Red poppies will be seen adorning the street this week.

Poppy Day, which will be celebrated on Friday (April 19), is an annual fundraiser for the Returned and Services Association and is observed the Friday before Anzac Day (April 25).

Waitaki RSA welfare trustee Warren Prescott said Poppy Day is the main fundraiser for the association and provides an opportunity to remember the past.

Red poppy pins will be sold on the street and in businesses throughout Ōamaru.

Poppies have been associated with battlefield deaths since the First World War as one of the first things to grow following the battles.

“The whole fields and everything was just cleaned out and the landscape was swiftly turned into fields of mud, where little or nothing could be grown. But out of the devastation of the First World War, resilient, bright red Flanders poppies grew and flowered in their thousands,” Warren said.

“It came after the First World War. It was a remembrance and acknowledgment of what we've got as far as what happened in World War One and hoping that it represents peace and that one should never see war again.”

Unlike military medals, the poppy did not have a designated side to be worn on.

“As far as the poppy is concerned, you can put it either side, put it in the middle, put it wherever.”

In previous years, Poppy Day has raised more than $8000 for the local RSA and Warren hopes this year would be the same.

Although Ōamaru does not have an established RSA branch, the welfare trust was “very much alive” and the money raised would be used to benefit ex-service personnel in the North Otago area, he says

“We look forward to your continuous support, which is always very much appreciated. And especially knowing that the money raised is staying in the area.

“It's incredible that all people from all walks of life appreciate it and are very proud to make a contribution and to wear the poppy.”

Warren is grateful for the support of the approximately 70 volunteers - from ATC, ex-service personnel, Lions clubs and people with associations to the services - who will be stationed at New World Waitaki, New World Ōamaru, Countdown Ōamaru, Brydone Hotel and Lagonda Tearooms.