'Hidden gem' historic Wolverhampton Air Force building with a vision for the future

Set within the leafy suburbs on the outskirts of Wolverhampton is a hidden gem of a building providing a place for serving and ex-service personnel.

The entrance to the Royal Air Forces Association’s (RAFA) Wolverhampton & District Branch Headquarters seems low-key, set behind a stone wall on Goldthorn Road just down the road from the Royal School and with only a small brass plaque identifying what it is.

However, go down the drive and you’ll find yourself in an area surrounded by trees and greenery and, just down the track, you’ll come across a large, mustard-coloured building.

This is the home of the Wolverhampton & District RAFA Branch, part of the wide network which have more than 63,500 members world-wide, and provides friendship and welfare support for serving and ex-serving RAF personnel and their dependants.

The association has moved around the city since being founded in 1937, having been based on Bell Street and Snow Hill in the past, but has been at the Goldthorn Road site since the last 1950s.

Today, the building consists of a large lounge where teas and coffees are provided, a large snooker room, a meeting area and areas outside for people to meet.

Treasurer and former RAF Senior Aircraftman (SAC) PhilIP Morgan said the branch was the biggest in the area and acted as a central hub for the other groups.

He said: “The building is our main headquarters for the Wolverhampton RAFA, with the association having had, at one point, more than 1,000 branches, but now down to about 200, with many getting smaller.

“We are the biggest in the area without a shadow of a doubt and I know that there were a few in Cannock and Dudley and Stourbridge and Kidderminster, but a number have gone now.

SAC Morgan said the work had been ongoing to keep the building viable and ensure it could survive.

He said: “If you were to turn back to the 1980s, the building was such that if you didn’t get here by 7.30pm, you didn’t get a seat, which was every day of the night and there were more than 1,000 members.

“As the years have gone by, we’ve been losing members, especially from the Second World War generation, and the numbers had started to dwindle for a few years.

“That being said, we now have some new people who have come in with some fresh ideas and we’re starting to do things and put on more activities and bring the branch back to life.”

SAC Morgan said that while the building and association was predominantly there to support the RAF family, but was looking to welcome in more people from outside the forces and put itself out more to the wider community.

He said: “In the past, a lot of these clubs have been seen as bars that did a lot of activities, but I think, in the future, this can become more of a wellbeing place.

“We are looking more at the social aspect and the wellbeing of people and we’re quite blessed as we’ve got a nice sized car park and a lot of greenery, which a lot of other branches don’t have.

“In the past, because there were so many members, it was very exclusive and that’s why it wasn’t advertised, but that also proved to be a negative for the club as it was harder to reach out and find other people.

“One of the biggest things for us is that we might be the last military association with our own premises in Wolverhampton, with all the others having being sold, and we have things like the armed forces breakfast, which is another example of how the associations are working together.”

A walk around the RAFA building showcases the history of the branch, with pictures and certificates from different campaigns and associations, as well as acknowledgement of charity campaigns and collections, such as the 10K wings for collecting £10,000 in a year for the Wing Charity.

SAC Morgan said the branch headquarters was special to him because of how it brought people together and helped to share past experiences and said the next steps were to keep making it visible to the community.

He said: “I think the biggest thing at the minute is us trying to get visibility, so we’re running activities now.

“We’ve had a bit of an experiment in the last 12 months, such as doing a winter fest which managed to raise some money for the branch and pay for the building, as it’s a large building and not cheap to run.

“The biggest thing going forward is the PR and using social media to go out to Wolverhampton and let people know what we’re doing because, as we’ve said, no one know we’re here and it has the feel of a secret lodge, but it’s not and it’s all about that visibility.

“Everyone is welcome to come down and meet us, have a chat and a coffee and, if you like it, you can become a member.”