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The Royal British Legion Time to Celebrate and Move Forward This year is the 90th anniversary of The Royal British Legion that’s 90 years of unwavering support for the Armed Forces community providing financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served and are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants. This is an anniversary well worth celebrating and their will be lot of events organised nationally and locally were we all get the chance to do just that. Here in Christchurch, The Royal British Legion will be planning a number of events to mark the anniversary and we are in no doubt that the whole community will come out and support these events. The Legion was founded in 1921 as a voice for the ex-Service community and with over 380,000 members who continue to ensure that this voice does not go unheard. Members get together through our network of clubs and branches all over the country, and can become involved in the welfare and fundraising work of the Legion. The Christchurch Branch and Club are situated in Bargates and it has over 800 current members. Despite this seemingly healthy position the average age of members nationally is 68 and the Christchurch branch almost certainly falls in line with the national trend. So to be able to move forward and continue to provide financial, social and emotional support to those who have served and who are currently serving in the Armed Forces, The Royal British Legion and the Christchurch branch really need a younger membership to continue the invaluable work. Since 2003 the Legion has provided financial help to 10,000 veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan operations - and are investing £50 million in Personnel Recovery Centres and our Battle Back Centre to care for the wounded of current conflicts. The Royal British Legion provides a lifetime of care and welfare and we spend £1.25 million a week on welfare provision and no one else comes close. In my position as the newly appointed Branch Secretary I have also taken on the responsibility of recruiting new members to the Legion and to the Christchurch Branch in particular. I myself am 42 years old and left the Army in 2008 having served 22 years completing tours of Iraq and Afghanistan in the process, so on leaving I felt that it was a logical step to get involved with the Legion and help achieve its mission of being the No.1 provider of welfare, comradeship, representation and Remembrance for the Armed Forces community. I am looking for former and current service men and women of my generation, in the Christchurch area to come and join us and help shape the future of The Royal British Legion and get involved in the welfare and fundraising work to support our generation of veterans and also to promote one of the Legions core values - Comradeship through shared experience and mutual support in a friendly social environment. If you are interested please email me on paulbrads68@aol.com. It is important to stress we welcome men and women of all ages, whether they have served in the Armed Forces or not so if you are a friend of the Forces and you want to get involved please contact me too. Paul Brady, Christchurch Branch Secretary, The Royal British Legion. Shoulder to Shoulder With All Who Serve |