The first woman director of music for the Somerset Brigade Band said yesterday she was proud to throw her support behind this year’s poppy appeal in aid of Bermuda’s war veterans.Cher-Ann Brangman, 42, said that taking the directorship this year had been “a lifelong dream” that dated back to her joining the Royal Bermuda Regiment Band & Corps of Drums aged 14.Now she is tuning up the Somerset Brigade Band for a concert in aid of the Bermuda Legion, which supports military veterans and their families.The night of traditional marches and hymns to the fallen is part of the run-up to Remembrance Day on November 11.Carol Everson, a case worker with the Bermuda Legion, said the 2019 fundraiser for Bermuda’s war veterans and their spouses would start this week.She said that though the number of veterans continued to decline, more than 140 remained.Ms Everson added: “We are not a once-a-year charity — we work right through the year looking after their needs.”The charity is also affiliated with the Royal Commonwealth Service League in Britain as well as the Royal Canadian Legion.Ms Everson said: “Both these organisations have been wonderfully helpful.”The legion will provide its third workshop for homecarers of dementia patients, which will be free for war veterans’ families, next spring.The organisation will launch its poppy day appeal on the streets of Hamilton on November 6, with the support of volunteers and members of the Royal Bermuda Regiment.Poppies and wreaths will soon be available to collect from the legion’s pop-up shop, due to open in Hamilton later this month.Ms Everson, who will play the French horn, will join the Somerset Brigade Band at the Anglican Cathedral.She said tickets, at $25, are available from nosoldierleftbehind@hotmail.com, or the pop-up shop. She added the shop’s location will be announced soon.Ms Brangman, who will put her saxophone aside for the conductor’s baton, said her first official public performance directing the band would be an emotional occasion.She said: “It’s a bit surreal. I’ve dreamt and dreamt of this — all of a sudden I got tapped on the shoulder and woke up. It still doesn’t feel real, but it is.“I have cried about it — it’s my passion and now I have reached my big goal.”Ms Brangman added her late uncle, Theophilus Wilson, was a veteran of the Second World War.She said: “I have learnt about the legion and what it does for the war veterans and all those who went before us and fought for our freedom.”• The concert will be held at the Anglican Cathedral in Hamilton on November 9, starting at 7.30pm. To volunteer for the poppy appeal or find out more, call the Bermuda Legion at 703-1020, or 293-3975