Every poppy counts: Wind turbine transformed in remembrance of Armed Forces

At this time of the year, we normally see an army of loyal volunteers and supporters selling and wearing poppies to support the Royal British Legion.

The Royal British Legion provides lifelong support to serving and ex-serving personnel and their families. However, Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the usual fundraising effort of the Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal, directly impacting the level of support they are able to receive.

This led our Vattenfall colleague (and former Royal Navy Submariner) Colin Brown to organise a tremendous initiative with the Wind team -  turning a lone turbine at Swinford Wind Farm into a 125m tall poppy turbine using hi-tech projection equipment to raise awareness and fundraising.

In support of the 2020 Poppy Appeal, Vattenfall is aiming to fundraise £10,000 to help the Royal British Legion, and donations can be made via the Vattenfall UK Just Giving page.

With more than 10% of our workforce having served in the Armed Forces, Vattenfall is a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, a public commitment between UK based organisations and the Armed Forces community to work together to remove barriers, with the aim of getting the right people into the right jobs. It also aims to help to address some of the issues ex-service men and women face when entering civilian life and support current employees who are currently reservists or have partners serving in the forces.  We want to show support and inspire people to think back and look forward, whilst raising awareness of a charity that is at the heart of the Armed Forces community.

We hope that this small symbol of our respect and appreciation will encourage many to give to a charity that is so well known for its Poppy Appeal and the support it gives to veterans and their families. We encourage colleagues and supporters to dig deep and donate to the Royal British Legion.