The Poppy Factory is a factory in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, where remembrance wreaths are made. It was founded in 1922 to offer employment opportunities to wounded soldiers returning from the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, creating remembrance poppies and wreaths for the

Royal Family A royal family is the immediate family of kings/queens, emirs/emiras, sultans/ sultanas, or raja/ rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the family of an emperor or empress, and the term ...

and The Royal British Legion’s annual

Poppy Appeal A remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn in some countries to commemorate their military personnel who died in war. Remembrance poppies are produced by veterans' associations, who exchange the poppies for charitable donations used to g ...

. It is operated by a company that is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

which provides employment support to veterans with health conditions across England and Wales. The factory's production team continues to make remembrance wreaths by hand today. The corresponding organisation in Scotland is Lady Haig's Poppy Factory in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, which was established in 1926 and makes approximately five million remembrance poppies each year.

History

Artificial poppies for the first poppy appeal in 1921 had been imported from France by Madame Anna Guérin, but in 1922 the Disabled Society, a charity established in 1920 by Major

George Howson George William Saul Howson MA (8 August 1860 – 7 January 1919) was an English schoolmaster and writer, notable as the reforming headmaster of Gresham's School from 1900 to 1919. Early life Howson was one of the four sons of William Howson of ...

MC and Major Jack Cohen, received a grant of £2,000 from the British Legion's Unity Relief Fund to employ

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

ex-service A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

personnel to make remembrance poppies in England. Later that year, Howson wrote to his parents, "I do not think it can be a great success, but it is worth trying. I consider the attempt ought to be made if only to give the disabled their chance." They set up in a former collar factory on the

Old Kent Road Old Kent Road is a major thoroughfare in South East London, England, passing through the London Borough of Southwark. It was originally part of an ancient trackway that was paved by the Romans and used by the Anglo-Saxons who named it Wæceli ...

in London. Soon the factory was employing 50 disabled veterans. The factory made a million poppies within two months. In November 1924, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

(later

Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 19 ...

) visited the Poppy Factory, which made 27 million poppies that year. Most of the employees were disabled, and by then there was a long waiting list for prospective employees. The old collar factory eventually proved too small as demand increased, and in 1926 the factory moved to a disused brewery in Petersham Road, Richmond, Surrey. Housing for the workforce and their families was built on adjacent land and in 1932 the present factory was built. The original factory was demolished in 1972. Since 1928, The Poppy Factory has also organised the annual

Field of Remembrance The Field of Remembrance is a memorial garden organised annually by the Poppy Factory in Westminster, London. For eight days, from the morning of the Thursday before Remembrance Sunday until the evening of following Thursday, the lawn of St Ma ...

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

Present day

The production team works year-round to create Remembrance wreaths by hand for The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, as well as special wreaths for the British Royal Family. Beyond its production work, The Poppy Factory's support helps ex-Forces job seekers to overcome barriers and move towards employment. The charity's employment service launched in 2010 and has grown to make up 90 per cent of The Poppy Factory’s work. In November 2016, former chief executive

Melanie Waters Melanie is a feminine given name derived from the Greek μελανία (melania), "blackness" and that from μέλας (melas), meaning "dark".Help for Heroes Help for Heroes (H4H) is a British charity which provides lifelong recovery support to British Armed Forces service personnel who have been wounded or injured in the line of duty, and to their families, originally only since 11 September 2001, th ...

charity. Deirdre Mills was later appointed the new chief executive; she had previously been a Director at the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

. In July 2017,

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

visited the factory to celebrate the charity’s 90th anniversary.

Lady Haig's Poppy Factory

Lady Haig's Poppy Factory is a charity based in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to provide employment to disabled veterans. It is an independent charity, but the name Lady Haig's Poppy Factory is a trading name of

Poppyscotland The Earl Haig Fund Scotland, trading as poppyscotland, is a Scottish charity for veterans of the British Armed Forces and their dependants. It was founded in 1921 by Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig as part of the broader British Haig Fund. Its ma ...

of which it is a subsidiary. Lady Haig's Poppy Factory was founded in March 1926, shortly after the Royal British Legion's factory in

. It was created to serve the demand for

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

poppies in Scotland. The factory was created at the suggestion of and by Dorothy, Countess Haig, wife of Field Marshal

Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, (; 19 June 1861 – 29 January 1928) was a senior officer of the British Army. During the First World War, he commanded the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front from late 1915 unti ...

, who had created the

Haig Fund The Haig Fund (more properly the Earl Haig Fund) is a charity set up in 1921 by Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig. History In response to the poem ''In Flanders Field'' by John McCrae, Moina Michael started selling silk poppies in 1918 t ...

to assist ex-servicemen and which still raises funds through the UK's annual poppy appeal. It grew from two employees in a former wood-chopping factory in the grounds of Whitefoord House to employ over 100 people by the mid-1930s, with a waiting list of over 300. In addition to the main task of making poppies, the employees made other goods by hand which were sold at three shops in Edinburgh and by a travelling shop throughout Scotland. The factory moved to its current premises, a former printing works, in 1965. Staffing levels and the range of goods made at the factory gradually declined after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and increasing annual deficits were funded by contributions from the

Earl Haig Fund Scotland The Earl Haig Fund Scotland, trading as poppyscotland, is a Scottish charity for veterans of the British Armed Forces and their dependants. It was founded in 1921 by Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig as part of the broader British Haig Fund. Its ma ...

. In 1998, the factory became an independent charitable company, The Lady Haig Poppy Factory Ltd. In November 2018 the factory was moved for two years into

Redford Barracks Redford Cavalry and Infantry Barracks is located on Colinton Road, near the Edinburgh City Bypass, east of the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. Redford Barracks was built between 1909 and 1915 by the War Office and designed by Harry ...

while major renovations could be made while also adding a new learning facility. The factory is operated in partnership with

and, like the Poppy Factory in

, also employs ex-service personnel, all of them disabled. It makes five million remembrance poppies in Edinburgh each year, to a slightly different design with four-lobed petals rather than two for English poppies, and 12,000 wreaths.

Remembrance poppies

File:Royal British Legion's Paper Poppy - white background.jpg,

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

pin poppy File:RemembrancePoppies.jpg, Royal British Legion wreath poppies File:Remembrance_of_Grandpa,_Ypres.jpg, Royal British Legion remembrance cross

References

External links

Official website: The Poppy Factory

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

and

BBC Radio 4 Extra BBC Radio 4 Extra (formerly BBC Radio 7) is a British digital radio station from the BBC, broadcasting archived repeats of comedy, drama and documentary programmes nationally, 24 hours a day. It is the sister station of BBC Radio 4 and the p ...