Thrive Together London

Portfolio Lead: The Poppy Factory

The Poppy Factory is delighted to be leading the Thrive Together programme in London, following the success of the previous Veterans Places, Pathways and People (VPPP) portfolio. VPPP enabled them to work more closely with other charities and statutory bodies. The Poppy Factory were pleased with how well the portfolio partners embraced collaborative working in support of the Armed Forces community and much was learned by everyone involved.

The Poppy Factory’s approach to developing the London Strategic Plan has been collaborative from the start. Stakeholders were invited to join a steering group to contribute to and oversee the development and delivery of the plan, with representatives from the NHS, Ministry of Defence, Office for Veterans’ Affairs and key charity partners working across London.

The London Thrive Together Strategic Plan is built around 4 pillars of work:

• The London Armed Forces Network (LAFN): has been in existence for 10+ years. The Poppy Factory will invest in the LAFN to create a bigger and more effective network of all organisations supporting Veterans and family members, becoming a knowledge hub of all support available across London and establishing communities of practice to share learning.
• LAFN Communications: they will invest in communication for the LAFN to develop and deliver a coordinated London wide communications plan, focusing on underrepresented groups as well as ensuring clarity on all support available for Veterans across London.
• The Navigator service: was piloted during VPPP to support Veterans and family members with multiple complex needs, particularly those pre and post Op Courage treatment; being treated within the wider NHS system; or engaged with DWP and seeking work but with multiple barriers to work. The Poppy Factory will work across three organisations to deliver a consistently high-quality service.
• Collaborative projects: they have invested in collaborative projects where organisations come together to deliver services that are greater than their individual services, to provide easy access to activities to promote improved wellbeing and as a mechanism to onward referral for more specialist services.

In developing the London Strategic Plan, a comprehensive consultation was carried out to engage as many Veterans, family members, organisations & statutory bodies as possible. Four questionnaires were created with similar themes but tailored to four audiences: Veterans; family members; statutory bodies; and other organisations (charities, CICs etc.).

The Poppy Factory attended existing drop-ins or other places where Veterans gather, they hosted specific events at The Poppy Factory and other locations, and online groups to encourage contribution. They met with members of specific minority groups and made the questionnaires available online.

The Poppy Factory are open-minded to what can be learned from the Thrive Together programme and they will continue to innovate and iterate to deliver significant enhancements in Veterans’ wellbeing, community integration, and access to services across London, whether the Veteran lives in London or travels to London for work or health reasons.

The Poppy Factory will be working with the following delivery partners: Stoll; Defence Medical Welfare Service; Fighting with Pride; The Fighting Chance; The Comedy School; Recruit for Spouses; University of West London; Company of Makers; Defence Garden Scheme; and Royal Hospital Chelsea.

Get in touch

For more information visit their website www.poppyfactory.org/thrive-together or email thrive@poppyfactory.org.