£1,000 Royal British Legion donation to celebrate war veteran’s 100th birthday
We love a celebration and on Tuesday 29th October 2019, our very own Judy Potter presented 100-year-old guest Emlyn Jones with a cheque for £1,000 for the Royal British Legion on behalf of the Potters Friends Foundation.
Emlyn Jones, known as ‘Len’, turned 100 last week and has been celebrating his birthday with 23 of his closest friends and family at Potters Resort.
As well as a card from the Queen to celebrate the special occasion, Judy Potter presented him with a card at a drinks reception we held in his honour. After speaking with Judy about serving in the military for six and a half years and how he is president of the Eltham & Wellhall Royal British Legion branch, Judy wanted to celebrate Len’s birthday with a donation to a cause that he is so passionate about.
Judy Potter said: “When I heard that Len was celebrating his 100th birthday, the same anniversary that Potters is celebrating next year, I wanted to be involved in the celebrations. It has been a real pleasure spending time with Len, hearing his tales from the war, and seeing his military medals. Emlyn served in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Egypt during the Second World War, and is an absolute hero. Many congratulations to Len on his special birthday and it was wonderful to see his amazing reaction to the donation for the Royal British Legion, a donation we have made in his honour and a charity that we are really passionate about.”
Emlyn first stayed at Potters Resort in 1958 and has had many surprises on his special Potters break, with family members from New Zealand even making a surprise appearance and this donation.
Len Jones said: “Potters holds so many special memories for me and my family, and I have had a wonderful time celebrating at Potters this week. I was overwhelmed by the kind donation by Potters Friends Foundation to my branch of the Royal British Legion and all our volunteers will be absolutely blown away when I tell them about it. I will be back at Potters next year to help Potters celebrate its centenary year.”
From all the team, Happy 100th Birthday Len!
The Royal British Legion supports our Armed Forces and is the country’s largest Armed Forces charity, with 235,000 members, 110,000 volunteers and a network of partners and charities. It provides lifelong support to serving and ex-serving personnel and their families, from providing expert advice and guidance, to recover and rehabilitation, through to transitioning to civilian life.