A COMMUNITY group in Canford Heath have chosen to mark Remembrance Day differently this year by sticking poppies on all the lampposts in the area.

The initiative, organised by the Association of Residents of Canford Heath and sponsored by the Canford Heath and Creekmoor Link magazine, includes all 130 lamp posts on the main roads of Canford Heath to have an individual poppy on them in memory of a loved one, sponsored by residents or traders.

All proceeds from the event will go to The Royal British Legion who have asked communities to get creative in supporting them this year as they cannot do their usual paper poppy selling this year due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Julie Caines, who organised the event said: "I am delighted with the great response we have had from our own community and beyond with many people telling us how wonderful the poppies look and a great way to remember our heroes.

"We originally only intended putting 40 up but the event proved so popular, we extended it to make 130 poppies - all by hand."

The area has a close connection with RAF, with the main road that runs through our community is named Adastral Road in honour of the RAF with the roads off it all named after WW2 RAF pilots. The motto of the RAF is "Per Ardua Ad Astra" and the usual translation is "Through Adversity, to the Stars".

Head Teacher at Haymoor Junior School Lucy Waterhouse added: "This is such a brilliant community thing to do - we love the idea. We will tell the children about it in a virtual assembly".

One of the region's primary schools is called Ad Astra School, and one of our pubs is called The Pilot, formerly the Fighter Pilot, until it was realised that some of the streets including Gibson Road were named after bomber pilots.

During the war the Heath was used for D-Day training by American forces.