Schoolgirl, 11, raises £6k for Royal British Legion – after collecting charity donations since she was 4
RUBY SHEFFIELD may be just 11 years old, but she has already been collecting for the Royal British Legion for more than half her life.
The schoolgirl, whose dad Dan served as a soldier in Afghanistan and Iraq, began fundraising for our biggest veterans’ charity aged FOUR.
And she was at HMS President near London’s Tower Bridge yesterday to help launch this year’s Poppy Appeal, which aims to raise £50million for veterans and their families.
Ruby, from Shrewsbury, Shrops, has already collected well over £6,000 for the Legion.
She said: “Because my dad is a veteran, and he fought with the Royal Logistics Corps for eight years, driving all the big armoured vehicles, I decided to begin raising money.”
Ruby, with her father by her side, started out collecting glasses at her local pub to generate money for the Legion.
Proud war hero Dan, 38, joked: “It was a terrible job — someone had to be there supervising!”
Ruby then began selling poppy cards and coasters, offering them in local shopping centres all year round.
Two years ago, she became an official poppy seller and has since raised an impressive £6,237.
She said: “I want to be a vet for big animals when I grow up, but I am going to keep selling poppies for veterans.”
Dan added: “I’m immensely proud. It gives you hope for the next generation of servicemen and women that there are people out there that care — and at such a young age. It’s inspirational.”
Scan this QR code to donate
THE SUN has joined forces with the Royal British Legion so our readers can donate direct to this year’s Poppy Appeal by scanning the QR code, above.
Money raised during the annual appeal will help the RBL charity to continue its vital work supporting the Armed Forces community, past and present.