During the 100th anniversary of World War 1, BBC Radio Nottingham is running an appeal for knitted and crocheted poppies.

To help reach the total of 11,000 poppies to mark each of the 11,000 fallen men from Nottinghamshire during the Great War, Beales department store, located within the Four Seasons shopping centre, Mansfield, is holding a Big Poppy Knit event.

Coats Crafts, a concession within Beales, will be holding the event on Tuesday 16th September. Beales colleagues and members of the Knit and Chat group will be on the shopping centre mall between 11am and 2pm where they will be encouraging shoppers to get involved and knit their own poppies.

The knitted poppies will be sold alongside the traditional poppies and all the money raised will be donated to the Royal British Legion. Yarn and patterns for the poppies will be provided by Coats Crafts and knitters will be encouraged to bring along their own knitting needles to the event.

Ahead of the event, Gavin Lewis, Beales store manager, said: “We are really excited to be supporting the Royal British Legion and the WW1 commemorations with our knitting event. Coats Crafts are also a collection point for the knitted poppies. The Knit and Chat group as well as some of our customers have already been knitting like mad to help make a difference to this project. Whether you knit one or one hundred poppies, you will be commemorating those who lost their lives in WW1.”

Rebekah O’Neill, centre manager, added: “We are delighted to be holding this event in the centre, so make sure you bring your knitting needles and get involved! It is a fantastic cause and it’s great to see staff and customers coming together to help support the World War One commemorations as well as support a really worthwhile charity.”

The Royal British Legion is the UK’s leading Armed Forces charity, providing practical, emotional and financial support to all members of the British Armed Forces past and present, and their families.

To find out more about The Big Knit and other forthcoming events at The Four Seasons Shopping Centre visit www.fourseasonsshopping.co.uk