Artwork on display at South Western Railway stations to raise awareness for Poppy Appeal 2017

Artwork on display at South Western Railway stations to raise awareness for Poppy Appeal 2017

Friday 10th November 2017

A South Western Railway employee has been doing all he can to publicise the Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal ahead of Remembrance Day.

Manoj Bhardwaj, Station Manager at Ascot, has decorated Virginia Water, Ascot, Bracknell, Woking, Sunningdale, Staines and Martins Heron stations with paper poppies and artwork created by local school children.

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Manoj said: “I wanted to help raise awareness of the Poppy Appeal which is why I involved local schools to help decorate our stations with poppies. The children have been amazing with their creativity and their artwork is brilliant.

“We’ve had some really positive feedback from passengers passing through the stations already and hope to raise lots of money for the Royal British Legion as a result.”

Manoj was previously commended by the Royal British Legion as a “true friend” after committing to decorating dozens of stations with giant poppies across the region in recent years.

Ms Samantha Sawyer, Headmistress at Staines Prep school, said: “The moment we heard of this opportunity to promote the Poppy Appeal we contacted Mr Bhardwaj to see how we could help.”

“It has been a privilege to be involved in this community project. It is great to see our artwork at the local station, and I hope others can see what the poppies mean too,” said one Year 6 pupil from the school.

Alan Penlington, Customer Experience Director for South Western Railway, said: “Manoj and his team, local schools and our customers have done a great job decorating stations with poppies to help raise awareness of the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Sunday commemorations.

“We will also be observing a two silence at our stations across the network on Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.”