WAR veterans will be taking to the streets of Bolton from today for the start of a full week's fund-raising as the annual Royal British Legion (RBL) Poppy Appeal gets underway.

Last year the national campaign netted more than £2m countrywide -- £9,000 of which was raised in Bolton alone.

Secretary of Bolton's RBL Bob Longworth said they were hoping to top that figure this year and urged everyone to support the cause.

"We have already distributed poppies to more than 30 schools in Bolton and on Monday we will be taking them to the shops and businesses as well as outside the town hall," said Mr Longworth.

"At the end of the week we will have a caravan in the town hall square and people will be given the chance to lay wreaths and crosses at the war memorial." The RBL appeal supports both ex-service people and their families and dependants. In total they help more than 15 million people affected by conflicts from the First World War through to Bosnia, The Gulf and Northern Ireland. Help ranges from counselling to job re-training, helping with war pensions, loans and small business advice.

Mr Longworth said: "It is a very worthy cause and any money we raise locally will go straight to the national fund to help ex-service people."

The next big date in the legion's calendar will be the Armistice Day commemorations in November.

This year the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month which heralded the cessation of fighting in World War One falls on a Saturday.

But Mr Longworth said the Armistice Day remembrance parade will take place on the Sunday. The RBL has been campaigning to have the silence nationally recognised again since 1995 and this year they expect more than 45m people to fall silent in honour of those that fell.

Mr Longworth said: "It is still as important today to recognise those who lost their lives as it has ever been and we always get a good response from the people of Bolton.

"We know some people cannot just break off from what they are doing and fall silent for two minutes but the vast majority of people support this and it is time it was reinstated as a national event."