Port Glasgow poppy appeal organiser praises 'generous' town

Kitty Ramsay has run the annual collection for 32 years, having started selling poppies when she owned Ramsay’s Newsagents in the town with her husband Ronald.

The 81-year-old, who was raised on Wallace Street and attended Clune Park Primary School, has spent countless hours fundraising for the worthy cause, as well as other local charities such as Ardgowan Hospice and the Erskine Veterans Charity.

Growing up in the aftermath of the Second World War, Kitty says she was always aware of the terrible impact it had on the local area and its people.

But the lasting damage that conflict had dealt to those who took part was driven home to her many years later.

She explained: “I’d always helped different charities, but I’d been in Canada for a few years and when I came home I joined the young mothers group at the local church.

“We always collected for different charities every year and one of the years it was the Erskine Veterans Hospital.

“We took the donations up and they told us while it was very kind of us to come up they couldn’t introduce us to any of the patients.

“Some of them were not mentally alright because of their experiences in the First World War and the second.

“It struck me then that it was such a shame and that we really should be doing more.”

It was after this that the grandmother-of-four became involved with Poppy Scotland, following a chance conversation with the previous Port Glasgow co-ordinator, Netta Lang, who was a customer at her and her husband’s shop.

Kitty said: “It took us about a week to count the pennies and small change back in those days.

“Only in the last five years have we been allowed to use the big counting machine in the Royal Bank Of Scotland in Cathcart Street. The first time we used it I could not believe how fast it counted!

“Working with Netta gave me the idea that I could maybe help more, and I was able to take a few hours off from the shop to help her.”

However, Netta sadly passed away, leaving Port Glasgow without a Poppy Scotland co-ordinator. When Kitty rang the charity to find out who would be stepping in, she was offered the job.

Using the routes she had learned from working with Netta, Kitty was able to grow the Poppy Scotland appeal, with more and more collection tins being put out every year.

Today the Port appeal brings in several thousand pounds every year and more than a hundred collection tins are distributed.

Kitty credits her mother and father for imparting a sense of community spirit on her and says that the lessons she learned from growing up with them after the war in Port Glasgow have stuck with her all of her life.

She said: “Nobody had a lot of money, everything people had they shared and they all helped each other out. It was very much a community where everyone looked after each other. You miss that these days.

“Port Glasgow has always been a generous town, that’s what I’ve found with the Poppy Appeal.

“The connection I have to Port Glasgow is very special, I might be living in Greenock now but I’m still a Portonian.

“The appeal has just grown and grown over the years, and it’s been incredible.

“We have to remember and be thankful to these people for what they did on our behalf, if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have our freedom.”

In 2022, Kitty was presented with Poppy Scotland’s highest honour, the President’s Award, to commemorate her years of dedicated service to the organisation and her work was also highlighted in Holyrood.

The volunteer, who was also an avid curler and skier in her younger years, said she was thrilled to receive the honour.

Despite the accolades, the humble mother-of-two told the Telegraph that she couldn’t have done it without the support of her friends, family and the people of the Port.

She added: “Without Ronald, the staff at the shop and my friends Andrew, Donna, Margaret and Morag helping me with collections I could never have done it.

“I’ve always had great support and the people around Port Glasgow have been so generous.”