A NORTH-EAST mayor spoke movingly at the launch of the annual Poppy appeal, commemorating those who have fallen in conflict.

Members of the Darlington branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) gathered at Darlington Town Hall on Thursday (October 23), for the launch of this year's Remembrance appeal.

The town's mayor, Cllr Gerald Lee, told those present he had spent a lot of time thinking about those commemorated on the war memorial of his home village, Heighington.

Cllr Lee read two poems to the assembled RBL volunteers, before hanging a wreath of poppies beneath the town hall war memorial.

He was presented with the town's ceremonial first poppy by RBL Poppy appeal co-ordinator, Pat Stoddart.

Cllr Lee said: "Poppies are synonymous with the sacrifice of soldiers who have gone before, not just in the two World Wars, but in all the conflicts that have happened since.

"I am of a generation which was fortunate not to have seen a war, but I have in-laws that have been through it.

"I have spent time looking at the war memorial in Heighington and I got to thinking about those men and boys who went to war and never came back.

"It is very emotional and it does make you sad, so I decided to spend a lot of time trying to find out the stories behind those names on the memorial."

Mrs Stoddart, who has had a long association with the Poppy appeal in Darlington, said it was becoming increasingly important to pass the message of remembrance on to the younger generation.

Last year's Poppy appeal raised more than £54,500 in Darlington alone and Mrs Stoddart is hopeful that amount can be surpassed this year.

She said: "Even if we beat it by £1, that would still be an improvement.

"Our volunteers will be out in the supermarkets and in the town over the next few weeks.

"I have had 80,000 poppies in my house since June – in the spare bedroom, in the loft and every where.

"It is getting a bit harder, because a lot of people do not want the paper poppies any more, they want the fancy stuff – stick on poppies and badges.

"But I am confident we will still sell a lot of poppies in Darlington this year."

The Darlington branch of the RBL meets in the Cleveland Bridge social club, in Neasham Road, on the fourth Wednesday of every month, at 7.30pm for 8pm.

For more information, call vice-chairman Ken Coates, on 01325-263717.