Nineteen-year-old Beth Cook was proudly flying the flag for the future as the women's section of the Royal British Legion held its 75th annual conference in Norfolk.

The trainee milliner, of High Street, Cawston, joined the Reepham women's section branch at the age of 16 after watching her grandfather Ronald Beall, the Drayton RBL standard bearer, parade through Norwich.

And having just been inaugurated as the women's deputy standard bearer for Norfolk, she played a leading role in the processions at the start and end of yesterday's conference in The Assembly House in Norwich.

Beth, who takes part in parades and services throughout the year, is keen to see more young people join the legion and aims to talk in schools, explaining their fund-raising work to support former and current servicemen and women and their dependants.

She said: 'It's not just around Poppy Day. I want to tell them that we have fun and do fund-raising throughout the year.'

Representatives of all 33 women's section branches in Norfolk attended the conference and more than 100 members packed the Assembly House's Noverre Suite.

County secretary Lesley Willcocks said: 'People think about the legion's work relating to the world wars, but it is very current with the servicemen and women being killed and injured in Afghanistan.'

She said they were planning standard bearer schools throughout the year and hoped to attract more young blood to follow in Beth's footsteps.

Rebecca Little, 23, and Emma Coulthard, 30, both wives of soldiers in the Light Dragoons, based in Swanton Morley, were on hand to sell copies of their calendar.

When their husbands were posted to Afghanistan a group of wives got together to create the calendar with amusing photos of themselves wearing army kit and running the camp while the soldiers are away.

So far �6,000 has been raised for the regiment's Colonel's Appeal to aid wounded servicemen and their families. It can be bought on-line via the website: www.ldcolonelsappeal.com