Relief for under-threat Shropshire branch of British Legion

The Broseley Branch of the RBL, which has been running since 1946, is facing a crisis due to a fall in the number of members.

But at its annual meeting this week there was a large turn-out of people showing their support for the group.

Branch secretary William Seabury, 77, said: "The meeting went very well, was very well attended and I feel much more confident about the future than I did before.

"It was attended by the county chairman and the membership support officer for Shropshire and the county chairman gave an interesting talk.

"He also answered questions about who could be a member of the RBL and a lot of people there didn't realise that you can join even if you haven't served in the armed forces."

Mr Seabury said he was extremely grateful so many people realised the importance of the group.

He said: "It was fantastic to see people respond and attend our annual meeting and I believe it will generate new members, as a lot of people took away our contact details.

"The next meeting we hold, which will be in January, will show us if the interest and support we saw at the annual meeting can be translated into those new members.

"For now we are keeping the same committee members as before. We have all the key positions filled, operating within the rules of running a branch, with a chairman, deputy chairman, secretary and treasurer.

"More members would not only mean that we could maybe have some new committee members, but we could also run more events and become more involved with the town.

"It was touching to see so many people at the meeting and it seems clear to me that the people of Broseley do not want to lose their branch of the RBL."

The next meeting of the Broseley Royal British Legion takes place on January 13 in the Broseley Social Club and starts at 8pm.