7 GoodGymers yarn-bombed the Community Centre this week, continuing work on the Craft Coop's stunning poppy masterpiece.

We've spent many weeks supporting this project and it's fantastic to see it all coming together, one poppy and one stitch at a time.

Diya and Kanika took on the challenge of sewing together the next section of canvas, the netting that the poppies are attached to. After a couple of false starts, they settled into a rhythm and worked steadily from opposite ends. With the finishing line in sight and just a few stitches left to go, they discovered they'd sewn the pieces together in opposite directions! Thankfully, all was not lost. Diya quickly came up with a clever workaround, leaving Michelle with an easy fix to complete the following day.

Meanwhile, Mike, Sol, Jess, Anne-Laure and Roberta got stuck into attaching poppies to the prepared canvas. These were the larger poppies, and Michelle's top tip was to have one person tack everything into place before the rest of the team secured them properly. Jess took on tacking duty while everyone else got busy stitching. Sol developed a brilliant system that allowed the whole team to work on the canvas simultaneously, making the process much more efficient.

A huge amount of work was completed during the session, and the finish line is now beginning to loom into view. We have one more crafting session on 14 October to help complete the masterpiece, before returning on 21 October at St John the Baptist Church to assist with the installation. We can't wait to see the final display in all its glory!

Seven Goodgymers spent a happy and productive hour at the community centre adding to the poppy artwork organised by the craft coop. The numerous poppies were carefully placed and sewn in place on the backing material, each was individual and unique. Many hands made light work! We all enjoyed the joyful singing and lively discussion from a community group sharing the building making for an entertaining evening. If anyone missed the fun, we will be back to carry on the task in a couple of weeks!

11 GoodGymers met at the Community Centre to continue the good work of tacking crocheted poppies to a 3 metre net panel. This panel will be part of the 21 metre memorial piece that Craft Coop is putting together for Remembrance Day.

So what is this Le Coquelicot Tapestry, you ask? Well, it's French for The Poppy Tapestry, inspired both by the topical Bayeux and our resident French GG-er, Anne-Laure. Sol jokingly suggested we should charge £2 for people to see this Poppy Tapestry and we thought it'll be more appealing if it sounded French. Enter, Anne-Laure and may we present, Le Coquelicot Tapestry. Voilà! :poppy:

Many hands made good progress as we chatted and laughed, resulting in just another social and productive GoodGym mission.

Five GoodGymmers met at the Spencer Denney Centre in Windsor for another round of leafletting for Age Concern.

The leaflets were promoting the centre’s activities for older people and their upcoming fundraising events — this time a Bingo/Quiz and a Bubbles and Baubles session! They sound like great fun and everyone is welcome.

The team set off up the hill with a couple of target roads requested by the Centre. We quickly split into groups: Sol and Juli tackling the right side, Jess on the left, and Anne‑Laure and Angela looping around the crescent. We moved at lightning pace, seeking out letterboxes, dodging doggies and mastering front gates. Within just half an hour, 150 leaflets were dispatched and we headed back to the Centre!

We hope the local community supports the Spencer Denney Centre so it can continue its brilliant work supporting older people in the area.

Seven GoodGymmers met Michelle from the Craft Coop at the Community Centre to begin work on their monumental poppy display for Remembrance Day.

Michelle shared the story behind the installation: the Craft Coop are creating multiple panels of knitted and crocheted poppies that will be hung from a church in Windsor as a flowing memorial. Many people — including some GoodGymmers — have already contributed poppies, and the team have collected around 12,000 so far.

All of these poppies need to be attached to netting panels that will form a dramatic “river of poppies.” The panel we worked on tonight was a test piece, used to calculate the final weight of the installation (including when wet) to ensure it can be safely displayed.

Shelia, Hannah, Jen, Jess and Anne‑Laure took on the task of attaching poppies under Michelle’s guidance. Each poppy needed to be sewn securely to the canvas without overlapping too much — a chance for the Craft Coop to refine the best layout and attachment method for the final panels.

Meanwhile, Amy and Deepti were entrusted with creating the two large feature poppies that will be included in the installation. They stitched together pre‑cut plastic canvas, added the black centre, and began attaching the red pom‑poms. These oversized poppies are already looking fantastic and will be real showstoppers once finished.

It was satisfying to make visible progress, but this project will take many volunteers and many hours to bring to life. Keep your eyes peeled — we’ll be putting on more sessions to help this beautiful memorial become a reality.