A CROCHET club has created 639 poppies – to pay tribute to every Galalean who lost their life during World War I.

Members of the group, who meet at the Focus Centre every Wednesday, started on the project last year.

And the result of their hard work is an eight-foot memorial on public display ahead of Remembrance Sunday.

Tracey Alder, who takes the class, told us: “Around 10 of us crocheted the 639 poppies to honour every person who died during the war.

“We came up with the idea early last year with Bill White, chairman of Gala Remembers, and we just finished the project about a fortnight ago. We are very pleased with how it looks.”

Once the poppies were crocheted, they were nailed onto the cross, which was donated by local employability charity Works+.

Tracey added: “The cross was originally meant to be six-feet tall, but we are so pleased we were able to get an eight-foot one as there were so many poppies to attach.

“We would like to thank Works+ for donating it, the Focus Centre for providing the wool and Elizabeth Dawtry who helped me attach the poppies to the cross.”

The group is encouraging members of the public to view the memorial, which is on display at the entrance of the community centre in Livingstone Place.

An afternoon tea will also be held there this (Friday) afternoon between 2pm and 4pm, where the crochet group will raffle a special blanket to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

Judith Cleghorn, chairwoman of the Focus Centre’s committee, said: “We would love to see as many people as possible come for afternoon tea on Friday afternoon.”