The island has won the Poppy Appeal trophy for the 42nd time.

This honour is awarded to the area of Britain which raises the most for the Royal British Legion per head of population.

A total of £90,000 was raised in 2021, equating to more than £1 raised per person.

The trophy was presented to Hilary Cleverley, who organises the poppy appeal here and who accepted it on behalf of the Isle of Man. Organiser Major Charles Wilson said: ‘Collection is a year-long event, involving scores of volunteers setting up fundraising efforts and attending events across the island.

‘Support comes from all quarters; individual, corporate and organisations. “Poppy Fortnight” itself is a huge logistics problem; ordering, storing and distributing many thousands of poppies and other badges.

‘Lots of volunteers give up; cellars, garages, sheds and even front rooms.

‘Then come the days of box filling in which boxes large and small are packed for distribution around the island, closely followed by their collection. Automatic counting help from the banks has been a boon.’