St Andrew’s Church in Kirk Ella displayed the poppies made by local community members as young as nine
Thousands of handmade crocheted poppies at St Andrew’s Church in Kirk Ella(Image: Submitted)
Thousands of handmade poppies can be found cascading over the entryway to St Andrew’s Church in Kirk Ella, the product of a project that brought together crafters of all ages. The 3,000 crocheted poppies adorn the entrance to the Grade I listed building.
Children as young as nine got out their crochet hooks to take part in the project. Emma Sutton, one of the churchgoers, had a hand in curating the project. Her two children, aged six and 11, took part.
The project has been in the making since the summer. After community members crocheted decorations to celebrate Easter, there was not another festival coming up for a while. That’s when Remembrance Day was brought to the table.
Emma said: “The kids love to have a good play in the church yard but last winter it was really wet and rubbish. A few of them taught themselves to crochet.
“We made little knitted Easter eggs then we couldn’t think of a festival for the summer, but come the autumn, we knew we’d need poppies. We put the idea to everyone else at the church, the church ladies – who are a force unto themselves – really took it to heart and about four months later we had about 3,000 poppies.”
Emma said the group was inspired by the large poppy display each year at the Tower of London. Over the summer, the church hosted a “Knit and Natter” group and many of the congregation made poppies at home.
Emma, who has been involved in the church for just a few years, said: “The youngest has just turned nine and a few primary age children joined in. There were also people well into their 80s joining in. It has been lovely.
“It’s a real community space that I wasn’t anticipating. Kirk Ella and Willoughby are villages, but there isn’t a community centre and they don’t have that village feel. We want to fill that gap.
“Even if it’s not a church that people are interested in, if they want that community they are welcome to come along. The knit and natter was lovely, we had some people who were on their own come along. It’s nice to be something that people in the area can get involved with.”
There will be a church service this Sunday, November 8, and later the congregation will meet at 11am at the war memorial in the church grounds, both of which are open to anybody to attend. The display will remain up for a few weeks after Remembrance Day and the church yard is open to all who want to come and take a look.
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