Let's not forget to support the 'fifth emergency service'

Roger Braybrook, Commanding Field Officer for the legion in the Durham area, stressed that the charity helps ex-servicemen and women of all ages.

He said: "We get a lot of requests from people who served in Korea, Malaysia and quite a few from Bosnia."

The North-East and North Yorkshire is one of the biggest recruiting areas in the country and, therefore, there is a high demand for the services of the Royal British Legion.

CFO Braybrook said: "A lot of people look to us as the fifth emergency service. I signed cheques last year totalling £229,000. I also did about ten small business loans that work out about £5,000 each, and we also do a lot of other things, such as sending people to the veterans' convalescent home in Southport."

Recently, an 18-year-old soldier from Darlington was paralysed in an accident while on tour of duty in the Falklands.

The Royal British Legion has helped find him a special bungalow and has assisted with furniture.

Another serviceman, from Newcastle, suffers from a crippling illness that has left him completely paralysed and unable even to read without assistance. The charity has bought him a device to enable him to turn pages of books.

Last year, people in the North-East raised about £480,000 for the Royal British Legion, but a lot more than that has been spent. Only half of what is raised is done through the Poppy Appeal.

CFO Braybrook said: "We help hundreds of people and, if you take into account the pensions as well, we probably spend more than we raise. We represent people in tribunals in a major way."

About 15 million people in the country are entitled to receive help from the charity - about ten per cent of them are in the North-East.

CFO Braybrook said: "People have to have been in the services for at least seven days or have to be a dependent such as a wife or child. There are still a lot more out there we can help.'