THE last surviving organiser at a Royal British Legion branch has said it will have to close as no-one is willing to help out any more.
George Mould, the honorary treasurer at the Loughton branch of the RBL, in Church Hill, has said he is fed up at single-handedly organising every aspect of legion life.
He said: “The situation is without committee members we can't legally keep the branch open.
“I've been doing everything. I run a full-time business and it's suffering. I seem to be running from pillar to post every day doing stuff for the legion. I just can't keep it up.
“We have got 450 members, but no-one wants to join the committee doing the nitty gritty- being the treasurer, helping with the poppy appeal. They don't want to get their hands dirty.
“I was putting up the notice of closure and the only comment I got was from one member who said I'd put it in the wrong place. I get sarcasm even putting a notice up. I'm fed up with it.”
Mr Mould said he expected the branch to shut down after its AGM on November 3 and was due to hold a general meeting with his superiors to discuss options.
Chairman at the neighbouring Buckhurst Hill RBL branch Stephen Goddard said the situation had come as a shock and his executive committee would meet next month to discuss how it could help.
He said: “It's the old, old problem of having a bar and a club. Members join and the only reason they do is to get a cheap pint. They just want to lean on the bar and do nothing else. We had a club but we just had to sell it.
“We want to help them anyway we can. We thought it might be going in that direction but no-one imagined it was as bad as it apparently is.”
The Loughton branch was used as the venue for people to meet after the memorial service for marine Georgie Sparks who died fighting in Afghanistan. Georgie's father Wayne said: "I think it'd be tragic if the branch closed especially at this moment in time when there are people in the armed services in Afghanistan and all over the world. “It's a sad state of affairs really if people are just going there to get a cheap pint. It's the type of organisation you'd think people would be queueing up to help out. They helped us in our hour of need.”
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