The Royal British Legion’s 2026 Poppy Appeal is underway, but it is not just about selling poppies, it is also about helping veterans into employment.
This Poppy Factory is where veterans and volunteers make wreaths and poppies each year for the annual Royal Legion Poppy Appeal.
The team produces around 100,000 wreaths each year, including 250 wreaths for the Royal Family and other commemorations.
For a century, the Richmond Poppy Factory has played a significant role in the Remembrance Day traditions since the armistice of the First World War.
Established in 1922, the charity was founded at its original premises on Old Kent Road to provide employment for injured soldiers and veterans of the war. By 1925 the organisation had outgrown its premises and moved to its current location in Richmond.
A century on, The Poppy Factory is the country’s leading employment charity for veterans with physical and mental health conditions, helping them and family members on their path to work after active service.
Dan Hodges, Head of Communications at the Poppy Factory, explained how import the charity’s impact is on veteran welfare coming out of the forces: “We know that mental health is the biggest factor affecting veterans that we support.”
Other challenges include housing, alcohol and substance abuse, social isolation, all these kinds of factors. “Those challenges will still be here for in many years to come”, he said. “So as we enter the next hundred years, we will be helping veterans to deal with whatever situations they’re facing at that time.”
The factory runs weekly tours for the public to see the work behind the appeal.
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HeadlineRichmond Poppy Factory celebrates 100 years of supporting veterans.
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StandfirstThe Royal British Legion’s 2026 Poppy Appeal is underway, but it is not just about selling poppies, it is also about helping veterans into employment.
The Royal British Legion’s 2026 Poppy Appeal is underway, but it is not just about selling poppies, it is also about helping veterans into employment.
This Poppy Factory is where veterans and volunteers make wreaths and poppies each year for the annual Royal Legion Poppy Appeal.
The team produces around 100,000 wreaths each year, including 250 wreaths for the Royal Family and other commemorations.
For a century, the Richmond Poppy Factory has played a significant role in the Remembrance Day traditions since the armistice of the First World War.
Established in 1922, the charity was founded at its original premises on Old Kent Road to provide employment for injured soldiers and veterans of the war. By 1925 the organisation had outgrown its premises and moved to its current location in Richmond.
A century on, The Poppy Factory is the country’s leading employment charity for veterans with physical and mental health conditions, helping them and family members on their path to work after active service.
Dan Hodges, Head of Communications at the Poppy Factory, explained how import the charity’s impact is on veteran welfare coming out of the forces: “We know that mental health is the biggest factor affecting veterans that we support.”
Other challenges include housing, alcohol and substance abuse, social isolation, all these kinds of factors. “Those challenges will still be here for in many years to come”, he said. “So as we enter the next hundred years, we will be helping veterans to deal with whatever situations they’re facing at that time.”
The factory runs weekly tours for the public to see the work behind the appeal.
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