Giant poppies to remember the fallen

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Wilmslow Town Council has decided to attach large poppies to the lamp posts on the main roads in the town in the run up to Remembrance Day.

Last year, lorry poppies* were put up on lamp posts across Handforth at the time of remembrance which were very well received and the Wilmslow Branch of the Royal British Legion approached the Town Council about doing a similar thing this year.

They requested that 300 of these giant poppies were put on display around the town in return for which a donation would be made to the Royal British Legion.

The Community & Order Committee discussed this proposal at their meeting on Monday, 21st September, and whilst they are very much in favour of the idea they felt that, given the short notice, they would struggle to put 300 poppies up. So they decided to request 100 poppies in return for a donation of £300.

Cllr Gary Barton said "This would give us sufficient to put markers along key routes in Wilmslow, rather than seeking blanket coverage, but also reach out to the business groups locally to ask them to support the campaign as well and possibly we can look at ways of not only financial support but support in putting the poppies up.

"The committee was minded that we may look at a more significant effort for Remembrance Day 2016."

Speaking about the plans in Handforth, Anthony Harrison said "The original idea was first implemented in 2014 in Woking to mark the 100th anniversary of the Great War. On the back of this case study, Handforth Parish Council purchased 50 I believe and this year they have proposed the purchase of a further 200.

"That year, I also instigated a real poppy campaign in the village which was very successful and through Handforth Community War Memorial Foundation I am continuing that campaign this year by selling real poppy seeds throughout the month leading up to Remembrance Sunday."

* Editor's note (7/10/15) Please see the comments below. Whilst at the meeting the poppies being purchased were called 'lorry poppies' it has since been clarified that they are 'event poppies'.

Tags:
Remembrance Day, Wilmslow Town Council
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Comments

Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.

Terry Roeves
Wednesday 30th September 2015 at 6:25 pm
Excellent! Thank you WTC.
Toni Fox
Wednesday 30th September 2015 at 10:09 pm
As a former Handforth Parish Councillor I am delighted that Wilmslow Town Council have agreed to join this campaign to raise the visual awareness of Remembrance Day.

A Handforth resident, Ian Clark, now himself a member of Handforth Parish Council, brought this suggestion to me last year and helped councillors erect the 100 poppies around the village to commemorate the Centenary which received wide acclaim from commuters and local residents.

I am somewhat surprised that comments regarding this have been elicited from Anthony Harrison as he is not an elected councillor, as stated in the article*, nor did he have any contribution to this event.

Councillor Toni Fox
Dean Row Ward – Wilmslow

*Editor's note: My error has now been corrected and I have removed Cllr.
Beryl Chapman
Thursday 1st October 2015 at 10:01 pm
Handforth resident Ian Clark, now a member of HPC, suggested the Poppies around the Village in Handfort. I was a Councillor at the time and Mr Anthony Harrisson had nothing to do with this event nor is he a Parish Councillor. He is again misleading the public.
Geoff Ferguson
Sunday 4th October 2015 at 3:02 am
So Wilmslow Town Council have made a donation of £300 for 100 lorry poppies, surely this cannot be right, according to the British Legion website the guide donation for a lorry poppy is £10 each.
Dave Cash
Monday 5th October 2015 at 1:25 am
Geoff, maybe WRBL offer did follow national guidelines, but I suggest most Corporate Bodies would expect a discount for quantity, esp if paid from Public Funds.
WRBL 'suggested' 300 as a method to promote the RBL poppy campaign.
WTC decided they did not have the manpower to erect 300 in the time avail & concluded 100 was feasible. They agreed to donate £300,in the hope of receiving 100 'lorry poppies'. The decision is now down to local branch of RBL.
Considering this is the approx Centenary for most of 'The Great War' I feel 100 is an appropriate commemorative number of 'lorry poppies'.
Stuart Redgard
Tuesday 6th October 2015 at 9:44 pm
@Dave Cash and Geoff Ferguson.

I went to one of the volunteer events this morning and raised this very issue with the Poppy Appeal Organiser (Kate Hewson). Hopefully all will become clear in a future follow up article or comment on this thread by Kate Hewson.

Geoff is correct when he says that the "guide donation for a lorry poppy is £10 each." However, what is to be put on lamp posts are not lorry poppies. They are different type of plastic poppy not available on the RBL website and Kate has confirmed that the guide donation for this type is £3.

