Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Spreading poppy love
Making the symbolic Anzac poppy more popular, particularly among young people, is the mission for Royal New Zealand Air Force officer Lauryn Stephens.
Flight lieutenant Stephens, who is based at RNZAF Base Woodbourne, and her sister came up with the idea of a poppy T-shirt after spending Anzac Day in a park in Christchurch this year.
‘‘We noticed that we didn’t see many poppies being worn.
‘‘A month earlier, we had actually started an apparel business together as we wanted our young children to grow up wearing clothing that means something to them, as opposed to wearing international labels that have no direct link to their culture, or their community or their suburb.
‘‘The poppy tee made sense to us by creating something that would have a place in kiwi culture in the same way that an All Black shirt is not out of place at any time of year, the poppy can and should be more visible all year round.’’
The poppy tee campaign was developed in partnership with the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association (RSA) that supports veterans and their families.
‘‘It allowed us to use the RSA logo which is on the back of the tee-shirt, as well as the RSA tag on the poppy,’’ Stephens said.
‘‘We have kept the design of it simple enough that it will appeal to a variety of audiences.’’
Available in black or white, the T-shirts are sold for $30 and directly benefit RSA and their support for veterans.
‘‘This campaign is not about taking away from that [the RSA red poppy pin], this is about helping the poppy grow for RSA,’’ Stephens said.
The RSA sells its traditional red poppy at the annual Poppy Day Appeal normally held on the Friday closest to Anzac Day.
In a typical year, more than a million poppies are manufactured in Christchurch by a team of 10 to 12 volunteers.
This year marked the hundredth year of the Poppy Appeal.
Stephens said the poppy symbolised sacrifice and service. ‘‘It’s undisputable what it means to an older generation, we want to ensure that younger New Zealander’s keep remembering.
‘‘And so part of it, will be the poppy being worn by more people more often.’’
She said the other idea behind the T-shirt campaign was trying to shift the paradigm of what is a veteran.
‘‘Everybody knows that it’s those people from World War One or World War Two.
‘‘But as an example, in the last five years, I’ve had friends that have gone and supported Tonga and their relief, and then White Island [after the volcanic eruption in 2019], a friend of mine was directly involved with the repatriation of the bodies.
‘‘And they have now left service, so technically they are a veteran, even though they are 32 years old,’’ Stephens said.
The theme of the 2022 Poppy Appeal was that ‘‘the RSA is old, not every veteran that we support is’’. The organisation said in the past 30 years New Zealand had 30,000 veterans under the age of 50, having served in areas from Bosnia to Timor Leste, Iraq, Afghanistan, across the Pacific and Antarctica.
‘‘I was in the bank last week, wearing the poppy tee, and a lady in her early 60s asked me where I got my tee from, and we ended up talking for 10 minutes about her husband, and her sons, and her families service history,’’ Stephens said.
‘‘And that is the whole point of the campaign, it is to get people talking about it and engaging. I would have never spoken to that woman if she hadn’t seen it.’’
To take part in the poppy tee campaign, visit the poppy tee website.