Flowers of War : The Vietnam Requiem – 50 Years On

2020 … a year none of us will ever forget is (thankfully) behind us and 2021 with all it’s ups and downs is proving almost as challenging for many. We have not been able to (yet) re-engage with the world as we knew it and many of us (particularly in Victoria) are struggling with the uncertainty of the COVID menace … so we wait and do what we can but it is at a high cost to many. I hope that you are managing to keep yourself sane and active during the uncertainty.

But although it seems like we have been cut off from the rest of humanity in many ways during this time, it has been a time of great steps forward for others.

In the quiet of cancelled concerts and events Chris Latham has been working on his next major production for his magnificent Flowers of War Series : The Vietnam Requiem. This is a piece that is close to my heart … Vietnam was my era and I have forever been torn about the way we (as a Nation) treated our Vietnam Veterans on their return to Australia. It was an unpopular war, no doubt, but we could and should have done better than we did.

I have been lucky enough to experience a couple of Chris’ masterpieces. The Flowers of the Great War in France at the tiniest of churches in Posieres in 2016, in Canberra in 2018 for the Digger’s Requiem, and also in Melbourne for a performance at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Stunning in so many ways, beautiful, powerful and incredibly (cannot stress this enough) emotional.

The Flowers of War performed at Amiens Cathedral in France (2016)

Chris’ latest work is the third in the Flowers of War series of national commemorative musical works – the Vietnam Requiem – and it is reaching its final stages of creative development.

From Chris’ information on the project :

This performance will create a deeper understanding of the Vietnam war by showing all perspectives through the power of music and imagery. It promises to be epic in many ways.

This concert was created by some of Australia’s leading composers and will be performed by Little Pattie, Normie Rowe, John Schumann, the RMC Duntroon Band, Canberra Symphony Orchestra and choirs. It will take audiences on a musical journey, with 12 popular songs from the era and orchestral movements that will respond to stories or events that shaped our perceptions or experiences.

In honouring service and acknowledging pain, dislocation and the terrible cost of war, the Vietnam Requiem will be performed as a gift to our Vietnam veterans that is long overdue and deserved.

‘Telling the story of this war primarily through the Australian experience is complex,’ said Chris Latham, the Director of the Flowers of War and Artist in Residence at the Australian War Memorial. ‘This war was the most divisive in our history, and one where, to this day, there are many who have remained silent about their experiences.’

‘This concert will respond to all those affected, including Australian, New Zealand and Vietnamese veterans; the medical staff who helped heal the wounded; the journalists, cameramen and photojournalists who reported back to the nation; the entertainers who toured to give some joy to the troops; the protesters and the boat people who fled to freedom and settled in our nation.’

‘We will be fair, accurate and even-handed in all our musical depictions, and wish for this work to do good.’

It promises to be a magnificent and epic musical journey and I encourage those who are able to go to see the premiere in Canberra (5-6 June 2021).

The most unfortunate thing about this is that at this point, there is no funding available to tour the concert to any of the States which I feel is a travesty. The impact of COVID on funding for the arts has been diabolical. This is an important and phenomenal work of such incredible generosity and healing and I am hoping that there is a way to secure funding for a wider tour of the project. There are many, many veterans and families that need to see this performance. Watch this space.

Chris and his team are inviting all those affected by this war to join them in June :

 Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 June 2021
 1–4pm
 Llewellyn Hall, ANU, Canberra
 For further info visit theflowersofwar.org
 Book via Ticketek from 15 March
 Special pre-sale release to veterans, widows, and families from 22 February

Both images taken from the Flowers of War Website with thanks to the unknown photographers.

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75th Anniversary of VP Day

On the 75th Anniversary of Victory in the Pacific … I honour my dad … Wal Beasley (Alfred James Walter) who was not only a wonderful father, but a truly beautiful human being.

I talk about Wal and Marg’s dad Stan Knight, when I am asked to explain to people about our reasons behind this amazing project … and why Margie and I were so keen to honour our dads in this way.

This is an excerpt from my talk …

For Marg and I, this project is about our dads.

They both fought in World War II as was their duty at the time, my dad in the Pacific and Marg’s dad in Europe. We were incredibly lucky that they returned home, intact, to marry, raise families and lead productive lives.

Many didn’t.

And like many soldiers of the day, they didn’t share their war history with their children. I suspect perhaps they thought that it was more important to put it behind them and get on with the job.

