Poignant poppy display created by college receptionist

It’s been a year in the making, but a beautiful poppy tribute is now on display at Chichester College.

Barbara Cairns, senior receptionist at the college, has been on a mission to create a rather special remembrance display in honour of those who lost their lives in the service of their country.

A determined Barbara started collecting bottles last November and has spent the past 12 months reaching out to colleagues, students, family and friends to gather as many as she could to create the grand display.

Barbara said: “I had an image in my mind of what I wanted the display to look like.  I wanted it as big as possible, so it would stand out in our large reception area.

“It is dedicated to the memory of these special people, people who lost their lives for us. They deserve acknowledgement, and the Poppy Appeal is such a valuable charity.”

Barbara explained that she started the design by cutting the bottoms off of plastic bottles to resemble poppies, painted them red, with yellow and black in the centre and finally drilling two holes in the base of them to then attach them all together with chicken wire.

Barbara added: “I always buy a poppy but I wanted to make a display to represent how I feel about the charity and to raise awareness to our students and staff of the sacrifice that men and women made in conflicts of war.”