PLEA FOR POPPY DISPLAY PEOPLE
War tribute art to attract thousands
ORGANISERS of a spectacular commemoration of the First World War in Gwynedd have put out a call for dozens of volunteers to play a part in the event.
Several thousand handmade ceramic poppies will pour from the ramparts of Caernarfon Castle to the ground for Poppies: Weeping Window, which is expected to attract thousands of visitors a day to the town.
Megan Cynan Corcoran, volunteer co-ordinator with Wales for Peace and Storiel, said: “We are looking for friendly, outgoing people who can spare some time and act as ‘ambassadors’ for the Gwynedd community to visitors travelling from all over the world.
“Volunteers will be on hand to welcome up to 3,000 visitors a day, answer questions and provide information.
“We are also looking for people to carry out educational activities and community-based heritage projects.
“This will be a wonderful opportunity to gain skills and friends, to interact with people who come to see the poppies, and to share in their thoughts and reflections as they experience this incredibly moving piece of art.”
The exhibition by artist Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper will be in Caernarfon from October 11 to November 20.
The poppies were among 888,246 - one to honour every death in the British and Colonial forces of the First World War - which were shown at the Tower of London in 2014.
Two sculptures - Wave and Weeping Window – were saved by the Backstage Trust and the Clore Duffield Foundation, and are being taken to audiences across the UK to mark the centenary of the war.
Full training and support will be provided to volunteers from the first week of October.
Volunteers will then be on a rota for morning and afternoon shifts between October 11 and November 20.
The Remembering for Peace exhibition, featuring Wales’ iconic First World War Book of Remembrance, which is on loan from Cardiff’s Temple of Peace to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers Museum, will mark the lead up to Remembrance Day in Caernarfon on November 11, as well as the centenary of the end of the Battle of the Somme on November 18.
A Peace Heritage Trail will take visitors around Caernarfon, and a range of school activities in the town will include the annual Wales for Peace WW1 Schools Conference and Peace Heroes Awards.
● Anyone interested in volunteering should visit walesforpeace.org/poppies, email poppies@wcia.org.uk, call 01286 672626, or drop in to the Mantell Gwynedd Volunteering Centre in Caernarfon.