And so, 5000 Poppies started as a very small personal tribute to craft and plant 120 poppies at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne in honour of our fathers in 2013.

Little did we know then, that it would blossom into a nationwide and indeed international outpouring of respect and remembrance involving many thousands of contributors, and culminating in a series of truly spectacular tribute installations around the world over a number of years.

I expect that there are many of us who will today be thinking about our fathers, mothers, brothers, uncles, cousins and other loved ones who fought WWII on our doorstep, many of whom did not return, or returned forever changed … you have our heartfelt gratitude for your service and sacrifice … LEST WE FORGET

Wal Beasley, 14/32nd Battalion AIF and Stan Knight, Queens Own West Kent Regiment

The Book

How, exciting … the book is finally available online.

It is a stunning pictorial record (I would almost call it a diary) of our amazing project from start to finish (2013-date), with more than 100 pages of images. Red is the predominant colour not surprisingly.

It’s going to be a little weird in terms of purchase, because this is a pictorial book made by Snapfish. I am making it available ONLY when there is a 50% off (or more) discount available which makes it more affordable, so there will be inbetween dates when you can only preorder, and I will then wait until the right discount becomes available (they come around regularly). Please keep your eye on the facebook page for updates … and if you miss this window … there will be another coming. I have been wracking my brains for a better way of managing it but for now this is it.

So the first round of dates starts today 25 February until 1 March. Books ordered in this window will be delivered up to 10 working days from date of order but my experience is that it is usually much quicker at least for much of the capital cities and suburbs … more remote addresses may take a little longer.

Each book will be ordered individually and sent directly from Snapfish to your address. They DO NOT deliver to post office boxes. Please include your delivery address and any special instructions, and telephone number with your order, and please make sure you read the terms and conditions.

At the moment it is only available in Australia through the online payment gateway.

If you are an overseas and would like to purchase a copy, you will need to contact me via email … 5000poppies@gmail.com

I am both excited and relieved.

I am sure you will love it.

Click here to order

With love.

Lynn x

Not really the start we were looking for in 2020

2020 has had a rather painful beginning with fires raging seemingly everywhere in our beautiful country.

Far too many lives lost … at last count 23 precious lives. Thousands of homes and livelihoods burned to the ground. Communities just decimated.

Millions and millions (the numbers keep climbing but number of over 1 billion have been mentioned) of our beautiful, unique native wildlife extinguished. Some species possibly forever. Beautiful forests gone … the devastation is so widespread.

It is overwhelming for those of us who are safely ensconced in our homes as we look on in horror … we simply cannot imagine the anguish of those who have lost loved ones, their homes, their livestock, their communities, their livelihoods, and so so so much more.

Our wonderful firefighters … volunteers and paid … the military … the teams of brilliant volunteers at the coal face (literally and figuratively) are amazing. Those in the community who have come to the immediate aid of their fellows to help … those families who have watched their loved ones day in and day out for months now put themselves in the firing line to help … those who have come from near and far to do their bit … you are our nation’s heroes … we can only hope at this time that our gratitude is enough to keep your spirits high … it is immense …

And those wonderful, wonderful, wonderful wildlife rescuers … those pictures of our beautiful native fauna in dire need … heartbreaking …

I cannot in my wildest imaginings know how those people at the front line keep going … but they do. You are are our superheroes. And I expect you, too, will need much help in the coming days, weeks and months as you recover from your efforts.

The blame game and the (sometimes vicious) rhetoric that has been thrown around is difficult to listen to … but I agree there are words to be said and I expect some very harsh words. There are truths that must be faced in the coming weeks, months and years as individuals get back on their feet and communities rebuild … but perhaps not right now. Not while there are immediate things that need to be done to help those who are suffering at this time.

And for the rest of us … it’s difficult to know what to do … there is SO much need and it is far too easy to be overwhelmed by the size of the need … and also the conflicting needs. Donations to charities of your choice of of course … to support those on the ground in their immediate need … there is always a need for donations in these circumstances.

In my very humble opinion for those who are struggling .. choose your own helping path if you are able and stay on it unless you are moved from it by someone who has authority in the circumstances … try not to spend yourself to broadly and try not to feel forced onto a path … and if there is nothing physical you are able to do … ask whoever your God is for help, for enough rain in the right places, for recovery, for whatever our community needs to get back on its feet. It can’t hurt to ask. Thoughts and prayers and compassion … there will be more opportunities sooner or later to help in other ways and EVERY bit counts. EVERY SINGLE BIT.

