Veterans Visit Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory

Eight veterans from Ayrshire made the pilgrimage across the country recently for a special visit and tour of Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory, in Edinburgh, where a team of injured ex-Servicemen and Servicewomen hand-produce more than five million poppies every year for the charity’s annual Poppy Appeal…

The trip was arranged by staff at Poppyscotland’s new Ayrshire Welfare Centre, based in Kilmarnock. At a weekly drop-in session at the centre, veterans found out that the iconic Poppy Factory is going to be refurbished after this year’s Poppy Appeal, and they expressed a desire to visit before the work began.

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One of the veterans that attended was Alex Lambert who served with the 4th Royal Tank Regiment and travelled extensively, visiting the likes of Aden, Borneo, Malaysia and Hong Kong, among others. On leaving the Service, Alex, who lives in Kilmarnock, joined the Fire Service where he served 22 years before retiring. He said: “I am so glad that I came to the factory for a visit… what a place.”