PICTURES commemorating the centenary of the First World War have been made by adults with learning disabilities in Southend.

The three large artworks will be on show from late afternoon on Wednesday, November 12 until Sunday, November 16 at the Forum in Elmer Square, Southend.

On Monday, August 4– the 100th anniversary of the day the First World War began - service users and staff from Avro Viking Day Centre in Avro Road, Southend began creating the pictures which have just been completed.

Avro Viking Day Service Officer, Andrew Watson who led the initiative said: “During the summer we were talking about World War One so I gave a bit of a background to it and people started to ask about poppies.

“I explained that the poppies blossomed on the battlefields after the ground had been churned up, and everyone was really interested in this.

“By then, we found out about the poppy project at the Tower of London. While we couldn’t do anything on that scale, instead we made our pictures with 60,000 paper poppies – to represent the number killed, injured or missing on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

“We had 36 people contributing to these artworks. Some people could cut out, some could paste and some could paint so everyone had a role to play regardless of their disabilities, and staff got involved too. It’s been a real team effort.”

David Norman, councillor responsible for adult social care, health and housing,  said: “These striking pictures are a tremendous achievement and we hope as many people as possible will come along to see them exhibited at the Forum Southend.

“We are very grateful to everyone at Avro Viking who has helped with this project in any way. These moving images are another vivid way to illustrate the devastating impact and human cost of the Great War.

“It is vital for us to remember this, especially as we mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the conflict. We really value this very special offering from Avro Viking, to the wide-ranging Great War commemoration activities taking place in Southend.”

For more details of other Great War Commemoration events in Southend, please visit: www.southend.gov.uk and www.theforumsouthend.co.uk