Remembrance Day knitters decorate life-size horse with 3,000 poppies – and are gobsmacked by the reaction to it

• Whittlesey Poppy Blitz unveiled the impressive display at town’s Garden of Rest 
• It features a 7ft high horse made of 3,000 poppies and knitted mini soldiers  

A group of knitters have decorated a life-size horse with more than 3,000 poppies in honour of Remembrance Day, and have been left overwhelmed by the moving reaction to it. 

Whittlesey Poppy Blitz unveiled the impressive display at Whittlesey’s Garden of Rest, having started working on the project in April of this year. 

The horse, which is 7ft high and covered in more than 3,000 purple poppies, also includes knitted mini soldiers from the British Army, the navy and the air force, which have been spread around the town in Cambridgeshire. 

The group, which formed during the Coronavirus pandemic in a bid to support the work of the Royal British Legion, is run by Jackie Fryett, Jenny Palmer and Jayne Dando, who said the group have been moved by the feedback from people living in the area. 

Their latest tribute and subsequent poppy appeal will raise funds for the Royal British Legion, Whittlesey Army Cadets and Whittlesey Boy Scouts. 

Whittlesey Poppy Blitz unveiled the impressive display at Whittlesey’s Garden of Rest, having started working on the project in April of this year

The group, which formed during the Coronavirus pandemic in a bid to support the work of the Royal British Legion, is run by Jackie Fryett, Jenny Palmer and Jayne Dando

The impressive display also includes knitted mini soldiers from the British Army, the navy and the air force, which have been spread around the town in Cambridgeshire

READ MORE: Where to support the poppy sellers: Interactive map shows where charity collectors are operating ahead of Remembrance Day weekend

Ms Fryett told the BBC: ‘We started because we couldn’t sell poppies on the streets in the pandemic. We now have a group of 12-15 ladies who knit for us – all volunteers, mostly pensioners.

‘We add something new to our displays each year and this year we wanted to do a horse.

‘We supplied the materials and Peterborough Technical College finished it for us.

‘The reactions and feedback from the public on our displays have been amazing. We are so moved.

‘This has been a community effort and one that has given people something to look forward to.’

And it sounds like the spirit of Remembrance Sunday is taking over this weekend, with the display spreading throughout different areas, bringing delight to residents.  

Mandy Wright, who took the images of the display around the town, said: ‘The display is wonderful and it is not just confined to the one area where I took the photos. 

‘There are banners around the town which are sponsored, there are knitted military people at the war memorial and a knitted/crocheted rainbow display on the gates of one of our churches’. 

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