Lord Mayor gets creative for rugby-themed art exhibition

A project to create rugby-themed crochet pieces for an exhibition ahead of this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, has enjoyed some creative input from Exeter’s Lord Mayor and Deputy. 

A project to create rugby-themed crochet pieces for an exhibition ahead of this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, has enjoyed some creative input from Exeter’s Lord Mayor and Deputy. 

Lord Mayor Cllr Anne Jobson and her Deputy, Cllr Gemma Rolstone, joined volunteers from across Exeter and Devon to help prepare for an exhibition of rugby-themed yarn art. 

The exhibition is being held at Exeter’s historic Guildhall on Wednesday 27 August to celebrate the global sporting event coming to the city. It was due to be held this week but was put back to allow organisers extra time to prepare. The exhibition is part of the nationwide Red Roses Yarn Art initiative from England Rugby 

The Women’s Rugby World Cup starts on 22 August, with Sandy Park hosting seven games, including two quarter-finals. As a result, the city will welcome players and fans from nine countries as Exeter is put on the international stage. 

Earlier this summer, crochet enthusiasts were asked to make rugby-inspired pieces for the  exhibition at the Guildhall and Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery (RAMM).  

Volunteers spent the weekend making the final bits of artwork ahead of the exhibition. More than 200 members of the public popped in to find out what was happening and Lord Mayor Cllr Anne Jobson was seen sat down on the Guildhall floor creating pieces for the exhibition. Deputy Lord Mayor Gemma Rolstone helped out serving teas and coffees and one of the Mace Sergeants got involved with the designs too. 

Cllr Duncan Wood, Lead Councillor for Leisure Services & Healthy Living, said it was great to see so many people coming together: “Events like the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 bring communities together. The rugby is going to be exciting but it’s events like the yarn exhibition that bring so many people together, not just rugby fans but those who want to make a difference to the atmosphere and togetherness of the city.” 

Volunteers were asked to come up with rugby-themed pieces, including red roses – to represent the name given to the England women’s rugby team, the Red Roses – and ‘granny squares’ to be made into a knitted scarf for RAMM’s Gerald the Giraffe. 

Response to the call-out has been good and one contributor even made a crochet doll of England scrum-half Claudia Macdonald!  

The pillars outside the Guildhall are set to be decorated for the exhibition. The outer pillars will be wrapped in granny squares, designed to form three roses with green stems surrounded by white. The inner two pillars will feature silk roses attached to a green crocheted ‘vine’, representing the individual players. Each pillar will have 16 roses on them. 

Organisers have created lengths of bunting with roses sewed into them. These will be hung outside the building, including the balcony, creating a colourful display.