Mayor of Penzance, Cllr Jonathan How, will be amongst the first to lay a wreath on the Penzance to London train service as part of the ‘Poppies to Paddington’ event organised by The Veterans Charity and GWR.
Last year saw the first ‘Poppies to Paddington’, organised by The Veterans Charity, when most Remembrance events across the Duchy and in the capital were suspended because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Swathes of poppy wreaths were placed on Great Western Railway trains and carried to London Paddington station from across the country on Remembrance Day.
The event was well supported and earnt The Veterans Charity and GWR an award from Armed Forces Community Lockdown Awards – Most Supportive Business to the Armed Forces during Lockdown.
Due to public demand, Poppies to Paddington will be taking place again this year, with the train departing Penzance at 5:05am.
Danny Greeno, CEO of The Veterans Charity, said “The way this has snowballed is amazing and it has really taken on a life of its own – it’s going to be huge. GWR were brilliant last year and really helped make it special, so this year with many more operators, on board we are expanding it even further”
“We have wreaths touring all over the country and we’ve had a brilliant response from numerous transport companies, for which we’re deeply grateful.”
The Mayor will be joining Derek Thomas MP and representatives of Armed Forces charities at Penzance Station ahead of the train’s departure at 05:05am on Thursday 11th November.
“Poppies to Paddington gives us a modern-day echo of the long train ride from Penzance Station that began so many people’s journey to war. We must never forget that quite a number of those same people suffered horrific injuries while others never returned at all” said Cllr Jonathan How, Mayor of Penzance.
“As the poppies coalesce at Paddington it’s important to remember, to paraphrase Winston Churchill, that ‘Jaw-Jaw can never be as bad as War-War’.”
On arrival at Paddington, the wreaths will be placed at the station’s iconic war memorial, on Platform 1, in time for the Remembrance Day service at 11:00am.