The crafting community, as is often the case, again has stood up with the Animal Rescue Craft Guild galvanising individuals and teams around the world to make much needed wraps, pouches, nests and so much more for rescued wildlife … more than 200,000 in their facebook group and counting. Sewing machines, knitting needles and crochet hooks are flying to the rescue. It is heartening … you are all amazing. And you are making a difference. However as of 11 January the response has been so huge that ARCG are now asking that no more new items be started until they have time to take stock of where they are at.

Another way you can help (people come up with the cleverest of ideas) … the empty esky campaign … started by two young Melbourne women hoping to galvanise the wider community to support local businesses affected by the fires … brilliant …. join them (and me now) so that when it is safe to do so … you can support those communities to rebuild … https://www.facebook.com/emptyesky/

I am sure there are and will be many more opportunities to help directly and indirectly. Choose a helping mechanism that speaks to you.

So … a very sad and gloomy picture for the start of the year … but the love and generosity of people is so huge … we watch and hope and do whatever we can … and when the ash settles, I fervently hope that the recovery is swift and that it will be enough.

With love

ANZAC DAY 2019

Up early for the dawn service at my local RSL this year, I have again been reflecting on the meaning of ANZAC Day to me.

I am grateful to all of you who have served and sacrificed on our behalf. It is a solemn undertaking to be ready to put your life on the line for your Country. One that is deserving of our gratitude.

And while we say the Ode today, I will be remembering not only my father who served in WWII, and those of my family who went before him … but all of those men and women who have served … all those who did not come home … and all of those who came home forever changed … and those who may not see fighting, but serve in different ways both at home and abroad.

I am grateful. Thank you … as always … for your service.

And thank you to those families who share that service, and bear the brunt of it, both in the absence of a loved one, but also in living with the aftermath.

It feels a little (ok a lot) weird not to be putting and taking poppies all over the place this year, after six years with the 5000 Poppies Project. And, although we have done a couple of minor installations at the East Malvern RSL and again at the Shrine of Remembrance around the 14/32nd Battalion’s tree … we have not been involved in any major installations … instead we have been working on disseminating our huge asset to organisations around the country so that they can create new and beautiful installations in their local communities.

It’s heartwarming and feels right to hand on the baton now and watch in awe as the poppies we have been custodians of for the last 6 years make an impact elsewhere.

So send post your photos on our facebook group … show us your beautiful poppy installations … you know we are a community that loves to share.

LEST WE FORGET

Australia Day 2019

Australia Day is that day when we in Australia celebrate our nationhood. I understand that not every Australian has the same connection to the day/date, but nevertheless at this point in our history, this is our day to reflect and to give thanks. And to be honest … I think we are incredibly lucky to call Australia home, and I would rather live in this country with all its flaws and challenges, than anywhere else in the world. It is a privilege.

This year is a little more special for me personally because I have been awarded an Order of Australia for service to Veterans and the community for the 5000 Poppies Project, and I am feeling … well … very proud.

It’s been a long and sometimes overwhelming journey to where we are with our “little” project. We never expected it to have the impact that it did, not only in Australia but in many places around the world … and I truthfully could not have achieved what we have achieved without the help of some very special people who have worked very hard with me to bring this project to fruition … words will never be enough to express my gratitude …

So while this award is ostensibly in recognition of my efforts in leading an amazing team to create this incredibly special work of art … on a super huge scale … I believe the award is really a recognition of the work of many thousands of contributors to the 5000 Poppies Project.

As you probably know, the Order of Australia is about service, and there are many forms of service – this has been ours. To create this stunning tribute to our servicemen and women, past and present, their families and their communities. Simultaneously a very personal tribute from each of us, and a very public collective message of love, honour, respect and gratitude for their service and sacrifice.

What we have achieved is breathtaking … and beautiful, and heartfelt, and meaningful on so many levels.

I was asked in an interview with Jon Faine back in 2015 what this project means to me and my answer then was that it’s ultimately about connection … people and community … and not suprisingly that still holds true for me.

So again, congratulations to all of you, on a stunning job very well done.

