Simon Weston's poppy appeal.

Very few people linked to the armed forces reach the age of 30 without being touched by some form of tragedy. Today Simon Weston reflects on the suffering that a close friend or relative's death will have on those remaining. When a member of the British armed forces age or retires these veterans start to lose their support networks.

Simon explains that the British Legion is the largest private employer of disabled people, filling that much needed support gap. He visits Devonport High School for Boys, which was once Stoke Military Hospital, helping to gain support for this year's Poppy Appeal. Several pupils explain their thoughts on the necessity of such an appeal. The Lord Mayor of Plymouth has accepted Simon's challenge to improve on last year's appeal total of £28,000, with the funds likely to be put into two new residential homes for the British Legion in the South West.

Simon Weston was only 20 years old when deployed to the Falklands. His ship, Sir Galahad, was bombed and set on fire. 22 of Simon's 30-man platoon were killed. Simon was lucky to survive, but he suffered 46% burns to his face and body, and had to endure over 96 major surgical procedures.

Initially, he found himself drinking heavily and becoming suicidal. However, he came out the other side and turned his life around. He became a patron of a number of charities that support people living with disfigurements. He became the lead ambassador for The Healing Foundation and set up a national youth charity called Weston Spirit in 1988.