To mark the end of the commemorations for WW1, at West Sussex Record Office we are planning to create a display in our Reception area. This will include a feature of poppies made by staff or members of their family, volunteers, researchers, and our friends at West Sussex Archive Society. The poppies will be our personal way of remembering and commemorating all those who lost their lives in WW1.
The aim of our display is to echo the theme of the ‘Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red’ installation which saw 888,246 ceramic poppies flood the moat at the Tower of London in 2014. Each flower represented one British or Colonial serviceman killed in the war, and although we are not able to recreate a display of such size, we will be dedicating our poppies to ancestors and individuals we wish to remember.
We are asking if you would like to be a part of this team project and remember someone who died during WW1. If you would like to contribute a poppy, or poppies, to be included in our display, we are inviting people to sew, knit, crochet, or felt their flowers. We have patterns and guidance available at the Record Office, and designs can also be found online for knitting and crochet from the British Legion campaign in 2014. 
We need all completed poppies by Saturday 13th October, as we intend to erect our Armistice display by Monday 29th October and will remain in reception until Monday 19th November. If you would like to dedicate your poppy to someone specific, we can provide you with a small tag to attach to the back of your poppy, and please do let us know if you would like your poppy returned to you once the display is dismantled.
Lauren Clifton
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