An army of collectors took up posts at their railway stations including Marylebone station in a bid to raise a staggering £500,000 for London Poppy Day – its most ambitious target yet.

The money raised today will go towards the 2011 Poppy Appeal fundraising target of £40 million, which in turn will fund The Royal British Legion’s £50 million commitment towards the Battle Back Centre, a national centre of excellence for adaptive sports and adventurous training, and the operating costs of four Personnel Recovery Centres. These will help sick or injured Service personnel recover and either return to duty, or reskill and make a successful transition to civilian life.

This year alone the Legion will spend more than £72 million providing assistance to over 160,000 serving and ex-Serving Armed Forces personnel and their families. This equates to £200,000 a day or £1.4 million a week delivering vital welfare work.

Rob Brighouse, Managing Director of Chiltern Railways said: “We are delighted to be supporting London Poppy Day today and urge people to donate whatever they can to help support this worthwhile charity.” 

Russell Thompson OBE, the Director of National Events and Fundraising added: “The 2011 Poppy Appeal is about standing shoulder to shoulder with our brave Armed Forces. Supporters are the lifeblood of our fundraising efforts so it is fantastic to see so many people get behind London Poppy Day.”

City.Mobi

Also in Europe today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to London.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

London.mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.