Hordean care home residents who aided the Second World War effort knit dozens of poppies for the Royal British Legion

CARE home residents answered a church’s call to knit poppies for Remembrance Sunday.
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The keen knitters at Care UK’s Pear Tree Court, in Portsmouth Road, Horndean, created mroe than 50 poppies to be displayed at St George’s Church’s Remembrance Day service in Waterlooville – and raise money for the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal.

Phyllis Restall, a 92-year-old a resident at the home, called on her fellow residents - 100-year-old Margaret Leigh Morgan, 83-year old Margaret Horsted, 64-year-old Jean Hill and 86-year-old June Taylor – to help her hand-knit the poppies.

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Phyllis said: ‘I believe it very important to knit poppies. The Royal British Legion do a grand job and making poppies helps us show our appreciation and raise funds for them.

Phyllis Restall, a 92-year-old a resident at Pear Tree Court in Horndean.Phyllis Restall, a 92-year-old a resident at Pear Tree Court in Horndean.
Phyllis Restall, a 92-year-old a resident at Pear Tree Court in Horndean.

‘I had great fun making poppies with my friends in the home.’

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Phyllis, who was born in Dorchester in 1929 and worked in a torpedo factory during the war, is no stranger to a pair of knitting needles.

Her grandmother taught her how to knit when she was just five years old – and Phyllis hasn’t stopped knitting since.

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She has created an array of clothes for local shops, including shawls and baby clothes and was approached by Butterick Patterns, the UK’S largest fabric store, to knit a bespoke jumper which was later displayed at a Bournemouth exhibition.

Niki Richards, home manager at Pear Tree Court, said: ‘We are so pleased Phillis and the other ladies have put their skills to good use for such a worthy cause.

‘Crafts, as well as other creative hobbies, can provide numerous therapeutic advantages for older people, particularly those with dementia, by keeping their brains busy and providing a sense of purpose.

‘For many of the residents, this time of year holds special meaning because many of them lived through the Second World War. Knitting poppies was a wonderful opportunity for Phyllis to participate in Remembrance Day traditions and it also brought back good memories of her grandmother teaching her how to crochet when she was younger.’

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