The Poppy Factory has had a busy 12 months.
At this time of year, most people become aware of us as the manufacturers of the millions of poppies and wreaths that you see around the country and on TV as the symbols of Remembrance. What you don’t see are the hundreds of people that we support into work around the country each year.
In the past year, we produced 8.5 million poppies for our one customer, The Royal British Legion. We also hand-made a record number of wreaths – 167,000 – as well as 700,000 wooden remembrance symbols.
We also provided employment support to hundreds of disabled veterans around the country last year, helping over 160 of these individuals into rewarding employment. Our regionally-based team work directly with veterans to help them find, gain and maintain great careers in their local communities.
Our free employability service for wounded, injured and sick veterans is growing each year and is invaluable to the veterans that we work with. We are constantly looking to improve our service and have recently undertaken research to make sure we are following the most effective methods of employment support. The service is also wholly funded by charitable donations from individuals and organisations.
So, when somebody asks you what The Poppy Factory does, now you know!