Remembrance project will aim to recall sacrifices

Christ Church, Portsdown, will host an exhibition, tell the story of evacuees and showcase displays of thousands of specially-created poppies. There will also be craft activities, music performances, wartime films and talks.

The church site, on London Road, Widley, includes a military cemetery where those who died in the First and Second World Wars are buried.

It is also the church that hosted the Second Army’s dedication service on the eve of D-Day in 1944 – and which features two D-Day memorial stained-glass windows as a tribute to those who gave their lives during the Normandy invasion.

Worshippers and community groups have already created around 10,000 poppies from wool, plastic bottles, wood, Perspex and even CDs, which will be placed on graves outside and be displayed on ledges, pews and pillars inside the church. A drumhead altar will be created in the chancel. And a wire soldier will be created to sit on a bench in the cemetery.

The project will kick off with an opening ceremony during a Sunday service at 4pm on October 19, which will feature a military quintet from a volunteer band from HMS Collingwood.

Invited guests will enjoy a special meal of wartime-style food in the church hall on October 31. And the church’s Remembrance Sunday service on November 9 will involve congregation members laying roses on graves.

The project is being organised by the Rev Coleen Jackson, assistant curate in Portsdown and Purbrook, who has previously organised similar displays of poppies on Hayling Island and in Chalton.

“We already have 10,000 poppies and we hope to double that,” she said. “People have made them out of all sorts of materials, sometimes in groups that have met at the church over the last few months. We’ll have some on the roof of the porch, looking as though they are cascading to the floor to catch the attention of those passing by.

“Our exhibition will include stories from those who were child evacuees during the war, as well as pictures. It will also feature poetry from World War I to the present day, information about the origin of the poppy, and stories of animals that helped during the war. Every lunchtime there will be activities such as craft, recitals and talks.”

The church will be open each day from 10am-3pm, except for Sundays, from October 20 until November 8. The event will end with the Remembrance Day service on November 11.

More details are on www.portsdown-purbrook.org.