00:00My name is Tom Smith. I'm the Poppy Appeal Manager for Leeds. The theme this year for the Poppy Appeal is the
00:07psychological impact on our armed forces.
00:10We're given very good protection such as body armour,
00:15helmets etc, but nothing really can protect the mind and that could be PTSD which is
00:21to a specific incident or general
00:25mental health such as depression,
00:28anxiety etc. I served for 32 years and I've had depression and anxiety myself.
00:35It's an honour. I feel very privileged to have been invited to take part in this launch of the Poppy Appeal in Leeds.
00:43There's only been one year when a
00:47serviceman or woman has not been killed since the Second World War.
00:51So it's just vitally important. This work is continued by the Royal British Legion.
00:59People forget that the Poppy Appeal is
01:02all year round.
01:04They think it happens in two weeks in November and that's the end of it.
01:07We have the march at the Cenotaph in London and locally around the country and that's the end of the Poppy Appeal.
01:13But it isn't. It's something that's necessary
01:16throughout the year and the work of the British Legion is
01:20so, so important.
01:22Remembrance. We remember everybody from the Great War, World War Two, the Falklands and more
01:28recently Iraq and Afghanistan, but from any conflict. And I always like to remember
01:34anybody I served with who died in service. Not necessarily in battle, but in service and our veterans who have
01:43taken their own lives as well.
01:46So it is very poignant and that's what I go through in that two-minute silence
01:51on Remembrance Sunday and on Armistice Day as I go through in my mind all the good, good friends that I've lost.
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