Thank you … thank you from the bottom of my heart for your contribution … and a special thank you to all of you who went the extra mile(s) to make this Project amazing … and there are many. Thank you to Kate and the rest of the core PHQ team in particular, and thank you to those who led and worked in groups all over the country to make this happen … thank you for your generosity, your warmth, your strength, your support, your work ethic, your dogged determination, your spirit, your love. Thank you for just being here … it’s been a wonderful journey. And it’s been an honour.

Thank you to Ted Baillieu who came right at the start, wondering what all the fuss was about, and then challenged us to create something so much “more” than what we had originally planned.

A huge thank you to Phil Johnson who took our beautiful poppies and our dreams and used his special skills to design a work of such beauty and poignancy, that it brought us to tears and the world stood up and took notice.

And of course, thank you to Margie who was there from the start AND who reminds me often that she warned me that it was going to be “bigger than Ben Hur” … but stayed anyway and has travelled this amazing road with me to the finish.

However, the biggest thank you of all goes to Wal and Stan, our dads, both WWII Veterans, who were there with us at the beginning, and who spurred us on in their own bemused but gentle way even if they weren’t physically here. For Marg and I, you are our personal heroes, and this has always been about you.

5000 Poppies has become a global movement of sorts now … made up of micro groups that will continue to evolve and create for self and community. But as Ted Bailieu often reminds me … there is this little red thread of connection that runs around the globe connecting us to each other, connecting us to our wider communities, connecting us with our personal histories and the personal histories of others (and interestingly some of our wider group have found shared personal histories in the process), connecting us with our past, and connecting us with the present and a legacy that I think will live on well into the future. And it is a legacy that I am proud of.

I am truly honoured to receive this award in recognition of us all.

With much love and gratitude

Lynn Berry OAM

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  The Scarlet Clad Chelsea Pensioners 2016

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It’s hard to believe the year is nearly over …

My 2018 end of year message has now been uploaded.  This one is a little on the long side, so grab a cup of [insert beverage of your choice] and sit back for 10 minutes or so as I remind you of the incredible story of how our crafting community came together en masse to create a powerful message of love, honour, respect, and much gratitude to our servicemen and women, their families and their communities for their service and sacrifice.

Wishing you a very special Christmas filled with much love and joy, and all good things [insert preferences] for 2019.

With love

Lynn

 

 

 

It’s only words … and words are all I have

Dear fantastic and amazing 5000 Poppies team.

I know that wordpress and facebook is probably not the most personal place to put this … but it is the most far reaching of all the mediums I have at my disposal to thank every single one of you for your contribution to our amazing 5000 Poppies Project.

It has been an intense five plus years to say the least.

But it has also been the most stunning, heartfelt and beautiful thing I have ever done.

Who knew that such a simple idea with a simple message of gratitude would capture the nation’s and indeed the world’s imagination in such a way.

And it is all because of you.

You.

Your poppies … your commitment,… your belief … your comments on facebook and other social media … your engagement and encouragement and your willingness to participate and to share.  Your work ethic. Your willingness to get the job done.

Words can never, ever, ever thank you enough.

What we have done as a collective is powerful beyond belief.

To those who have friends and family who have served or have family lost to war, families who were left at home to cope with the aftermath … and to those who have struggled with the aftermath themselves … it is impossible to miss our message …. Thank you from the depth of our very souls for your service and sacrifice.

5000 Poppies has now done its duty … nearly six years if you take in the earliest days … and we have done everything we set out to do and so much more.

To Marg, it’s been a wild ride … and we got there.  It’s been an amazing journey of the heart in honour of the incomparable Wal and Stan.  They were, and still are, our personal heroes. Thank you.

To Kate who has been the very best backstop ever … and who quit her job to see us through to the end … no amount of thanks can ever cover it.  I am grateful beyond belief for your unwavering support, and especially for stepping up over the last eight months or even more as I recovered from my knee surgery … it’s been a difficult year and I am not sure I personally would have made it through without you.

To our wonderful core PHQ team, many of whom have been with us right from the very start and have worked incredibly hard on everything we have done, especially the  inner wheel … Kate, Rosie, Sarah, Di, Anne, Rana, Helen, Wilma, Ann, Eleanor, Deb and Bernice.  You made me laugh and cry and kept me grounded and focused … not an easy task.

To the rest of our amazing and incredibly special PHQ team, Janis and Marilyn, Ing, Judi, Tori, Susan, Dawn, Inah, Robyn, Setsuko, Kathy, Ursula and Allison, and to those who were a big part of our PHQ group but couldn’t make it to PHQ or didn’t make it as often as they might have liked but took mountain loads of work home to do … and to those who came to see us through a stage of the journey, or stayed for a while and then needed to get back to their real lives … thank you.

