MAY I, through your paper, express my grateful thanks to all the Tavistock residents and visitors who contributed to the Army Benevolent Fund's collection which was held in Tavistock on August 26.

A total of £894 was collected, which will help a significant number of needy souls.

May I offer my thanks to those who generously donated, and of course, to those willing volunteers who gave their time to make the collection possible, particularly as it was a pretty wet start to the Bank Holiday.

The Army Benevolent fund (ABF) is the Army's national charity. For over 60 years the charity has worked tirelessly to provide financial and practical support to soldiers, former soldiers and their families in times of need.

The people we support include those with disabilities or mental illness, people experiencing homelessness or unemployment, and older people. In the last two years there has been a 30% rise in applications from soldiers who have taken part in previous or current conflicts and we currently raise £7 million each year.

We hope to increase this to £14 million by 2015 to be sure we can help each and every soldier and their family who needs our support. We depend entirely on your donations and goodwill to do this.

Thank you all for your continuing support.

T E A Hawkins

Down Road

Tavistock