Time called on town Legion base

Victory House in Ludlow was bought in 1946 for the benefit of soldiers returning from the Second World War – but after a year urging residents to "use or lose" the building, RBL bosses have finally decided to sell up.

Despite a calender of fundraising events and plans to rent the upstairs as offices, it proved "impossible" to raise enough money to convert the Grade II-listed Georgian building, they said.

The branch has been struggling to meet running costs at the building on Mill Street since the Victory House Legion Club – run as an independent business at the premises – went into liquidation in September last year.

Branch officials said they would now look for a new smaller base in the town over the coming weeks.

Patrick Merrick, secretary of the town's RBL branch, said: "This is a very sad day for the Ludlow branch of the legion, leaving what has been our home for nearly 70 years.

"However, once we are in a more manageable base we will be able to concentrate on doing what the legion is for – raising money and awareness for those lads and ladies who have served their country and now need our support. This isn't the end of the book, it is just turning over the page to a new chapter," he said.

Chairman Henry Chance agreed, saying too much of volunteers' time had been taken up with property management instead of charity work.

"Having a smaller branch property will be a relief to most of our active supporters and will be much more suitable for our needs," he said.

"Until the Victory House Legion Club went bust in September 2013 none of the branch committee members had realised what sort of state the building had been allowed to fall into.

"The branch president, the late Mick Merrick, tried to warn the club that it was going to go bust but they ignored him, to their cost," he said.

Membership of the Ludlow branch fell from nearly 300 to under 100 after the Victory House Legion Club went into liquidation, he said.

He said though the building was an asset to the wider community, hosting civic and social events, the RBL charter did not give much weight to such "collateral benefits".

"A private owner or a business would have no problems getting this place back up to scratch but the membership of the Ludlow branch is elderly and falling and it is too much to ask them to raise the funds to sort out the niggles of the building when we should be concentrating on what the legion actually stands for," he said.

Treasurer Bryan Martin said hopes had been raised after a business plan drawn up at the start of the year was well received by RBL HQ in London.

"It involved converting the first and second floors into office space to rent out and the legion keeping the rooms downstairs for events and meetings," he said.

"Sadly it seems that there has been a downturn in the demand for office space in Ludlow."

Income from the sale of Victory House will be put into a branch property trust run by RBL HQ for the benefit of Ludlow veterans and their families.

Victory House was bought after the war with a £1,600 by the town's residents.