Final call for Stourbridge Royal British Legion club with closing date days away
This week could see the last post and the final weekend for Stourbridge's Royal British Legion which is set to close for good on Monday.
The club will close its doors after a final weekend in which live music, nostalgia and a final drink will be on the agenda.
Two weeks ago, the Express & Star reported how the club in Enville Street was on the brink of closure after a new committee which had been put in place inherited a 'parlous' financial situation.
They had hoped there would be a 'window of opportunity' to save the club, which dates back to the early 20th century and has been a regular meeting place for veterans since then – it also serves as the headquarters for the Stourbridge branch of the Royal British Legion (RBL) and contains hundreds of items of forces memorabilia.
Members of the Royal Naval Association recently stood tall outside the building when they heard it was under threat and vowed to fight to keep it open.
Finance manager Tony Harrison said it would be a sad day for the club, which dates back over 70 years, but they had little alternative after receiving instructions from the national parent organisation of the RBL.
He said: "The instructions are that failing branches - and that means financially - are to be sold as going concerns, there is little room for manoeuvre on that which is a shame as we have had interest from different parties but it seems it would be too late.
"If someone else takes the club over it wouldn't be able to be run under the British Legion banner and there is a meeting planned at regional level tonight to discuss what to do with branches that are not viable, we are not the first one to go and the branch will continue, it will be the club that shuts - but that means we have to find a new meeting place.
"We have put our heads together and done the sums but the situation is just not great in the short term and again, we are under pressure at national level to decide what to do even though we received little or no support financially when we were open all those years.
"There is plenty planned for the weekend including live music and a few drinks, there hopefully won't be a sombre mood and there is still the small chance we can save the club under a new banner but I would stress it is not a very good one and the doors will shut on Monday, May 6."
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