Posted on Monday 8th October 2018
People from across Staffordshire are being invited to take part in a project to create their own poppy to be part of a display at Staffordshire Place, in Stafford.
The ‘Staffordshire Remembers’ project is all part of the county’s plans to commemorate the centenary of the end of the Great War.
Staffordshire County Council’s libraries and arts service is behind the campaign and display which will be revealed on 10 November.
Poppies can be hand-made from different materials, including photos and letters with people’s own memories to commemorate those who fought and died during the war. Special cut-out poppy templates are now available in the county’s libraries and can be downloaded at Staffordshire Remembers Poppy Project.
Gill Heath, Cabinet Member for Communities at Staffordshire County Council said:
“This is a wonderfully simple project that not only remembers the men who died during the Great War but also the women whose domestic, everyday lives contributed to fighting the war on the home-front.
“We want to see as many poppies as possible in our display so I would definitely encourage people to take part and drop in to their local library.”
The final display will also include ‘Trailblazers’ – a selection of unique poppies created in special workshops led by local artist Jennifer Collier and funded by the Big Ideas Fund.
During the workshops, school groups and young people will have the opportunity to collaborate with different generations through their families, friends and local community groups to explore and be inspired by the incredible lives of women from the Great War era to the present day. Participants will have a go at different techniques, inspired by Jennifer’s work and passion for creative heritage, to create their own unique poppies.