A mile of butterflies are to be painted by schools across Preston ahead of Armed Forces Day.
AdvertisementAlmost 2,000 youngsters are epected to contribute to a special arts installation for the event later in June.
The University of Central Lancashire is working with the Armed Forces group on the Poppies Project.
Becky Steel, who is helping organise the project, said: “We wanted to emphasise the importance of the work of our armed forces, veterans and their families in accessible way that captures the imagination of all generations involved alongside raising awareness of and funds for the charities that support them.
The project began at Weeton County Primary School and Holy Family Catholic Primary School in Ingol.
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Holy Family pupil Lincoln Higham, five, completed the first butterfly of the exhibition.
He said: “I’m doing my butterfly like a rainbow so it’s got happy colours on it. I like painting, this is awesome.”
Classmate six-year-old Lola Edgar said: “I’m doing my butterfly for my daddy. When I was little, my daddy was in the army for a long time. My favourite bit was putting lots of glitter on my butterfly to make it all sparkly.”
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Chair of the Armed Forces Group Jacky Hohol said: “I was offered the poppy silks by the Poppy Factory to see if I knew of any organisations who would like to do something creative with them.
“A short phone call to Becky at UCLan set the ball rolling and the project quickly grew arms and legs. Raising the awareness of military charities in this way is fabulous as it’s been so much fun for the children too. It’s been great to see several charities working together with schools and organisations to create something different and special for the community.”
The final piece of art will be unveiled at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery on Friday 17 June at 1.00pm and will stay on display until 27 June.
Any schools wanting to get involved are asked to email rsteel@uclan.ac.uk