Battle cry for Royal British Legion rescruits appeal

It once had over 100 members but now that figure has slumped to just 22.

Peter Murphy, its 82-year-old treasurer who served in Malaya and Singapore with the RAF Regiment, said the branch is hoping to reverse the trend.

He said: "Sadly it just keeps going down and we have got to try to change that trend."

The branch was formed in 1993 and Maurice Broadhurst, aged 76, from Verwood Close, Willenhall who did his National Service with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and has been a member of the branch for over 40 years, confessed: "It is heartbreaking to see the membership figure dwindling to such an extent.

"We are not getting any new people joining who have recently left the services. We will have to work hard to get the younger element interested in what we are doing.

"We have a wonderful reaction to Remembrance Day but the Royal British Legion is still helping people during the other eleven months of the year."

Derek Simpkiss, the 82-year-old chairman of the branch who lives in Stokes Avenue, Portobello, vowed: "Unfortunately this is a national problem with some branches having already been forced to close but there is no way that we are going to fold.

"We are determined to keep going."

Branch President Eric Woolley, also 82, of Beech Road, Bilston added: "We have both men and women members and you do not have to have a military background to join.

"We would be delighted to invite anybody who might be interested to attend one of our meetings so that they can see the sort of work we are involved in." The branch meets at Bilston Conservative Club on Willenhall Road on the fourth Tuesday of every month starting at 8pm and new members are always welcome.

Wolverhampton City Council representative for Bilston East Councillor Steve Simkins said: "I would urge as many people as possible to join the Bilston Royal British Legion Club. It is a vital part of the fabric of the town and plays an invaluable role in organising the Remembrance Day parades.

"We lost the Royal British Legion Club at Bradley some time ago and it is extremely important that we do not lose another club in the area. It is at a time of scant resources, such as we face at the moment, that groups like the Royal British Legion come to the fore." Members of the branch are among organisations backing a local project, entitled Bilston Remembered, that is aimed at raising £80,000 in four years to restore the town's cenotaph in Oxford Street to its former glory. Mr Simkins is one of the organisers of the appeal.

Local soccer sides Bilston Town and Darlaston Town collected around £500 for the scheme on New Year's Day by reviving their festive derby game that used to be a regular fixture in the Christmas festive season calender but had not been played for over 30 years and the campaign has been further boosted recently by a £1,000 donation from Bilston Police drawn from the West Midland Police proceeds of crime fund.