A LONG-STANDING supporter of the Royal British Legion in Brentwood has been honoured for her 65 years of service.
Mary Kenyon, who served as a code breaker during the Second World War, collects regularly for the charity in Shenfield High Street.
To date, the 90-year-old has raised around £13,000 for the RBL since she started collecting at the age of 12 with her mother.
Other than a brief hiatus when she helped to crack Nazi codes at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire, she has now accrued the best part of 60 years' unbroken service to the charity.
Mrs Kenyon, of Church Lane, Hutton was one of 24 Poppy Appeal collectors from the Brentwood branch to be honoured for their services at an awards ceremony held on April 9 at The RBL Youth Band Hall in The Drive, Warley.
Collectively, members of the Brentwood branch have raise more than £44,000 since September.
Mrs Kenyon, who spent two years at Bletchley Park from the age of 20, said: "I started collecting when I was 12 when I went out with my mother.
"I had a break during the war and I have been doing it for a long time ever since.
"My son was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Army and my father was in the Royal Navy so really I am just doing my duty."
She added: "All you have to do is stand in the street and smile.
"Once one chap came back to put some money in the tin and said he'd done so because I'd looked humble and expectant – so maybe that's the secret."
Mrs Kenyon admitted to being "very embarrassed" when she received a standing ovation at last week's awards ceremony.
As for the future, she said: "I'll carry on. I don't see how I can stop it now."
Eunice Woolmore, the secretary of the Brentwood branch, paid tribute to Mrs Kenyon, along with the other volunteers.
"Mary has done fantastic work for us," Mrs Woolmore said.
"She thinks nothing of it but she got a standing ovation when it was announced that she has been collecting for the Royal British Legion for 65. People just could not believe it."
She added: "The charity is a lifetime for some people and all the volunteers are so important to us.
"Without them the amount of money we raise wouldn't be nearly as much as we currently collect."
