David De Souza
Stoneclough Rememberance day poppy display
Fundraising for The Royal British Legion
Story
The Stoneclough Remembrance Day Poppy Display was inspired by last years breath taking display of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London.
I was fortunate enough to get to see them due to a group of people coming together and helping me.
It started with me looking online for train fares down to St Pancras where I quickly realised that I could not justify paying over £200 to get down to London and back in the same day.
I posted about how frustrated I was on Facebook where unbeknown to me my very good friend Mick Parent, who I worked with in Iraq,who resides in Australia had seen the post and contacted his mother in law Jane who works for the East coast train line.
Jane contacted me and said she could get me to St Pancras and back in First Class free of charge but I would have to go from Manchester Piccadilly to Sheffield and then down to St Pancras. As you can imagine I was ecstatic about this and told several parents at my sons school (St Saviours of Ringley) who subsequently arranged transport to drop me off at the tram station so I didn't have to leave my car (Sarah) and pick up from Piccadilly train station (Shaun) because I wouldn't be arriving back until gone nine in the evening.
Due to these four generous people I did get to see the Tower of London ceramic poppy display to which I cannot express in words how breathtaking it really was and the vision of them will stay with me forever.
So with the Tower Poppies vision stuck in my head I wanted to do something within Stoneclough for Remembrance Day. The basic idea was to create four 8ft poppies to display in the local church of St Saviours and then get the school children involved by them making their own poppies and planting them next to the 8ft ones.
Creating the poppies was actually the easy part. I contacted a primary school friend of mine (Lee) who supplied the sheet metal at cost price it was then just a matter of making a basic template for the poppy and the leafs.
Firstly I made three small poppies of a different design and asked Facebook friends which design they liked the best. The vote was a landslide victory for the realistic design.
Knowing the design I had to build I contacted Revd Carol Pharaoh to ask permission to display the poppies on the church property. I was soon to learn it was not as simple as just placing them there, Revd Carol Pharaoh had to liaise with the Chancellor of Manchester Diocese which took several weeks to get but Thankfully the authorisation was granted and so the build could continue.
The four poppies are made from mild sheet steel and mild steel tubing. They were cut and panel beaten into shape, Mig welded together and then painted. Each one is unique and individual, even the poppy head moves in the wind giving it a realistic look.
As previously stated the poppies will be placed on the front grass area either side of the path leading into St Saviours church and with the community getting fully behind the project from senior generations to the young ones making their own poppy to place down we will hopefully create our own Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.
I was fortunate enough to get to see them due to a group of people coming together and helping me.
It started with me looking online for train fares down to St Pancras where I quickly realised that I could not justify paying over £200 to get down to London and back in the same day.
I posted about how frustrated I was on Facebook where unbeknown to me my very good friend Mick Parent, who I worked with in Iraq,who resides in Australia had seen the post and contacted his mother in law Jane who works for the East coast train line.
Jane contacted me and said she could get me to St Pancras and back in First Class free of charge but I would have to go from Manchester Piccadilly to Sheffield and then down to St Pancras. As you can imagine I was ecstatic about this and told several parents at my sons school (St Saviours of Ringley) who subsequently arranged transport to drop me off at the tram station so I didn't have to leave my car (Sarah) and pick up from Piccadilly train station (Shaun) because I wouldn't be arriving back until gone nine in the evening.
Due to these four generous people I did get to see the Tower of London ceramic poppy display to which I cannot express in words how breathtaking it really was and the vision of them will stay with me forever.
So with the Tower Poppies vision stuck in my head I wanted to do something within Stoneclough for Remembrance Day. The basic idea was to create four 8ft poppies to display in the local church of St Saviours and then get the school children involved by them making their own poppies and planting them next to the 8ft ones.
Creating the poppies was actually the easy part. I contacted a primary school friend of mine (Lee) who supplied the sheet metal at cost price it was then just a matter of making a basic template for the poppy and the leafs.
Firstly I made three small poppies of a different design and asked Facebook friends which design they liked the best. The vote was a landslide victory for the realistic design.
Knowing the design I had to build I contacted Revd Carol Pharaoh to ask permission to display the poppies on the church property. I was soon to learn it was not as simple as just placing them there, Revd Carol Pharaoh had to liaise with the Chancellor of Manchester Diocese which took several weeks to get but Thankfully the authorisation was granted and so the build could continue.
The four poppies are made from mild sheet steel and mild steel tubing. They were cut and panel beaten into shape, Mig welded together and then painted. Each one is unique and individual, even the poppy head moves in the wind giving it a realistic look.
As previously stated the poppies will be placed on the front grass area either side of the path leading into St Saviours church and with the community getting fully behind the project from senior generations to the young ones making their own poppy to place down we will hopefully create our own Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red.
We are lucky to also have interest from the Bolton Press and also other local schools who are under the Ringley Church parish.
After Remembrance Day the display will be dismantled and the four metal poppies will be auctioned off and all proceeds made will go to the Royal British Legion.
Thank you for taking time to read the long story, please make a poppy with your child whilst explaining the importance of its meaning and place it in the display, please donate to the just giving page and don't forget to make your bid for one of the 8ft poppies.
Further more here is a link to the Tower of London display.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/poppies/about-the-installation
Thank you.
Lest We Forget.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
After Remembrance Day the display will be dismantled and the four metal poppies will be auctioned off and all proceeds made will go to the Royal British Legion.
Thank you for taking time to read the long story, please make a poppy with your child whilst explaining the importance of its meaning and place it in the display, please donate to the just giving page and don't forget to make your bid for one of the 8ft poppies.
Further more here is a link to the Tower of London display.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/poppies/about-the-installation
Thank you.
Lest We Forget.
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.