Giant poppies line region’s streets to back Legion appeal
GIANT poppies are popping up on lampposts and trees ahead of Remembrance Sunday.
The moving roadside tributes are in support of the Royal British Legion’s annual Poppy Appeal with poppies sweeping across Greater Manchester.
Poppies have gone up on roads in Rochdale, Bolton, Salford and Trafford, with each one sponsored to raise much-needed funds as part of the appeal.
The Legion’s 2017 Poppy Appeal aims to raise more than £47m for soldiers past and present and their families.
More than 400 poppies, each 30 centimetres wide, have gone on display under the fundraising drive in Irlam and Cadishead alone.
Volunteers worked to fix them to lampposts, with 203 alone appearing along Liverpool Road.
The Poppy Appeal is led locally in the area by the Rotary Club of Irlam, the Probus Club of Irlam, the Royal British Legion and charity the Hamilton Davies Trust.
All the poppies feature the names of sponsors.
Jim Parker, chairman of the Irlam and Cadishead Poppy Appeal, said: “We were proud when Irlam became the first area in Greater Manchester to put up lamppost poppies in support of the Poppy Appeal in 2014.
“This year, the poppies have been even more popular than before, with all accessible lampposts on Liverpool Road being covered. Local people really got behind the idea.
“They have been very generous in their support and I’d like to thank both the sponsors and the volunteers who gave up their time to support the appeal.
“Looking down Liverpool Road, you can see the poppies stretching into the distance. Anyone who sees them in the days running up to Remembrance Sunday will remember the men and women who gave their lives fighting for this country.”
Elsewhere similar ‘event’ poppies have been spotted in Horwich, Bolton, Westhoughton, Little Lever, Darcey Lever and Norden in Rochdale although many more hundreds are thought to be on show elsewhere.
Greater Manchester and the nation will fall silent at the weekend to mark Remembrance Sunday.
Armistice Day this year will be observed at 11am on Saturday. Remembrance Sunday follows the day after on Sunday, November 12, with services of remembrance running across the region.