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 24.

A total of £903 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 thoroughly wet start to the Bank Holiday.

The soldiers' charity (ABF) has been the Army's national charity for over 68 years and provides lifetime support to serving and retired soldiers and their families.

The charity has seen a 30% rise over the past two years in applications from soldiers who have taken part in previous and current conflicts and the charity currently raise £7-million a year to meet this need.

As a result of current operations it is anticipated that the requests for assistance will rise significantly in the coming years.

It is the aim of the soldiers' charity to increase fundraising to £14-million a year by 2015 to be sure that we can help each and every soldier that needs our help.

We depend entirely on your donations and goodwill to do this.

T E A Hawkins

Tavistock