The team at Oakham Fire Station, alongside a 'battalion' of local knitters and crocheters, have been working hard over the last month to create a stunning display of poppies ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

Throughout November, poppies are displayed and worn as a show of support for the Armed Forces community. 

The poppy is a well-known and well-established symbol, one that carries a wealth of history and meaning with it, stemming from the First World War.

It is strongly linked with Armistice Day, 11 November, but the poppy's origin as a popular symbol of remembrance lies in the landscapes of the First World War. Poppies were a common sight, especially on the Western Front.

Residents can dontate in exchange for a poppy this Remembrance weekend. Image credit: Nub News.

Wearing a poppy is still a very personal choice, reflecting individual experiences and personal memories.

Oakham Fire Station are honouring the work of the Royal British Legion, who have come to use the symbol of the poppy in their fundraising work for the Armed Forces community, by hosting a Memorial Garden this November.

The poppies on display have been made by local creatives, who have crocheted and knitted red and purple poppies to mark the annual celebrations of the end of World War I.

They have chosen to create a garden of red and purple poppies to not only represent the human lives that were sacrificed during the war, but the animals that were lost too - a particularly poignant choice in Rutland, where the community is so passionate about their dogs, horses and other family pets and working animals.

Thank you to the volunteers who created and assembled the poppy displays. Image credit: Nub News.

The team said: "We would like to say a huge Thank you to everyone that helped to make these beautiful poppies. Also a special Thank you to Pepper's- A Safe Place for planting and organising this lovely display!

"If you would like to purchase one of these poppies, then we have some left in the entrance of Oakham fire station. Just a small donation to Britishlegion.org.uk is all we ask."