JCB backhoe loader poppy badge raises £12,500 for Royal British Legion

JCB has handed £12,500 to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal after a pin badge featuring one of its backhoe loaders sold out at all 11 of the manufacturer's UK factories in the run-up to Armistice Day, according to an announcement published by dealer Watling JCB.

The badge was designed by Kelvin Chell, a retired Staffordshire firefighter who has produced a series of themed poppy badges for the charity. The announcement said the campaign raised more than £11,400, and JCB topped the total up to £12,500.

According to the Watling JCB page, employees bought all 2,400 badges offered at JCB's plants within days of them going on sale. Chell sold a further 850 through local shops and online, with orders from the United States, Canada, Ireland and the Orkney Islands.

Kelvin Chell, retired Staffordshire firefighter and badge designer, said: "I have had orders from all over the world and we could definitely have sold more."

How the badge came about

The announcement said Chell approached JCB after hearing it was marking its 80th anniversary last year. Once JCB had approved the design, the company and its Fenton-based supplier Rayne Engineering jointly helped fund production.

When JCB announced the badge in July 2026, it said the two companies were funding a run of 1,300 badges. The November announcement puts the number sold at 2,400 through JCB employees and 850 through Chell's own channels.

Sales channel	Badges sold
JCB employees at UK plants	2,400
Chell, via shops and online	850

Adam Fraser-Hitchen DL, JCB Head of Defence and a former Army Brigadier, handed over the money at JCB World Headquarters in Rocester. He said: "As a company we hold the UK's Armed Forces in high regard and we employ many veterans."

Annemarie Jones, Regional Poppy Appeal Manager for the Northeast and Northwest Midlands, said the initiative had raised important funds for the armed services community.

Chell's fundraising record

The announcement said the badge has taken Chell's fundraising for the Royal British Legion past £150,000 over the last six years, and that he has produced 39 different themed poppy badges.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said in October 2026 that Chell had raised more than £140,000 in six years through custom enamel badges, including £50,000 in 2025 alone, and that his 2026 Staffordshire collection of 15 new designs took the total to 38. The service described the JCB badge as a bespoke addition to this year's range.

In December 2025 the fire service reported that Chell's 2025 campaign had finished at £50,007, taking his running total to £121,900 over four years. His customised Staffordshire poppies, which have included the Staffordshire Knot, Potteries bottle kilns and the Spitfire, were first made in 2020.

Chell joined Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service in September 1972. The service said he has raised more than £500,000 throughout his career for causes including the Air Ambulance and the Royal British Legion, and he received the 2022 Uniformed Heroes award.

JCB and the Poppy Appeal

The announcement said the badge continued JCB's support for the Royal British Legion, which included a poppy-themed machine auctioned for the charity in 2018 to mark the centenary of the Armistice.

The announcement was carried by Watling JCB, a dealer founded in 1976 that describes itself as one of the largest sole JCB franchises in the world. It operates from nine UK depots with its head office in Leicester.

The Royal British Legion says the Poppy Appeal raised £56.6m in 2025, with 32 million poppies distributed. The 2026 appeal launched nationally on 22 October, with Armistice Day on 11 November.