TWENTY years of enthusiastic support for the Poppy Appeal have earned an accolade for a Chobham collector.

Sharon Smith has received a certificate and a special poppy badge from the Royal British Legion thanking her for two decades of service.

Sharon, 58, collects around the Brick Hill community in Chobham – making sure every home contributes to the annual appeal.

“I always go back, sometimes more than once, if there’s no-one in when I call,” she said. “I try to make sure everyone buys poppies. Most years, I collect around £100 so there are some generous people here.

Her certificate was awarded by Simon O’Leary, assistant director of fundraising for the national Poppy Appeal.

It recognises “20 years of outstanding service, helping to make an incredible difference to a great many lives”.

Sharon, who lives at Brick Hill on the edge of Chobham Common with parents John and Mavis and brother Leslie, took over the round from Joan Weymouth, who had been the local collector for many years.

Chobham Poppy Appeal organiser Major John Grugan commented: “The appeal is a big part of Sharon’s life and she looks forward to it greatly every year. We are always grateful for her sterling efforts and the excellent amount of money she collects.”

The Chobham Remembrance Sunday commemoration will be held on Sunday afternoon (November 12).

The traditional parade assembles in the village car park at 2.45pm and leaves shortly after to march to St Lawrence Church for a service and the reading of the names of villagers who died in the two world wars.

The parade then returns down High Street to the village war memorial for the laying of poppy wreaths and an act of remembrance that includes the recitation of The Exhortation, the sounding of The Last Post bugle call, a two-minute silence, the sound of Reveille and the recitation of The Kohima Epitaph.

“Everyone is welcome to come to the church hall for refreshments after the commemoration,” said Major Grugan.