Poppy goal expands to match WWI toll

The 5000 poppies NZ project. Photo / Dean Purcell

Craft groups, the RSA and crochet enthusiasts are getting behind an ambitious goal of making 5000 poppies by Anzac Day next year.

The 5000 Poppies NZ project was initiated to help commemorate the 100-year anniversary since the Anzac landing in Gallipoli.

The project's national co-ordinator, Trena Lile, said the group had nearly reached its goal of collecting 5000 handmade poppies and planned to exceed this by making more than 18,000 poppies - one for every Kiwi serviceman to die in World War I.

"It's a very ambitious goal," she said. "But the response has been absolutely wonderful. We are just blown away."

Collected poppies will be displayed in Christchurch's Air Force Museum from February to July next year.

"We're going to create a wall of poppies which will be the first thing you see when you walk in."

The project began in Australia with plans for more than 25,000 poppies to be "planted" in Melbourne's Fed Square. It asks for handmade poppies which can be crocheted, knitted, felted or sewn from any materials.