To Phillip … wonderful Phillip.  What can I say?   You have been instrumental in getting our message out there so powerfully. We are a brilliant team … and we have achieved so much … you took our vision and made it so much more than we could have imagined … thank you. If we could give you gold and best in show … it would be yours … no … wait … you already have that. Your skills, your work ethic, your brilliant designs Phillip … exquisite, meaningful, powerful and felt to the core.  Thank you for taking our dreams and making them a reality.

To Vaughn … what can I say.  You have been the very best project manager a team could ever hope for.  You are magnificent!

To Nadine … the i-cord queen who along with Deanne and Marilyn in the initial stages, did the majority of the i-cording.  Thank you.

To those who have led teams all over the country … some I know and many I don’t … which makes it difficult to single you out.  Nadine and Pauline in Gippsland, Denise in North of the Yarra and NT,  Helen in Bendigo, Carol and her team in Mount Martha, Susan and her teams in Melbourne, Susan Campbell-Wright in Point Cook, Meredith Stafford in Geelong, my knitting group in Melbourne, Lisa in Oakleigh, Angela Leung and her group in Croydon, Anne Bryan and her team in Kilsyth/Mooroolbark, Janet Welsch at Textile Offcuts in Lilydale, and The Fed Square team who came every month, and were every bit as excited about it as the next man, and now my poor brain has run out of individual names which is making me very sad.  Thank you.

I am constantly feeling like I might have left someone out of these lists … it’s exhausting worrying about it … let me know if you feel I have at 5000poppies@gmail.com and with your help, I will edit happily …

To Ledy and Meredith who took on the daunting task of managing the Canberra avalanche after the War Memorial tribute was announced … I am not sure anything could have prepared any of us for that … thank you.

To the fantastic Canberra team who took up the gauntlet with a vengeance last year … who loved it and owned it and did a magnificent job.  It was a super human effort.    And then to maintain the installation at the War Memorial for five weeks … a mammoth commitment by all accounts, although I believe it was extremely rewarding to get to talk to the public every day about 5000 Poppies.  I was in serious envy!!!!

To those who made poppies for the various stages of the Project …in all, nearly a million of them, thank you. They are beautiful, and they have been cherished individually and collectively.  We were well aware that they were imbued with your love, honour and respect and we were honoured to create such beautiful collective tributes with them.

To those who continued to make poppies for other projects so that not only Australia but all over the world … would be covered in a sea of red.

And to those husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters who took up the gauntlet too especially Ray, Jonathan, Tim, Evan, David, Allan and Pete, all of whom went above and beyond in support and energy and to big brother Chris who made our PHQ tables … they single handedly saved our backs and we sent grateful thoughts to every day for them.

To the massive teams who have helped us to install and deinstall countless installations.  How incredible you are.  I am overwhelmed by your willingness to hunker down, and work as hard as you did in sometimes not particularly pleasant circumstances.  No words!

To Ted Baillieu … I blame you!

To the East Malvern RSL which has been our home for nearly two years … we certainly could not have achieved what we have achieved without your generosity … we have loved being part of your family.

To all who have supported us financially and otherwise … wow … especially our major supporters.  The Victorian Government and Qantas for getting us to London, the Australian Government, Neil Mitchell, and our private supporter Margaret … for getting us to Fromelles.  To the Australian War Memorial team, Australian Parliament House team, The Victorian RSL, the Australian Airforce Association, Carpet Call, Wondoflex and Australian Country Spinners … we are grateful beyond words. There are more … many more.

To Daniele and her wonderful Rotary friends in France who first helped us immensely in Fromelles and now have taken our poppies from Fromelles and put them to work over the last few years alongside her own personal tributes, in honour of those brave soldiers who fought and died in France and Belgium.

To Sue and Adrian Egglestone … for creating that magnificent Gratitude Sculpture that was at the head of our display in Fed Square 2015 … it was the most magnificent piece of art now living in its new home at the Repatriation Hospital in Victoria.

To Verena and Sarah … our two English compatriots who put together 1200 poppies to add to our Chelsea Flower Show installation in honour of their own countrymen and women who served.

To David Brooks who has been recording our journey since Chelsea and plans to make a documentary about the project … thank you.

