Promoting the Purple Poppy Campaign
The Purple Poppy Campaign pays tribute to animals lost in service, and to those who serve us today. Find out more about the campaign below.
Promoting the Purple Poppy Campaign
For a little while, I’ve been volunteering for Murphy’s Army, an animal charity. In 2016 we decided to launch our Purple Poppy Campaign. We knew about the purple poppy as a symbol of remembrance for animals but our research showed that very few other people were aware of it and certainly no one at that time was promoting it.
Britain alone conscripted over one million horses during the First World War, of which only some sixty thousand returned. Dogs, cats and pigeons played their part too – Gustav the pigeon flew 50 miles to bring the first news of the Normandy landings to the British mainland on the 6th June 1944. The stories of these animals’ bravery and loyalty are incredible and didn’t end following the Great Wars. Horses and Dogs play a very important part in keeping us safe today, working alongside our Emergency services, our Armed Forces, in prisons, as support dogs and in so many more service roles. We felt it was important that they should all be remembered too, and so our campaign began.
Seven years later we are extremely proud that our efforts have raised significant awareness of the meaning of the purple poppy, and that many more are now being worn with pride. It has finally been given its rightful recognition, ensuring that the animals who served, and continue to serve, alongside their human counterparts are not forgotten.
We are also proud to have raised over £100,000 which has helped former service animals in their retirement and provided 100 pet oxygen masks to Fire Services across the UK, and 250 much welcomed cooling coats to service dogs.
Looking back, it’s hard to believe that a simple idea, put forward at a very small volunteer meeting, should have had such a great impact. But it has, and the pride of our achievements and knowing that the animals are finally being remembered really is immense.