Veteran raises over £2k selling poppies on trains

Royal Engineers veteran Denis Scaife, 74, paused at the King's Cross station war memorial

A veteran of the Corps of the Royal Engineers said he was "over the moon" to have raised more than £2,000 in his 10th year of selling poppies on a train.

Denis Scaife, 74, and his wife Barbara Scaife, 75, embarked on a train journey of more than 500 miles (800km) in one day, to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

He started on Hull Trains' Poppy Express from Retford to King's Cross in London, followed by a Lumo service from King's Cross to Edinburgh's Waverley Station, hoping to raise a record amount of money.

"We are so very well received. It's fantastic and we meet such lovely people. We even met a three-month-old pussycat on Friday. I couldn't believe that," Mr Scaife said.

Mr Scaife sold poppies as he travelled more than 500 miles on trains

Mr Scaife, who lives in Reford, began fundraising on trains 10 years ago.

This year's journey included a pause to pay respects at King's Cross station's war memorial, dedicated to the railway workers who died in both world wars.

"This is a fabulous memorial," said Mr Scaife with one hand on the illuminated names, "particularly to the railway men who weren't actually involved in the war but were killed working for the war effort."

Mr Scaife was stationed in Northern Ireland and regularly suffers from post- traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

"It's sometimes a battle," he said.

"Sometimes it makes me tearful. We've all got different reasons for having PTSD. There is no one particular cause. It's just one of the things we have to get through in life."

Denis and Barbara Scaife have been married for 55 years

Mrs Scaife said she loved meeting people on the train.

"The children love it because we usually give them a ruler that wraps around the wrist and they think it's absolutely fantastic so it's brilliant," she said.

After an appeal was made on social media for knitted poppies, Mrs Scaife said they received more than 3,000 of them.

"We can't get in our bedroom for them," she said.

Mr Scaife gave a speech to passengers as he made his way down the train.

"If you'd like a poppy, please stop us and buy one, as we say to the ice cream man. We take cash, we take card, we don't take ex-husbands or wives," he said.

Helen Ackroyd (left) celebrated her 60th birthday on the train with her friend Liz Turner

Mr Scaife sang Happy Birthday to Helen Ackroyd, who was celebrating her 60th birthday on the train, heading to London with friends to see a show and have a drink, "or three".

"They're a lovely couple doing all this for charity and they've got the right attitude for it. I'm sure they'll raise lots of money," Ms Ackroyd said.

When they reached London, Mr Scaife had collected more than £400 on the card reader and had a "heavy" pot of cash. .

The two-day journey raised a total of £2,548.17.

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