Veterans Connection: Mexborough

By Nigel Bovey

THE days when people remembered a Salvation Army cup of tea in the War are slipping by. One person who is determined not to forget those who served and died in the service of their country is Mexborough’s Berni Kilner.

Berni, who has managed the SatCoL shop since it opened in 2015, has been supporting the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal for as long as she can remember.

‘It’s something that is close to my heart,’ she says. ‘It’s personal. I have family members around the world who have served in the Armed Forces. Both of my grandfathers served in the Second World War – one in the Black Watch, the other in the Grenadier Guards. Thankfully, both of them came home but there were so many who didn’t.

Berni first became involved with The Salvation Army through volunteering at its charity shop in Conisbrough.

‘I went into retail straight from school,’ she recalls. ‘After a while, I worked in the care sector but had to stop because of a back injury. I started volunteering in the Salvation Army shop as a way of getting back into the community. I went back full time into retail and when the new Mexborough shop was looking for a manager, I applied and have been here ever since.’

One of the perks of being a manager is being able to organise the shop window display. In the weeks leading up to Remembrance Day, Berni is busy designing what she calls the ‘Armistice Window’. It is more than showing off winter wear and trilbies, it is a tribute to the fallen. Inside the store, customers are invited to accessorise with a British Legion poppy.

‘We have been doing this every year since we opened,’ says Berni. ‘Townsfolk have come to expect it and customers appreciate it.’

Part of the annual Armistice display includes copies of poetry penned by Berni.

‘Not many people write poems about war these days,’ she observes, ‘but it’s something to which I feel very connected. Last February, I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau. I purposely went in winter to get a deeper sense of the harsh conditions people endured.’

Back on the home front, Berni served three years as a British Legion poppy organiser, raising thousands of pounds a year. Last year, she calculates, she helped raised £14,000. Although she has handed that responsibility on, back in May she helped organise a VE-Day street party that saw 250 veterans and elderly citizens commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

For many people, being a shop manager would be enough, so why is Berni so involved with Remembrance Day?

‘Lest we forget,’ she says. ‘The cost of war should never be forgotten. War should never happen again.’