'Once it's gone it's gone forever'
Those are the words of members of the Royal Naval Association (RNA) and the Stourbridge Royal British Legion (RBL) who regularly meet at the latter's Enville Street venue which is under threat.
Members of the new committee were 'forced to vote for its closure' on Tuesday due to it's financial predicament unless it could raise significant funds.
Those are the words of members of the Royal Naval Association (RNA) and the Stourbridge Royal British Legion (RBL) who regularly meet at the latter's Enville Street venue which is under threat.
Members of the new committee were 'forced to vote for its closure' on Tuesday due to it's financial predicament unless it could raise significant funds.
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NewsTranscript
00:00 Well we're here at the Stourbridge Royal British Legion, which dates back to the early part
00:06 of last century, around 1920 I think, but it's under threat at the moment in these hard
00:14 economic times, under threat of closure. We've got some members of the Royal Naval Association,
00:20 also members of the Stourbridge Royal British Legion, who meet here regularly, including
00:26 John Cook, aged 83. Good afternoon John. Good afternoon. How are you now? You've been coming
00:32 to the place since 1982 I believe. Yes I have. And served on the previous committee. What
00:38 does it mean to you? Well it means everything because it's the only legion within the Stourbridge
00:45 area, if you know what I mean. Part of history has gone in. It's been here for a number of
00:56 years. And a number of other legions in the area, including Hales Owen, have closed. They've
01:03 all closed down. Corribank, that's another one that's closed down. And various others.
01:15 The history is here. You can see it for yourself on the walls, the member of the area names.
01:24 We've had quite a few VCs here as well. It's a good meeting place for veterans isn't it?
01:34 And you've been in the Army, the Navy, served in the Falklands I believe as well. So you've
01:41 got quite a history. It must be good to get together in your regular meetings and talk
01:46 and reminisce. Well it is. We generally meet up all together on a Sunday, lunchtime. And
01:56 we have a good laugh and we talk about old times. It's part of it. Because anyone that's
02:05 served in the forces has experienced comradeship. And when you come out into Sydney Street you
02:13 don't get it. Because nobody knows what you're really talking about. But when we sit down
02:19 together we know exactly what we say will be understood. And Phil, Phil West, you're
02:29 a little bit younger than John aren't you? What would you do if this branch closed, if
02:38 this building closed? I don't really know. As a branch we'd be moving somewhere, as a
02:43 Navy Association we've got somewhere else to go. But ideally we'd stay in here with
02:47 all the history that we know comes in here. It's not easy for people to travel to other
02:53 places. We're looking at Kingspinford at the moment. It's not local for a lot of people
02:57 but it's where we've got to go. We all support each other in here in welfare matters like
03:03 that. If someone's a bit down we GM up some of these and we help them out. We have a laugh.
03:09 It's just comradeship as Jacey was saying. We lose that, we lose a lot. And Pam Beasley
03:17 from the Committee for the Entertainment, she's saying people think it's just the veterans
03:21 or former soldiers but it's not is it? No it's not, it's a lot of civilians coming
03:26 here like that. We've got a good banter with all of them. It's just the whole community.
03:32 We'd lose out very much big time if this place shut. There's old people coming here, lonely
03:39 people coming here like that and it's a bit of comradeship for them, a bit of friendship
03:42 for them, some of them to go. And if this place wasn't here they wouldn't have that.
03:48 And Jacey, John again. It's been a good response. It's only been a couple of days since the
03:54 news broke that the branch is in trouble or the building's in trouble. You've done well
04:00 on the crowdfunding. What's your message really to people who don't want to see this place
04:06 go? I would say if you can help us, please help us. Because this club on average raises
04:16 on a poppy appeal for instance at least £35,000. Now if this closes then this will not be forthcoming
04:30 because a lot of people will just say, "Oh, okay, you've closed that club, we're not going
04:34 to be members anymore." So they're going to lose out on the membership money which is
04:42 I think £18 a year. It costs a fiver to go behind the bar towards the club. But all this
04:50 will be gone. And we'll never get it back, will we? We'll never get it back. Once it's
04:56 gone, it's gone. I would like to say this, that the actual turnout on Remembrance Day
05:03 in Mary Stephens Park is roughly around 5,000 people. And for a small community like this,
05:12 that's a lot of people that turn out to remember our dead and those that fell for it. Thank
05:19 you John, thank you Phil, and we wish you all the best with the appeal. Thank you.
05:23 Thank you.