Pensioner, 93, and carer stitch 900 poppies to make stunning Remembrance dress
A 93-year-old and a carer knitted, crocheted and sewed more than 900 poppies together to make this stunning dress for Remembrance Sunday.
Sunny Collins, an advanced carer at Yew Tree Court retirement complex in Shifnal, spent four months hand-crafting the poppies and creating the gown in time for this weekend.
While she carried out the bulk of the work, she was ably assisted by resident Mrs Margaret Fish, who has knitted 38 poppies since Remembrance last year for the dress.
“Mrs Fish did such an amazing job - she’s an amazing lady,” said Sunny.
“There are some knitted, I crocheted a few, but when I realised how long it was going to take, I made some from felt.
“It’s taken me four solid months, working on it every single day. My husband is the most tolerant man in the world. There have been nights where I’ve just said ‘it’s going to have to be fish and chips’ because I was so busy with the dress.
“I only got stressed really over the last couple of days, but it has been such a pleasure to do.
“I just wanted them (the residents) to have something they could bring out every year to put on display.”
Sunny works with her sister Sam at Yew Tree Court, and between them they’ve racked up more than 50 years working in care.
“Sam and I come from a military background. My father served and my brother works as a warrant officer in the army.
“Residents are very stoic and patriotic (about Remembrance). I wanted to be able to give them something to lift them when they walk into the building and make them feel a bit better about their day.
“I think the world can be quite a depressing place, particularly for older people. I think they feel neglected at the moment. They went through hell during Covid.
“I think when their grandkiddies come in it (the dress) is a good introduction to tell them what the poppies are all about.
“In my early days in nursing, some of the people that had memory deficiency conditions were actually in camps in the war and they would spend weeks reliving their awful experiences.
“We are very proud of what we do. People tend to stay with us until they pass away. We’ve got some residents we’ve been with for years.
“We recently lost Kenneth Pugh who had been with us a long time, and was a real pillar of the community. He was in the military and we used to laugh about some of his tales, but we both cried at some of them too.
“We feel very privileged to do what we’re able to do. We love every single resident in the building.”
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