To Bulldog who did an amazing job creating and decorating our planting tools for the installation and a couple of deinstallation tools for the Shrine deinstall … not to mention modifying our short stems so they were beautiful … brilliant effort.

To the wonderful venues who provided us with housing for workshops and working spaces … what a gift … Melbourne City Council for the Town Hall, Morris and Sons Melbourne, Federation Square, Granny Square in Richmond, Crafty Cottage Oakleigh, Wondoflex, Malvern, Fawkner RSL, Opendrawer in Camberwell, Allan’s Bakery, Kilsyth, Milkbar & Co, Mt Martha, Mornington Library, Poppy’s Cafe in Canberra and all those who offered up their homes for making and finishing, and the myriad of other places where our teams met regularly for poppymaking … There are also the many hundred of individuals and organisations that collected poppies from their local areas throughout the project and sent them on to us at their own cost …. it has been truly amazing to have your support … thank you!

So …now it’s time for us to retire and to let a new breed of poppymakers continue the journey into the future.  It has been a difficult withdrawal for many … as it is for me, so I understand  …  And I suspect that my poppy days are not quite over … you just never know … and there is still much work to do including dissemination of the asset, a book and, apparently, a documentary.

It has been an honour and a privilege.

There is now a little red thread of connection that runs around the globe on so many different levels

Connecting us to each other ….

Connecting us with our wider communities.

Connecting us with our personal histories and the personal histories of others … sometimes our members discovered shared histories and relatives they never knew existed

Connecting us with the past …

Connecting us with the present, and a legacy that I hope will span long into the future

The facebook group will go on.  And there will be news aplenty in the new year about what comes next and what will happen.  We have started the process of disseminating the gigantic asset we have accumulated over the last five years, and I expect that will continue into the new year.

For the moment.  Marg and I plan to have a bit of a rest but watch this space.

I told you it was addictive.

With all my love and much, much gratitude.

Lynn

Done and (almost) Dusted

What an enormous few weeks we have had at 5000 Poppies.

I am in serious awe of what we have achieved and even bigger and more serious awe of the amazing team we have had behind us all the way.

It is incredible to me that we take four days to create an tribute so powerful that it literally takes your breath away and then in one day … with around 60 volunteers … it’s gone and all that is left are the kangaroos reclaiming the ground they reluctantly relinquished just over a month ago.

There have been tears aplenty in the last couple of days … but the overwhelming emotion for me is pride.  We set out to remind our servicemen and women, their families and their communities that we value there service and their sacrifice and I think we have done it beautifully …  We have galvanised an army of crafters to create the most beautiful tributes the country has ever seen.  I has been an extraordinary labour of love and again I am in awe!

Thank you and congratulations to the whole team … every single one of you went above and beyond and I love you for your commitment and perseverance and willingness to get the job done … whatever was required.

Lest We Forget!

This is a reminder of what you have achieved in the last few weeks … not that you could forget … but worth reviewing …

 

Not Forgotten …

We are moving forward … at a pace it feels … towards our last wave of tributes this week for Remembrance Day and the Centenary of Armistice next Sunday.  It’s been amazing and very gratifying to be able to take the opportunity this morning to take our beautiful contemplative walk at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance in the early morning light with very few people around.  the Ode is an incredibly powerful and evocative excerpt from the Poem “For the Fallen” by Laurence Binyon.  the first line … “They shall grow not old” always transports me to those places in my heart where my gratitude for all those brave souls lives.  How can it not.

Everything we have done over the last five years plus is a reminder to me, and to any who look upon these stunning tributes created with loving hands, that we won’t forget

There is a thread that runs from line to line linking the words … it is reminiscent of the threads of connection … familial or otherwise … to those who have served … and those who are no longer with us but left us with such an amazing legacy of courage, and bravery, and mateship.

A small tribute from our original panels (2015) has been installed at Point Cook and looks amazing as a backdrop to their Cenotaph and commemorative activities which took place last night.

Photos by Kay Dickenson

Tomorrow we begin our final installation at Australian Parliament House on the forecourt.  Praying for the weather to hold while we put this in place.

We also have a small installation to put in at Ainslie Place in Canberra.

And then that is it.

We sincerely hope that the wider community carries on with our legacy … it’s such a wonderful way to build community, share stories and honour the memory of those who have served or are serving, their families and their communities.

Plus knitting and crocheting poppies is kinda fun!

LETS NOT FORGET THEM