Legion branch’s pledge

The home of one of Wolverhampton’s oldest Royal British Legions is up for sale but members say it won’t spell the end of the branch.

The Penn Royal British Legion’s base has been the branch’s home for nearly 50 years.

It is now being offered to buyers after a drop in members meant the big building on Penn Road became too much. At the moment the branch is not meeting regularly, but once the sale goes through on the prominent site the organisation is hoping to spend the profits on a new base in the area.

Back in January the Express & Star revealed that British Legion bosses had told heartbroken members that the club was no longer financially viable after a drop in numbers. Attendees said the problem was compounded with the loss of the Penn Flyer, a bus service which some members used to get to the branch  base.

The closure of the club was described as “the end of an era”. In years gone by the site was a thriving home for the legion branch which formed in October 1947 and is celebrating its 60th year. 

As there are few sites currently up for grabs in Penn and the building is located on one of the main routes through the city it is expected that the sale could generate a lot of cash.

The Penn branch secretary Mike Morris said: “The building is up for sale but it is being handled by our property department in London.”

Meanwhile this year’s  Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal is set to be launched in Wolverhampton at the Molineux Stadium tomorrow.