As the nation marked the start of Armed Forces Week, The Veterans Charity were working on a legacy project from the 2023 Armed Forces Day event in Cornwall.
In 2022 Cornwall Council approached organisations in the county to suggest ideas for the bid process for the National AFD event. The Veterans Charity suggested a number of events, including our living memorial the “Ribbon of Poppies” that were added to the bid document.
This particular activity is free to join, all participants have to do is source poppy seeds (and other wildflowers of remembrance, such as cornflowers to represent French troops if they wish). Options range from sowing wildflowers in a plant pot or window box to a memorial meadow. Individuals or organisations are equally welcomed to join in.
Another option is to brighten up transport corridors, over the last few years there has been a major road engineering project in west Cornwall to dual carriageway the A30 down to Camborne. We approached the council to ask if there would be a possibility of sowing seeds on the barren embankments and verges as the new road embankments. and we were informed there was no issues in this large scale route of remembrance. On the 24th of June the new dual carriageway was fully opened to traffic and along the Cornish stone walls. was a vibrant display of poppies, cornflowers and daisies!
Also in Cornwall this year was the national launch launch event at RAF St Mawgan and thanks to the Station Commander, Wing Commander Helen Simpson, MA, BSC (Hons) and her team, we gained the support of VIVO Defence Services and Gavin Jones Ltd to grow a carpet of crimson across the South and South West regions, at many historic military sites as a living memorial to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Many of the sites played their part in the Normandy Landings.
Locations include the Defence Munitions site in Gosport, Azimghur Barracks near Colerne, Wiltshire, Aldershot Garrison who have been partaking for many years now in sowing seeds around the garrison. with some impressive results. The most recent display revealed in the last 24 hours is a wave of poppies sown at the Britannia Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.
We hope others will join us in growing remembrance, to help redress the loss of wildflowers in the UK, estimated to be 97% since WW2 in the UK alone.
