This Morning’s Phillip Schofield is about to kick off a global search to locate the poppies that were used in the famous Tower of London installation marking the First World War centenary.

The handmade ceramic flowers were sold away when the 2014 exhibit was taken down, with some buyers taking them as far as the USA and Australia.

Three years on, the ITV presenter is fronting a Where Are The Poppies Now campaign to discover the journeys they have taken.

Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation
Volunteers helped take down the poppies from the original exhibition (Steve Parsons/PA)

The movie will see him encourage poppy-holders across the world to ‘pin’ their poppy to their location on an online map and share the story behind why they bought them.

Launched by 14-18 Now, the arts programme for the First World War centenary celebrations, the campaign aims to digitally reunite all 888,246 faux blooms created by Paul Cummins and designer Tom Piper for the original Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red installation.

Schofield, who keeps the poppy his brother bought him in a display cabinet at home, said of the campaign: “It’s being a part of something very special; sharing that collective awareness of why it was there, what it was there for and what we were remembering.

Schofield and his poppy.
Schofield and his poppy (14-18 NOW/PA)

“Fundamentally, none of us who own one of these poppies can forget why it was done and what it was for ‐ and what we owe people who fell for us.”

Commenting on the original installation in the grounds of the historic London attraction, he continued: “There are occasionally great exhibitions and great displays and wonderful things that you have a chance to look at but I think this one for me was one of the most visual that I’d seen; it was so poignant and so beautiful and elegant in its execution that I thought it was so powerful, it was such a strong visual message.

“When viewed from a distance it was shocking how powerful it was and then when you were up close you could see each of them individually and were aware of the scale and what had been achieved.”

Poppy-owners can take part by visiting www.wherearethepoppiesnow.org.uk.