A COUNTY charity is hoping to emulate the success of the ceramic poppies which surrounded the Tower of London by placing 1,000 forget-me-nots outside the base of a city spire this summer.
St Richard’s Hospice will install the hand-crafted, unique forget-me-not clusters around the base of the ‘Glovers Needle’ (St Andrew’s spire) in St Andrew’s Gardens on Saturday, August 12.
The display will remain in place until Bank Holiday Monday, August 29 as one of the visual highlights of the Worcester Festival.
It’s sure to remind locals and visitors of the poppies planted in the grounds of the Tower of London in 2014.
More than five million people saw Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red by artist Paul Cummins which marked the centenary of the start of the First World War.
Each of the 888,246 handmade poppies represented a British or colonial serviceman killed during the conflict and many were sold to raise cash for six good causes.
Charity chiefs at St Richard’s Hospice hope the one-off installation will help raise funds the charity’s specialist palliative care for patients living with life-limiting illnesses and their families.
People are being encouraged to celebrate someone or something special with one of the forget-me-not clusters in the display, which they can later take home as a keepsake or a gift.
St Richard’s Hospice Chief Executive, Mark Jackson, said: “The forget-me-nots will create a memorable and stunning garden which will be an ideal focal point for celebration and reflection. “We only have 1,000 forget-me-not clusters and are hoping they will prove very popular with the people of Worcestershire.”
Donors will be invited to pick a flower from the garden on Bank Holiday Monday, August 29, to collect from the hospice or via post after the installation is dismantled.
To secure a forget-me-not please visit www.strichards.org.uk/celebration-garden or call the Fund-raising Department on 01905 763963.
