The selfless hard work of a small group of volunteers dedicated to helping the RAF family in north Powys and further afield has thanked people for their generous donations during the cost of living crisis.

Between four members of Montgomeryshire's only Royal Air Force Association branch, which is based in Llanidloes, they helped raise £737.30 from holding buckets in the street and at supermarket during the lead-up to Battle of Britain Sunday (September 18).

The Wings Appeal is the RAF Association’s on-going fundraising campaign that runs throughout the year. It is the fundraising arm of the Association and helps raise the vital funds needed to support serving and ex-RAF personnel and their families.

Caryl Williams, Llanidloes branch secretary, said: "Everybody is struggling at the moment with the cost of living and we are very grateful for what we’ve made. People have been very generous."

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Money raised from the collections held in Llanidloes and Newtown will go on to make a difference to RAF servicemen and women through the Wings Appeal.

"Over the pandemic they recruited volunteers to speak to veterans who were lonely and stuck at home and they organised food parcels so its charity that is for people who have served in the air force and their families.

"If anybody said they want help then we would put a case together and if they need a grant to buy a washing machine or help with debts, or anything. The other thing that the RAFA does is storybook. If we’ve got airmen serving overseas, they can record a story for their children and that then can be played for the children at home so they think their mother or father is reading them a story."

The branch has noticed that it no longer has the man power that it used to have before the coronavirus pandemic and is asking for people to come and join them to help help make a difference.

This year marked the 82nd anniversary of the remarkable victory by Royal Air Force pilots and aircrew during the Battle of Britain in 1940. This was the first decisive battle in history fought entirely in the air, and was a dramatic turning point in the Second World War. When the battle was over, 544 RAF pilots and aircrew had sadly lost their lives.