MEMBERS of Wellington Women’s Institute on Monday (October 28) decorated the town centre and Wellington Park with their annual display of knitted and crocheted poppies.

The centrepiece was a cascade of poppies on the frontage of Wellington Conservative Club, in High Street, while a memory wall was back in place on the railings in front of the nearby Mount Salon.

WI members and friends, led by organiser Bridget Hodges, had been knitting and crocheting the poppies throughout the year.

Wellington town councillors and members of Wellington Royal British Legion attended the official unveiling of the displays.

The park displays included poppies in the legion’s Garden of Remembrance beside the town War Memorial, and poppy garlands on the memorial and the chains surrounding it.

In the town centre, the WI members also wrapped poppies on the railings at the junctions of South Street and North Street, and decorated Monmouth Gardens.

Legion branch secretary Scott Godwin said anybody who wanted to add to the memorial wall should put their request in a sealed envelope marked ‘memory wall’ with the person’s rank and name, regiment/ship/squadron, dates of birth and death, with a suggested £2 donation for the Poppy Appeal, and drop them to any of the manned stalls in Asda, Co-op, and Lidl, or from November 4 to the Pop Up Shop, in Fore Street.

The WI will also decorate the Pop Up shop with knitted and crocheted poppies for the RBL Poppy Appeal.

Mr Godwin said: “RBL Wellington branch would like to thank the members of Wellington’s Women’s Institute for all the hard work they put in to create these amazing displays, which truly do transform the town, park, and Pop Up Shop.”

The town’s Remembrance events will start on Sunday (November 3) with a Field of Remembrance being dedicated outside Wellington Baptist Church at 12 noon.

The annual Remembrance Sunday service takes place in the park a week later on November 10 at 3.15 pm, preceded by a parade from Wellington School, and on Armistice Day (November 11) a two-minute silence takes place in the town centre at 11 am.