People from as far afield as the United States have helped a sailor from Camborne raise £4000 for the Royal British Legion.
Petty Officer Scott Falkiner has painted 200 individual watercolour/acrylic poppies, and to date has sold 112, with 88 left available. He discovered he could paint while recovering from a family trauma.
The poppy paintings have been bought by individuals from all over the country as well as overseas. A number of town councils have also been purchased a painting including Weymouth, Gosport, Helston, Falmouth Truro, Redruth and Torpoint.
Councillor Rachel Evans BEM, Mayor of Torpoint, said: “I was honoured to meet PO Falkiner to receive, on behalf of the Town Council, one of his poppy art creations. I have been following his story and am delighted the Council is able to purchase one for Torpoint. As a service town we are immensely proud of our ties with the Armed Forces and by purchasing this piece, we show our support for PO Falkiner, the men and women of our Armed Forces and the Royal British Legion who he is raising money for. The art piece will have pride of place in the Council Chambers for all to enjoy and take a moment to reflect.”
PO Falkiner has been painting for just over a year. He discovered his talent during an art therapy session at Tedworth House; a facility, which at the time was run by Help for Heroes, where he spent a week as part of his recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder.
He said: “There were complications with the birth of my son and I nearly lost him and my wife. We were told that Arthur had suffered brain damage and doctors couldn’t say how it would affect him long-term. I just shut myself off from everything and pretty quickly I realised I needed help. I found art really helped me zone out from my problems and I’ve been painting ever since.”
Nearly two years on, PO Falkiner is working as a drill instructor at HMS Raleigh and his wife, Elodie, and Arthur are both doing well. Arthur, to the amazement of his doctor and physiotherapist, has defied expectation and is walking and talking, ticking all the boxes for a child his age.
PO Falkiner, aged 31, said: “I’m grateful to everyone who has bought one of my paintings. The Royal British Legion are a fantastic charity, providing assistance to those in need from the Service and veteran community. With this being the 100th anniversary of the poppy appeal, I wanted to do something to mark that anniversary and raise as much money as I can for this really worthy cause.”
If you would like to help Scott’s fund-raising campaign for the Royal British Legion and purchase one of his paintings then email: [email protected]. Also stay up to date with progress through his Instagram page 'S.F_Artwork'.
