Bridlington Poppy seller Denis Scaife is celebrating raising a record £38,000 with the Poppy Express.
Denis began the fundraising project ten years ago with his wife, Barbara. It has since grown into an institution, with 15 volunteers travelling on East Coast Main Line services every year to raise money for the Royal British Legion.
Denis has updated the Echo with further good news of a huge donation:
“We has received a further donation of £12.300 on top of the £25,700 recently announced.
“That’s takes us the £38,000!! Wow!
This has come from an Instagram group run by a man called Corky. He has done a tremendous job in raising this amount of money through his followers.“
This year’s record total is £22,000 more than the amount raised in 2024.
In October, 74-year-old Denis and Barbara undertook a poppy-selling marathon that saw them fundraising onboard Lumo and Hull Trains services from Retford to London King’s Cross, followed by Newcastle and Edinburgh, before travelling all the way back again within just two days.
During the challenge, the husband-and-wife team attended a special Scottish Poppy Appeal reception at Holyrood in Edinburgh, where they heard about Poppyscotland’s vital work with the Armed Forces and met fellow fundraisers.
Denis, a former Non-Commissioned Officer (sapper) with the Corps of Royal Engineers, said:
“Wow. I’m blown away by our final total for the Poppy Express this year and genuinely can’t believe we’ve raised so much money. The generosity of customers never fails to amaze us, with people kindly donating whatever they can as they travel.
“We marked our tenth anniversary this year with a very special poppy-selling marathon with our friends at Lumo and Hull Trains. I’d like to thank all the rail operators who kindly welcome us on board every year, along with their customers who always show real kindness and support for us. Of course, we couldn’t do any of this without our amazing team of volunteers, many of whom are veterans themselves. This money will go to incredibly important causes.”
The mammoth poppy-selling marathon has travelled far and wide, even catching the attention of content creator Corky who has started his own fundraising campaign for the pair, which had raised over £12,000 in addition to the amount collected onboard.
Denis was supported by 15 other fundraisers during the appeal, and he thanked them all for their assistance.
