ARmy Rumour SErvice

With any club it is only as good as the membership and if folk don't use the facility then it's curtains, fortunately our Legion is doing well and is actively helping former servicemen, a former squaddie who approached the club recently for help and was living rough was found accommdation and a job which is what it is all about.

alas thats the problem..everyone says the legion will look after you,,they allways do...
however no one is useing the clubs... ellesmere port is ticking over JUST..
we have an AGM on the 14th... then we will see how long we have..

Thanks, Soleil, I'll get in touch with them

Schweik

Originally Posted by saintstone

Originally Posted by foxs_marine

I saw back in August that Camborne RBL is closed. My sister tells me that numbers got so low it wasn't viable sadly.

That's the one I was on about,mate, sad really that they have to close.

There is now talk that they will be reopening Camborne RBL. Whether it is true or not I don't know, but at present they do not appear to be doing anything with it.

Originally Posted by sapperted

As an ACF officer, we used to go to our local RBL each year to do the Poppy appeal, and on remeberance day we went after the parade to let the cadets talk to the veterans. We tried to become a dedicated cadet unit to work all year round but the branch was not interested. The branch closed.

I went to the next nearest Branch with the same ideas, along with joining the branch my self, I was told by the ex SAS & Para committee members that as a 47 year old ex Sapper now Capt I was to young and they didnt want disco's all the time.

My cadets are really pissed off as they want to help the older members and learn about what they went through, and to ensure "They are not forgotten"

Whats the fuck is up with these Cretins !! Have they not got a Brain to think with ? I shake my head sometimes, what will it take before they wake up and smell the coffee ! closure down to the last 10 branches ?

what we may need is a completely new style RBL split off from the Original with a more modern management moving with the times and being more proactive not reactive to today society and especially the young generation.

The day the last branch closes is the day when it will be too late.

Its change or be left behind

the RBL are moveing said clubs... they call it "takeing it forward"?
however they are cherry picking...

I joined my local RBL when I had 2 months left of my 22, in a Cheshire town that we had only recently moved to. The first night I walked in and took a look around the room, I thought "Christ! What have I let myself in for?". Without exaggeration, 90% of them were 70 years old. They were polite enough, but kept asking me questions which, as the night wore on, became more and more suspicious.
Three weeks later was Remembrance Sunday, and I turned up (as asked to) in full No2 dress. Lots of the members had no medals, the RBL "drill sergeant" wore 2 medals, a sash, RBL beret and carried a pace stick, yet had never served a single day in the armed forces. Although this wound me up slightly, I had to admit he made a good job of it, considering the only drill training he had received was from the RBL. He was a local shopkeeper, who had been heavily involved with the Legion for over 20 years, gave up a lot of his own spare time and had personally raised thousands for charities.
Went for a beer with them all later and had a great time. Many of those without medals had never served, but were good blokes who just wanted to show their support. Quite a few of those without medals had served at a time when there weren't that many places that you got a medal for. As far as I'm concerned, that still counts, because they still suffered many of the same hardships. Some had bought their own commemorative medals from Soldier magazine or the RBL, and within the branch there was just as much arguing about it as yhere has been on these pages. After 5 or 6 beers, some of those decrepit old farts started telling me about their own experiences, and suddenly I felt very humble and saw them in a different light.
A few weeks later, I was asked to help them set up and man a tent at some place or other, in an effort to attract more recruits. Of the 6 people who turned up, 2 of us were under 65. It didn't matter, we spent the entire day drinking like a bunch of private soldiers. Towards the end of the afternoon, one of the old decrepit farts who was a veteran of the Normandy landings, pulled me to one side and apologised for the rude way I had been questioned when I first turned up. He explained that the RBL had a major problem with walts (his words), and before they could fully accept me, they first wanted to check I was who I said I was.
They were all a bunch of loonies, quite frankly, but in a good way. I had some terrific times with them, and once you ignore the age gap, you will generally find that they're just like us. Maybe I just managed to join a good branch, but they're not all as bad as some of the branches mentioned in this thread.

most of the "members" here where like that,,you only saw them at the xmas party...
however this year there haveing a "loyalty" party for the ones who are keeping the branch alive..
one man is 90,, meny are in there late 80s ,, one a bomber pilot from ww2.
meny did not go in the forces,,, but there keeping the standard alive and the legion is the stronger for it..
£31:000 just over was the last count and theres still more to come..(poppy)
we have a "compost corner" where the lads get together to sort the world out.. and lord help them that sit in "there" chairs...they use the club so as far as i am concernd there wellcome...