Anzac Appeal to sell pre-recorded minute of silence as part of fundraising efforts

Updated

Fundraising for this year's Anzac Appeal has taken a new twist with a pre-recorded minute of silence up for sale.

The Minute of Silence is a pre-recorded 60 seconds of silence that can be purchased for $2.26 via a phone and text service.

It was recorded by more than 80 serving and former Australian Defence Force members and their families from conflicts including Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea and Vietnam.

The president of the Returned and Services League WA branch, Graham Edwards, concedes it took him a while to get used to the idea when it was first raised.

"I was a bit dubious, a bit doubtful, but the more I've looked at it and the more I've seen the enthusiasm at which this is being picked up nationally and talking to younger people who thought it was a good idea, you know I felt that Western Australia couldn't miss out," he said.

Mr Edwards says with an ageing membership it is harder to get veterans out on the streets fundraising in the traditional way.

"We saw the dreadful circumstance where a veteran in his 90s had his poppy tin stolen and that unfortunately appears to be a sign of the times," he said.

"These are the sorts of reasons why we have to be more innovative."

Mr Edwards says traditional fundraising methods such as the sale of ANZAC badges on the streets will also continue.

Topics: charities-and-community-organisations, anzac-day, world-war-1, veterans, defence-and-national-security, community-and-society, charities, perth-6000, wa

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