An ex-soldier from Bury has honoured lost service men and women by creating a poppy waterfall and arch in Bolton.
Stoneclough village is holding a Remembrance Sunday service (November 13) with a modern take to make sure future generations will always never forget the sacrifice made by those who risked their lives on the front lines.
The service which is now in its second year was started by ex-service man David De Souza ,41, after he survived a suicide bombers attack whilst on protection duty in Iraq in 2007.
De Souza used his jeep to block a truck full of explosives which sent his three-tone truck to roll over six times when the attackers exploded.
He suffered a plethora of physical injuries from the attack including a brain haemorrhage that caused temporary blindness – Since the attack he has also been suffering with PTSD.
This drove De Souza to ensure that Bolton would commemorate the fallen in a honoured manner to ensure remembrance lives on.
De Souza told North West Tonight: “If you do not tell children and educate them about why we wear a poppy I guarantee in 20 or 30 years there will be no one at a cenotaph and how sad will that be.”
The poppy waterfall is made of more than 10,000 poppies which cascade down the side of Ringley bridge and into the River Irwell.
The whole event is community funded and relies on donations to go ahead from scaffolding to the bottle themselves.
The local primary school has played a huge role in creating the arch by making the poppies which form the arch and waterfall.
The Stoneclough Remembrance Day will be an annual event and organisers hope will continue to grow year on year.
Sunday’s service will start at 10:30am on Ringley Bridge where a flag bearer will start the service and the service will be ended by a bugle player.
Later on in the evening a candlelight service will also be held at the same site where a light up tree will be placed to symbolise the fallen.
The Stoneclough poppy waterfall supports the Royal British Legion (RBL) , which provides support to to veterans of the British armed forces and their families.
To donate to the RBL visit https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/david-de-souza2?utm_source=whatsapp
