Stourbridge plastic bottle poppies tribute ahead of Remembrance

6 November 2023

Remembrance Day

Stourbridge poppies — Image caption,
A group of volunteers spent Sunday morning planting the plastic poppies

By John Bray

��ý News, West Midlands

More than 2,000 poppies made from plastic bottles have been planted on a Black Country roadside ahead of this year's Remembrance commemorations.

The poppies have been made over the past nine months by people living with a disability who attend Queens Cross Network in Dudley.

On Sunday the poppies were installed by the side of Hillfields Road, in Amblecote, Stourbridge.

The poppy installation was organised by Dudley borough councillors Paul Bradley, Pete Lee and Kamran Razzaq.

Last year, the Amblecote councillors arranged for a poppy cascade created by Queens Cross Network, to be hung at Amblecote's Holy Trinity Church

The poppies are made from the bottoms of plastic bottles, which are then painted red, with the bottle top used as the centre of the flower

The poppies were planted alongside Hillfields Road in just over two hours

About 45 million poppies are sold across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by the Royal British Legion each year

"Over the last nine months, we've been working with Disability in Action at Queens Cross Network to make these lovely poppies from plastic bottles," said Mr Razzaq.

"We've got 2,023 of them because it's obviously 2023 and we decided to put them at this location because it's a busy road and residents can enjoy it.

"They look amazing" and "we're happy with all the hard work done", he added.

Mr Lee said "I just think it's a great idea to tell the younger generation" and "to tell them the importance as time goes on"

Councillors said there had been "a massive response" to the display

A steady stream of people stopped to admire the installation on Sunday

Mr Lee said "I just think it's a great idea to tell the younger generation" and "to tell them the importance as time goes on".

"I think a lot of kids don't understand and if you do a display like this, it just enhances it for kids to ask mum or dad why have they done that?"

He added: "We've had a massive response, people coming up and down, papping their horns, people coming and taking photographs so we hope we have achieved what we wanted to do - create a lovely display."

While the Amblecote poppies are plastic, this year's official poppy is plastic free for the first time in 28 years

In 2022, the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal helped more than 27,000 people in the armed forces community

The poppies are made from the bottoms of plastic bottles, which are then painted red, with the bottle top used as the centre of the flower.

Queens Cross Network, on Wellington Road in Dudley, is run by Dudley Council, and offers support for adults with physical and sensory disabilities.