With many unable to attend, and with others prevented from attending, approximately 30 members from the former Orihuela Costa Branch of the Royal British Legion were present at last Thursday evening’s meeting, called by the District committee, to decide their future.
Flown in from Antwerp was the Overseas Member, Bob Chambers, and from London, the MEO Overseas, Fiona Hedges. Members made the point that that their attendance, at a substantial cost to the RBL, was unnecessary.
Although the decision on the branch future was taken by a vote of members, the meeting was directed by the Overseas Member and the District Chairman, the two very people responsible for it’s current situation, after they had removed the branch chairman for allowing a 79 year old Standard Bearer to parade, on a hot Autumn day, in shirt sleeve order.
Branch members actually requested that no decision be made until outstanding complaints affecting the District Chairman had been resolved by the Legion Complaints Committee, however this was not acceptable to either the District Committee or to Chambers.
Further options included the reinstatement of the former committee, although the Overseas member said that was not going to happen. Being, therefore, unable to form a committee, the third option, that was agreed, was for the branch to become a District Supported Branch, with the appointment of two points of contact. These were nominated as Michael Phillips and Neil Reardon.
The branch will continue, therefore, although in not much more than name only, while an appeal into it’s closure, as well as the removal of it’s committee, and complaints about the Conduct of the District Chairman, continue to be considered by the Legion Complaints Committee in London.
Membership of the Orihuela has dropped by over 20% since the branch was put into administration 9 months ago and despite the unusual call by District for an administrative and financial audit of the branch, the only aim of which would have been to discredit the former committee, and which quite clearly had ‘tongues wagging’, the RBL Auditor in London found all procedures and funds to be absolutely correct.
