VILLAGERS have been supporting a project to create the ‘breast’ hanging basket as part of a national contest.

Old bras of all shapes and sizes have been stuffed with plants by the Barley Women’s Institute in support of Breast Cancer Care and the village hall fund.

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There are currently 12 blossoming brassieres decorating the WI Garden in the Barley Village Hall car park, which was created for the 100th anniversary of the WI.

Audrey Weatherill, former president and secretary of the Barley WI, who received an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours this year, said that the project has proved caused much amusement in the village, for men in particular.

She said: “It’s certainly something that has received a lot of attention. I’ve seen men taking photographs and lots of people coming to have a look and make donations.

“It’s no doubt one of the most iconic projects the WI has done and we thought it was an excellent idea.

“We hope to raise around £300 for breast cancer care which is a fantastic cause.”

The Barley WI was created in 1242 has around 30 members from the area and meets in the village hall on the first Wednesday of every month.

The group has been known for embarking on gardening projects in the past such as when members went ‘digging for Britain’ planting 30 trees for the Woodland Trust.

Mrs Weatherill said that she put the enthusiasm for the bra-skets project down to the recent input from younger members.

She said: “Young people have breathed new life into the WI and I haven’t really seen us get as excited about a project for a long time.

“We’ve provided a lot of entertainment through doing this and I want to thank the younger members because we have been going for a long time and its very important that the youngsters have helped us pick ourselves up with new projects.”

The bra-skets will all be on display on July 24, and strawberry scones and cakes will be served in the village hall all afternoon from 1pm to 5pm.

It is hoped that the bra-skets will be able to be left on display for as long as possible.