RHYL residents raised an ‘unbelievable’ £42,000 in this year’s Poppy Appeal and more than £48,500 for the Royal British Legion (RBL) throughout 2021.

Richard Kendrick, a fundraiser for the RBL, said the figures far surpassed his expectations, not least because of the fact that it happened in a year when the world was enduring the COVID-19 pandemic.

This week, the mayor of Rhyl, Councillor Diane King, and her consort visited Ysgol Llewelyn, which raised £916 for the cause and was one of several schools to receive certificates following their contributions.

Richard said: “I'm astonished by the amount Rhyl has raised, since we are dealing with COVID and a cashless society. The people and children of Rhyl are amazing.

“It is well up on what I thought. Because of COVID, people aren’t carrying cash and I thought we would struggle, but to get this amount was fantastic.

“Theoretically, we are one of the poorest towns in the UK, never mind Wales, yet when it comes to the Poppy Appeal, we raised so much money. It is unbelievable.

“I have done 88 towns in North Wales, and there is no town as generous as Rhyl.”

Of this year’s events in aid of the RBL, Richard said this year’s Armistice Day commemorations stood out to him, as people of all ages came together at the town’s Memorial Gardens earlier this month in memory of fallen British troops.

He added: “Armistice Day was just the best because all of the kids came to the memorial gardens. We had young kids there, a 90-year-old veteran, a widow… I have never had such good feedback.

“So many people enjoyed it. It just shows how good the children are in Rhyl; that’s why we raise so much money.”

Richard is also leading two fundraising campaigns in December; one in aid of the North Wales Superkids charity, and the other to support the food bank at the ASK Centre in Rhyl.

On Saturday, December 11, a Santa charity pub crawl in aid of Superkids, a charity supporting impoverished families, will see Richard, dressed as a teddy bear, and others go to pubs and shops in Rhyl appealing for donations.

Richard, who will be dressed in his Rhyl charity bear costume for the event, said: “It’s fun; we do it every year.

“We go around pubs and shops in Rhyl collecting money in buckets; we have toy donation points in Wilko, Six Bells, Morrisons and White Rose shopping centre for Rhyl, plus others in each town across North Wales.

“In 2020, over 3,000 children were helped and over 30,000 toys donated by Superkids.”

And on December 14, the Rhyl Charity Bear will be back again at Morrison’s Rhyl to support the food bank at the ASK Centre.

Richard added: “We are challenging people to fill two trolleys of food up for the ASK Centre’s food bank.

“He (the bear) will be there with Tracey Jaycock, the Morrison’s Rhyl Community Champion, from 10am until 4pm, and for pictures with children and donations of food.”