Singing Farmer’s VE Day fundraiser

He’s been cheering us up throughout the pandemic of the past few months, but now Singing Farmer John Hughes has teamed up with two familiar faces to raise money for The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal.

With concern that Covid-19 will impact the normal collections, John has penned a moving new song with twin brothers Mark and Ian Jones, from Llanfyllin, who play with him in the band Storm.

They are both veterans themselves having served in the Royal Observers Corps, and Mark’s son is a Major in the Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

“My dad sold poppies round Trefnanney and was known as Poppy Man!" said John. “Which is possibly a better name than the Singing Farmer!”

The lockdown has stopped the lads recording the song Verrières Ridge together in person, but they have completed a brilliant and well-polished e-version, complete with a donation button, on John’s Facebook page. It has also been posted to the The Royal British Legion page.

“We wanted to do something this year to raise awareness of The Royal British Legion poppy appeal, especially the current impact that COVID-19 will have had on poppy sales,” added Mark.

“Our song is called Verrières Ridge is written by John (vocals/guitar), with my twin bro, Ian (vocals), and myself adding guitar and vocals."

You can view the video on the Singing Farmer’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/john.hughes.73