the National Memorial Arboretum (NMA) for more than 13 years, and his commitment and contribution go the extra mile. His work has resulted in international publicity for the NMA’s Remembrance events, allowing stories of service and sacrifice to be shared more widely. He also supports with political advocacy and through his enthusiasm and network, has helped our directors build trust with important stakeholders to achieve shared goals.
Richard Beale
Richard Beale
Head of Merchandising (Menswear) at M&S, Richard is a loyal supporter of the RBL who has taken part in the Pedal to Paris event three times. In 2016, he played a pivotal role in driving M&S employee engagement for the challenge; a huge collaboration across departments led to more than 90 staff taking part – the largest team ever entered – and raising more than £168,000 for the charity.
Margaret Wilson
Margaret Wilson
Margaret is the principal Standard Bearer of Peterborough Branch and is a much-valued committee member. Always mindful of the correct protocols and procedures, she takes part in numerous ceremonial events and has represented the RBL at many funerals; her efforts are always appreciated by the families of ex-service personnel. Even with the restrictions brought about by Covid-19, Margaret has continued her work, appearing at ceremonies via pre-recorded video or even from her garden.
Keith Webster
Keith Webster
Keith is an Information Volunteer who has helped in the Leeds office since it opened more than five years ago and has done outreach work at Airedale Hospital, Bradford Town Hall and Bradford Interchange. Manning his pop-up stand, his enthusiasm and commitment to the RBL shines out and ensures the public stop and talk to him. He is an excellent communicator and ambassador for the charity.