A high-flying fundraising hero has thanked Bexleyheath residents for their help in raising thousands of pounds for an air force charity over the past decade.
Pete Weston, aged 81, of Tavistock Road in Welling is chairman of the Bexleyheath and District Branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) and has helped the association raise around £3,000 a year through collections in the area.
The team which included cadets from the local squadrons made an appearance at Broadway Shopping Centre for the annual Battle of Britain commemoration on September 19 raising £700.
Mr Weston said: "Broadway Shopping Centre is definitely our best single collection point and we are very grateful for being able to set up our stall there at least twice a year thanks to the generosity of the centre management.
"We always go there to make collections on special occasions of significance to the military, such as Battle of Britain anniversaries, and we’re also kindly allowed to go back there whenever there are spare dates."
Mr Weston of Tavistock Road in Welling has been a stalwart of the charity for the past 30 years and also finds also plays a leading role with the local Air Cadet Corps.
The grandfather-of-four, who is originally from Deptford, joined the RAF Air Cadets in the late 1940s.
In 1954 he was called up for National Service with the RAF and became part of the ground crew working on the legendary Canberra bomber at British bases where he served in Gütersloh, West Germany, and Ismailia on the Suez Canal in Egypt.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here