Former Staffordshire firefighter raises funds for the Royal British Legion

The initial idea of designing a metal badge proved to be a success so the following year he resolved to do it again but with a new design of a poppy applicable to his local area, incorporating a bottle kiln, which was once again a success.

The following year he added the Staffordshire Knot and the Spitfire to the collection; the design of the Spitfire was inspired by the one currently on display in Hanley Museum.

The inspired inclusion of the Spitfire reflects on the leadership of the design team by Staffordshire-born Reginald Mitchell.

The demand of the poppies each year increased, so Kelvin realised he needed to expand the number and variety of outlets, so he approached local businesses, pubs and shops to stock them.

The next design was the pit head wheel, the design based on a pit head wheel structure. Little did Kelvin realise at this point what the extent of interest would be from the mining community.

Enquiries and order came from miners living all over the world, to whom the appeal of wanting one or more badges was the link between the poppy and their job, and additionally that every purchase helped the great work undertaken by the Royal British Legion.

​Future years saw new designs being added; a Staffordshire teapot, the ‘Stokie’ duck, a miner’s lamp, and the Stoke-on-Trent city crest.

The greatest response was for a very intricate design of a duck on a pond in front of a bottle kiln with a Spitfire flying overhead - a design so popular that 1,000 were sold in 48 hours.

Last year the sale of the poppies enabled Kelvin and Rob Barber, Chief Fire Officer, who has been very supportive in this fundraising activity, to present a cheque for just under £14,500 to M. Andrew Elson, the chair for one of Royal British Legion branches.

The sale of the poppy badges this year has once again already proved to be very popular. Kelvin has nearly 50 outlets selling them throughout Staffordshire.

​Kelvin lives in the lovely community village of Bignall End and local shops, pubs and petrol stations have embraced his vision and agreed to stock the poppies.

The designs for 2024 have proved to be extremely popular and now the great poppy hunt is under way as people want to collect all ten designs, so they are hunting down the designs they are short of to make up a full set.

Thousands of these poppies have been sold this year already so it will be very interesting to see exactly how much money has been raised at the end of the selling period, which will be November 11.

Kelvin will not be resting on his laurels, he is already he is working on new designs and ideas for 2025.

These will be kept under wraps until they are produced but he is excited about these designs and he is confident that the final results will be stunning, and he hopes sales will be even greater than this year.

Kelvin joined the fire service in September 1972 and retired in September 2022 after completing 50 years of service.

He has served at the majority of the fire stations in Staffordshire as well as being an instructor at the training school.

He finished his career as a fire safety officer.

During his career he has always been active in raising money for charity and estimates he has provided in excess of £500,000 for numerous charities.

Kelvin set up the ‘Stokie’ Christmas market which ran for five years; this event raised thousands of pounds for local charities.

It all started as a one-off charity fundraiser idea of a joint poppy and fire service badges, and Kelvin now reflects on how busy he is since he has retired.

Expanding the network of outlets and working on new designs, he commented: “The reactions and comments about the designs are very encouraging.

"It’s all for a good cause, with all of the profits going to the Royal British Legion to support its projects in Staffordshire.”

Anyone interested in purchasing the badges or in stocking and selling them in the future can contact Kelvin at k.chell@staffordshirefire.gov.uk.