After 100 years, we look back on how RBL has worked together with The Poppy Factory to support wounded, injured and sick veterans back into employment.
After the first Poppy Appeal in 1921, when Anna Guerin funded the manufacture of a million poppies in France, the British Legion wanted to begin manufacturing poppies exclusively in Britain for a smaller outlay.
Founding the factory
George Howson was a British Army officer in the First World War and winner of the Military Cross in 1917.
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Moving to Richmond
By 1926 the factory had outgrown its premises and moved to Richmond. The factory’s location, close to the River Thames and Richmond Park, was carefully chosen to help injured soldiers’ recovery and rehabilitation after the war.
Flats were built next to the factory to provide homes for employees and their families, and there was also once a pub and cinema to provide relaxation for workers.
The size of the Poppy Factory workforce grew year on year and by the outbreak of the Second World War it stood at 365.
In the decades that followed, the Poppy Factory continued to work with us to build a supportive environment for veterans with physical and mental health conditions.
Together, we were able to develop a strong understanding of the complex challenges that many of these veterans face.
As a result, alongside poppy and wreathmaking, the Poppy Factory has been able to extend its employment support service and now works with veterans across all of England and Wales.
“I used to go to the Royal British Legion Pop-In in Birmingham, and it was there that I met Jane from The Poppy Factory."
The Poppy Factory’s work today
Now however it is The Poppy Factory’s wider employment support service, which makes up 90 per cent of its work.
Each year The Poppy Factory helps hundreds of veterans with a mental or physical health condition to return to the workplace and to thrive within it, wherever they are based.
For information about The Poppy Factory’s new visitor experience, or to find out more about employment support, visit www.poppyfactory.org.
