POPPIES will be grown in churches and church schools as a joint act of remembrance for the centenary of the First World War.

Poppy seed packets are being distributed to every church school and church across the new diocese of West Yorkshire and the Dales, which includes North Yorkshire and parts of County Durham.

Senior church leaders have designated April 30 as poppy planting day and are urging people to mark the identity as a new diocese together and remember those who lost their lives in the war.

The diocese comes into being on Easter Sunday, when the three existing dioceses of Wakefield, Bradford, Ripon and Leeds are formally dissolved.

The Rt Revd Nick Baines, the new bishop designate for the new diocese said: “A century is not a long time, but only 100 years ago the world fell apart in the most violent way.

“This simple act of growing poppies reminds us of our past and is a very visual way of pledging ourselves to serve together in the future.

The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, welcomed the poppy planting initiative, while the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has posted a short film at youtube.com/watch?v=tQusWTMm2gU&feature=youtu.be urging people to plant poppy as a sign of hope for peace in the future.