Therefore WTC have given the value suggested by RBL and not expected any kind of "corporate discount"
Kate Hewison
Tuesday 6th October 2015 at 11:01 pm
Thanks Dave, Geoff & Stuart.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the misunderstanding. The Poppy in the original photo above is of a Limited Edition, 2014 Lollipop - Style Poppy that was used at Poppy Events around the country.

As mentioned above by Geoff & Stuart, Lorry Poppies are available on the RBL website, and a small number will also be available at the manned Poppy Stalls in both Sainsbury's and Waitrose this year, for a suggested donation of £10.

However, as also mentioned by Stuart, the large Poppies that WTC have generously agreed to give a donation to the RBL Poppy Apeal for and agreed to install across the town are Event Poppies, not Lorry Poppies.

These Poppies are made of a lighter, more malleable plastic & are larger than any other Poppy the RBL has. They are designed specifically be outside and to withstand extreme weather conditions. They are not available on the RBL website and can only be ordered by the Poppy Appeal Organiser in each town.

This style Poppy was on display in Handforth during the 2014 Poppy Appeal - there was such a huge amount of positive feedback form the public about them, that Wilmslow British Legion approached WTC to see if they could help us install some around town

We are delighted that not only have WTC given the suggested donation for 100 Poppies, but have arranged to have them installed - a very, very time consuming process indeed.

If, any local business would like to make a donation to the Wilmlsow RBL Poppy Appeal of £3 per Event Poppy, Stuart Redgard and some other volunteers have very generously offered their time and services to the Poppy Appeal and are willing to attach the Poppies to lamp posts on your behalf.

Once again, please accept my apologies for the confusion.

Kate
Dave Cash
Wednesday 7th October 2015 at 1:31 am
Thanks for clarification, Stuart
Lisa Reeves
Wednesday 7th October 2015 at 5:26 am
Many thanks for the clarification and sorry for any confusion. When this item was discussed at the Wilmslow Town Council meeting the councillor said:

“Handforth was bedecked by most lamp posts by having what’s called ‘lorry poppies’ at the time of remembrance, just drawing attention to people that it is remembrance.”

“It was very well received. Wilmslow Branch of the Royal British Legion are proposing they do a similar thing in Wilmslow at remembrance time of putting these lorry poppies on lamp posts.”

Hence my reference in the article to "lorry poppies" and not "event poppies", which were not mentioned, so thanks Kate for clarifying what is being purchased and the difference.
Michael Thompson
Thursday 8th October 2015 at 10:55 am
As an ex Handforth Parish Councillor, I am appalled to see that Mr. Harrison continues to act as if he was the only ex Councillor in the world that ever did anything for Handforth. Before this article was released he should have confirmed that he was no longer a Councillor. Furthermore, the fact that the poppies idea was brought to the attention of Handforth Parish Council by Mr. Ian Clarke (now Councillor) and later agreed by the whole council should have been acknowledged. In my opinion Mr. Harrison is clearly living in a Walter Mitty world of his own making, regardless of the facts of reality - which most of us experience.
Anthony Harrison
Thursday 15th October 2015 at 6:47 pm
Sorry to only be replying now, I have only just had this article and its comments brought to my attention.

I think that all those who have commented negatively need to re-read the article itself and see that Lisa was referring to the 'REAL Poppy Campaign' which I ran from August to November 2014 and involved the purchasing of 16,000 REAL poppy seeds which were sowed around the natural embankments and grass verges throughout Handforth Village and small envelopes were given out to residents at their request, this was conducted in my term as a Handforth Parish Councillor for Handforth West Ward.

Perhaps all those concerned would read articles meticulously in the future before trying to put down an individual for their political beliefs!! I look forward to launching this years REAL poppy campaign through Handforth Community War Memorial Foundation where we will have envelopes of sale for 50p each and all money raised will go directly to Handforth's new memorial.
Kerry Louise Burgess
Thursday 15th October 2015 at 7:53 pm
Well done Anthony, an absolute credit to the community. The work you put in the Handforth Community War memorial foundation is fantastic.
Sheila Rovira
Thursday 15th October 2015 at 7:53 pm
I purchased poppy seeds from Anthony Harrison (the then parish councillor )and they are now in bloom hope they are still in bloom for this years rememberance Sunday in Handforth .
Anthony did not stand for the parish council this year because of other commitments