BIRGIT Norris, 59, an ambulance care assistant (ACA) with NSL in Herefordshire, which provides non-emergency patient transport for eligible patients throughout the county, has taken a different approach to showing her support for our war veterans this year, whilst demonstrating her talent for knitting and crocheting.

Just over a week ago, Birgit, who is originally from Denmark but who has called Abergavenny home for forty years, decided to knit herself the traditional poppy as Remembrance Day inches closer. Birgit has two former foster sons who serve in the British Armed Forces, who have been stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Within a day one of her regular patients, a lady in her nineties, asked Birgit if she could also make one for her in return for a donation. Birgit agreed. Little did she know that ten days later - with a little help from friends and family spreading the word on FaceBook - she would have crocheted more than three hundred in response to similar requests from patients and friends in Hereford, Abergavenny, and as far afield as the US, Canada, Afghanistan, Iraq and Denmark. She has also made several white ones following requests from Holland. White is the traditional poppy colour worn by the Dutch to commemorate their war veterans, as well as a few purple ones to commemorate animals who also served in former war zones.

It’s not the first time that Birgit has got her knitting needles out for charity. The main charity she knits for is St Michael’s Hospice in Hereford, selling items such as Victorian knitted decorations at local crafts markets, with half of all proceeds going to the hospice. It’s a charity close to Birgit, having lost her parents and her husband to cancer.

Birgit’s daughter, Donna, a fishmonger in Norfolk, has sold fifty, with the proceeds going to the Royal British Legion, courtesy of two local war veterans who collect each year.

It takes Birgit six minutes to crochet one poppy, and she places a black button in the middle, and a proper brooch pin is placed on the back so that it’s safe for all ages.

Wayne Spedding, Client Account Director for NSL in Hereford, said: “That Birgit raises money regularly and over many years for charity is highly commendable, but it’s absolutely fantastic that this year she took a different approach to the traditional poppy - with all proceeds going to the Royal British Legion. Birgit works hard in her role as an ACA, and is popular with the patients she transports - and now she has proven she’s also dedicated to helping commemorate those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. We at NSL are all very proud of her.”