The news comes after a special consideration was made to the state’s temporary fundraising ban.  

The city’s RSL sub-branch confirmed badges and other iconic Remembrance Day items would be on sale at the Marketplace and South City from November 5 this year.

The charity’s acting president Richard Salcole said the move was a “once off” that would give the organisation a financial boost to support its ex-servicemen and women. 

While previous fundraisers have provided the Wagga branch with close to $30,000, this year’s efforts are expected to reap much less. 

Despite the loss, Mr Salcole said any assistance was better than nothing. 

“We’re hoping to be able to start fundraising and accepting donations after a meeting in December,” Mr Salcole said.

“Until then, this gives us a chance to raise some money locally.” 

The decision follows the investigation into the financial dealings of the NSW Returned and Services League, which concluded earlier this year.

The public inquiry came after reports revealed breaches of the Fundraising Act at a state level.

Its conclusion resulted in a number of proposed reforms to the financial processes of the organisation, improving its overall accountability. 

A call to cease the fundraising efforts of all sub-branches has remained since last year, resulting in the “disappointing” loss of almost $100,000 from the Wagga RSL Sub-Branch alone. 

Mr Salcole said these funds were used to support veterans across the Riverina community and helped pay for networking activities and events, support veterans in crisis and assist past and serving defence force members with housing and utilities where needed. 

While bigger, wealthier branches have felt the sting of the not being able to accept donations or hold raffles, sales or stalls across almost two years, their smaller counterparts were hit a lot harder. However, Mr Salcole said an assistance fund had helped keep them afloat. 

Following the announcement the iconic Remembrance Day fundraiser would be going ahead this year, he shared a call for more volunteers to assist with the sale across the week. 

Branch treasurer David Williams echoed this and encouraged anyone with the time to spare to contact the Wagga branch office between 9am and 2pm for more information.

He said proceeds from the day would be sent to the NSW Welfare Benefits state office, with about 31 per cent returned to the sub-branch. 

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