Poppies

In January 2018 Miriam Sanders, a local fundraiser for the Royal British Legion, had the idea of draping St Eleth Church in poppies to commemorate the centenary of the end of WW1.

What started with a few locals meeting in the church to knit and crochet poppies soon escalated via social media and the local community groups to a fantastic project that brought the community together.

Each week in St Eleth Church, locals would meet and bring their poppies along for the “count” and encourage others to learn to knit or crochet and to plan the display.

A net was sourced and once the count was up to 10,000, people began to sew the poppies onto the net. We encouraged those who couldn’t knit or crochet to come along and help to sew and assemble the finished project.

Through social media and local news, the project idea spread far and wide. People who had associations with Amlwch but no longer lived there were getting involved and we were receiving parcels of handmade poppies through the post from other parts of the UK and abroad.

The final count of poppies was around 24,500 and once the net was raised into place it looked spectacular. A fitting tribute those who had served and died in conflicts around the world.

The display attracted visitors from all parts of the UK and even a handful from abroad. By selling tea, coffee and cake, nearly £8000 was raised for the Royal British Legion and over £2500 for St Eleth Church.