A CHURCH in Tadley is inviting members of the town community to commemorate Remembrance Sunday in a slightly different way this year.

St Paul's Church of England church on The Green, Tadley, is asking people in the town to paint a poppy onto a stone, write a message of remembrance, and place it near the Tadley War Memorial.

In a video posted to Facebook, Reverend Richard Harlow said: "This year it’s going to be a little bit different celebrating and marking Remembrance Sunday.

"It’s the 75th anniversary since the end of the second world war and, because of coronavirus, lots of people won’t be able to mark it in the way that you might normally. Normally, lots of people would gather in St Paul’s Church or gather outside around the war memorial on Remembrance Sunday. Because we are only going to be able to have relatively small numbers here on Remembrance Sunday, and you may not even be able to buy a poppy, we invite you to mark Remembrance Sunday slightly differently this year.

"Perhaps some time in the next few days, you’d like to find a stone and paint it with your own poppy. Then write on the back, something like ‘We will remember them’, or some of the names of the men from Tadley that died in the two world wars. Or maybe there’s a member of you’re own family that you’d like to remember in this way. Paint the stone, write something on the back, and then come and place it by the war memorial any time in the next couple of weeks, leading up to November 11.

"We will be out here on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, but it will be different from previous years. We don’t want you to miss out on marking this event.

"And, of course, make a donation. Make a donation online to the British Legion, or Help for Heroes, or one of the other service charities, whichever way you would like to. We will also have buckets out at various events so that you can donate that way safely."