Mike Henderson, Oxfordshire's Royal British Legion chairman, is a man on a mission to help service personnel.

As he started his annual rounds dropping off poppy appeal boxes, he told the Oxford Mail: "I'm like most members in Oxfordshire — if you cut me in half, I would have Royal British Legion tattooed right through me, like a stick of rock".

He added: "It's all about welfare. These people are coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq and they need help and there are things the Government can't do, or won't do. We fill that gap.

"We provide servicemen and their dependants with whatever they need, whether it's a mobility scooter, helping with debt or just somebody wanting a fridge."

The former RAF mechanic, 62, dropped off boxes at the King's Centre, in Osney Mead, West Oxford Community Centre, Ministry of Defence offices in Oxpens Road, and at Oxford Crown Court on Monday.

He said: "Friday was my main day. I dropped off about 50 in the city centre, then another 25 to 30 on Saturday."

King's Centre manager Matt Biddlecombe said: "We're quite quiet at the moment, but I'm sure most of the staff will buy one. Every penny helps."

Nigel Hobbs, a security guard at Oxford Crown Court, said: "All the barristers, solicitors and judges like to wear poppies."

Mr Henderson, a caretaker at Oxford University's Brasenose and St Cross Colleges, said the court always raised a good amount.

He said: "They're always very close to the £200 mark. They've never actually broken it, but it's always close."

As well as half-days "here and there", Mr Henderson — a Poppy Appeal organiser in Oxford for more than 15 years — takes a full week off work every year to sell poppies on the streets of Oxford.

He said: "It works out more than that with bits and pieces. On average I spend one in three evenings on RBL business. It's definitely a full-time hobby."

But it is an activity from which he, like thousands of other volunteers in the county, gets a great deal of satisfaction.

Mr Henderson said: "Last year we helped raise just over £30m — that's a lot of satisfaction. A lot can be done with that money. But we need more.

"It used to be mainly National Service and Second World War veterans we looked after — now it's younger people. They're going to have to be taken care of, in some cases, for the rest of their lives."

More than 50 distributors, representing dozens of RBL branches in Oxfordshire, have been dropping off poppy boxes at pubs, restaurants, shops and community centres throughout the county since last Thursday, when the appeal was officially launched at St Edward's School in Oxford.

The real fundraising begins on Saturday, when thousands of RBL volunteers take to the streets.

Backed by the Oxford Mail, Oxfordshire Royal British Legion aims to beat the £611,089 raised in the county last year.