Anzac Day public holiday poppies project gathers pace in Playford as residents knit 5000 flowers ready for Melbourne on April 25

RESIDENTS in an Adelaide suburb are working their fingers to the bone to get their special display ready for Anzac Day.

Anzac Poppies

PLAYFORD residents are doing their bit to mark the Anzac centenary by making poppies as part of a national project to display 5000 knitted and fabric poppies on April 25.

The Grenville Community Hub knitting group has contributed to the display of about 150 poppies at the Playford Civic Centre.

It will become part of a national display in Federation Square, Melbourne.

The 5000 Poppies Project, created by Melbourne artists Lynn Berry and Margaret Knight, is a campaign to recognise Australians killed in conflicts over the past 100 years.

Knitter Shirley Wilson, of Smithfield, said the project had been a lot of fun.

“When we first heard about it, we thought we were going to have to knit 5000 poppies and we thought ‘wow’, but we’ve succeeded in doing a lot of them,” she said.

“We’ve had a lot of fun doing it and debating who’s got the best way of doing it, so it’s quite fun.”

Mrs Wilson said the cause held a special meaning for many in the group who knew people who had served Australia in overseas conflicts.

“My brother was in the Korean War ... and he came back with some horrific stories, so it’s got a lot of meaning to me,” she said.

“It’s an honour to have been asked to do this and we were always willing to help.”

The group of seven meets every Monday and in the Grenville Community Hub, near the Elizabeth Shopping Centre.

“We sit there and we knit and we talk about all sorts of the things,” Ms Wilson said.

The poppies will be displayed at the Playford Civic Centre until tomorrow, when they will be taken to Melbourne to be part of the national display.