Trust Knit and Natter group helps with appeal

The group has been set up as part of #TheGreatBTHKnit, which is hoping to have 30,000 knitted and crocheted poppies by November next year to mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War next year.

The group meets in the Restaurant at Blackpool Victoria Hospital every second Monday of the month and at Clifton Hospital on every fourth Monday.

Around 2,500 poppies have already been kindly donated by groups and individuals around the Fylde coast.

Yvonne, from Bispham, has attended every session so far. She said: “It’s somewhere nice to come.mLast time, I brought 200 crocheted poppies that I asked people help make.

Crocheting is very slimming – it stops you eating biscuits because you want to finish a piece you have started!”

Ginette, who helps to run the group said: “There are hundreds of free patterns on the internet, so nobody ever need be stuck.

“Unison is funding the wool and we have free lunch vouchers, so there is nothing to lose by joining the group.

“I love knitting and with my parents both being in the forces and a son that was a RAF cadet, it’s a really good connection to the cause and a way to honour all those who have lived or died through conflict.”

Anybody wishing to join in can just turn up from 11.30am on the day, or they can join in at home and deliver the poppies to the hospital.