A SCHOOL in North Yorkshire is supporting a local poppy-maker who is creating her own version of the flower to raise money for the Royal British Legion.

More than 60 pupils at Lady Lumley’s School, Pickering, have so far bought the new poppy badges which were supplied by Shaun Brosnan, the Malton, Norton and District representative for the Royal British Legion.

He said: “I think it is fantastic that the pupils are so enthusiastic and wanting to support the Poppy Day Appeal in this particular way.” The badges are made from beads and safety pins by Juliet Stewart of Thornton-le-Dale, along with local friends.

So far she has used more than 11,000 safety pins and 110,000 beads to create more than 1,000 badges, at the rate of four an hour.

Her father was a Second World War pilot who was wounded and received an early form of plastic surgery, earning him membership of McIndoe’s Guinea Pig Club.

Lady Lumley’s School has long been involved in raising money for Help For Heroes, and recently brought in nearly £700 with a non-uniform day.

For the past four years, Year Ten pupils have also had the opportunity to visit the battlefields of the Somme and Ypres.

The school’s sixth-formers are also selling traditional poppies, and it has a week of assemblies at which a wreath is the focal point. It is then laid at Pickering’s War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday.

Richard Bramley, the head teacher of Lady Lumley’s, said: “It is very encouraging that our pupils continue to take a keen interest in the themes of remembrance and not just the history of the past.

“Wars continue to affect our world and it is vital that our young people understand the effect they have on people’s lives and particularly our forces.”