Remembrance pebbles hand-painted by Worksop children to be laid in a Bassetlaw memorial garden

Five boxes have been filled with beautifully painted pebbles that were used in a Poppy Appeal display in Morrisons, Kilton Road, Worksop.

Royal British Legion Worksop branch secretary and Poppy Appeal organiser, Grant Cullen, and his colleague Tim Lewis collected the pebbles after Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Instead of throwing the stones away, Grant and Richard Mott, manager of Barnby Moor Memorial Park, in Ranby, came up with the idea to use them in the memorial avenue so the children’s efforts would last much longer.

Grant and Tim have volunteered to paint each stone, which have been painted with water-based acrylic paint, with a clear varnish to make them weatherproof.

Grant said: “It will be good for those who participated in painting the stones to see that their efforts were not just for a few days at Remembrancetide.”

Morrisons’ Community Champion, Vicky Brooks, thought up the display after wanting to involve the local community in the 100th anniversary of the Poppy Appeal, and she asked schools and local groups to get in on the action.

Vicky said: “It was a brilliant response from so many schools, Scouts and Brownies groups. I cannot thank them enough.

“Customers loved seeing the store display and stopped to look at the pebbles from the children.

“It's fantastic that the pebbles will be displayed for some time to come at the memorial garden. I cannot wait to see them laid out, they will bring so much colour to the garden.”