RAISING tens of thousands of pounds for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Day appeal has earned Pickering organiser Janet Martin a top accolade from the charity.

For the past 15 years Janet, of Castlegate, Pickering, has been the Poppy Day organiser for the town and neighbouring Thornton-le-Dale, arranging the delivery of 150 collecting boxes and organising collectors.

Each year the branch raises up to £12,000 for the RBL’s causes and this year the figure is expected to be higher after a record sale of 46 million poppies nationally.

While the collections are focused on one particular day, Janet said she and her team work for ten months of the year making the plans.

When she took over the collections amounted to just £6,000 – today they are often double that sum.

She has been presented with the Legion’s honour of a certificate by Major Gen Michael Charlton-Weedy, the president of the North Yorkshire County branch of the RBL.

Margaret Atkinson, secretary of the Pickering and Thornton-le-Dale branch, said: “Janet has done a wonderful job, master-minding the raising of so much money and so many people are grateful to her.”