At the crossroads

Today the membership of the branch has dropped to 150 compared with nearly 3,000 about six years ago.

Although officials admit this is worrying, they also point out that their annual Poppy Day appeal in the town is on course to raise a record £25,000.

Swindon branch secretary Bill Boag-Munroe said: "Yes, the membership figure is very poor but since we lost our headquarters in Havelock Street five or six years ago we have been without a permanent place for members to meet.

"And because the social side had been such a big attraction this has reflected dramatically on the number of people who are members."

The branch had to leave Havelock Street when the British Legion Club ran into financial problems. Although this did not involve the branch, it did suffer in the knock-on effect and had to move out of the premises.

Said Bill: "We cannot afford to buy our own permanent premises but we are still going on and getting a few more members but frankly the future is not looking very good.

"However, I believe the Swindon branch will continue because the support we get from local people for the poppy appeal is great and we do also have a hard working band of people running things at the moment.

"There is a demand for the Legion in Swindon but it is not easy to get the younger people to join as members and a lot of them do not seem to know what happened in the wars."

Bill said: "To be honest we are at a very crucial stage and we need to build up our numbers.

"I would say to the people of Swindon, please come along and give us your support to ensure we can continue long into the future.

"There is still a lot of work to be done in the town and if people don't want to join they can support us financially or indeed offer us a permanent base."

Anyone who would like to become a member of the RBL should contact Bill on Swindon 339291, or the branch chairman Ken Jones on Swindon 495080.

Swindon's annual poppy appeal is run like a military exercise and the man calling the shots is former navy and army veteran Alan Baker.

Alan has been organising the appeal for ten years, and during that time the amount of money raised has more than doubled.

Earlier this year it had been feared the poppy appeal's survival was under threat because Mr Baker could not find somewhere to store his thousands of poppies, collecting tins and wreaths.

But in August, Great Western Commerce and Enterprise offered Mr Baker a permanent base in its Newburn Centre premises in the town centre after Swindon firm Lok n' Store had provided a temporary home.

"When I first started we raised about £10,000," said Alan who lives in Bathampton Street in the Railway Village.

"Last year it was just over £23,500 and this year I have set my sights on £25,000 and we are looking very good to meet that figure."

The amount collected by the RBL in Swindon is the biggest single total in Wiltshire and many other towns throughout the country are known to be envious of the success of this local appeal.

"We do have a large catchment area but the success of the appeal is down to the people who support it," said Alan, 65, who has served both in the Royal Navy and the Territorial Army.

"I have a very good back-up team of about 12 people helping with the organisation of the appeal, but there are also a lot of others who support us."

These include people such as Gordon Moore, now aged 88, from Wroughton, who has raised £15,000 over the last five years towards the appeal by selling poppies in the town centre .

Mr Moore served with the Royal Artillery during the last war and saw action in France, North Africa, Italy and Greece.

He said: "I was lucky and came back from the war without a scratch. A lot were not so fortunate and came back wounded."

There are around 800 collecting boxes throughout Swindon and Alan reckons the number of poppies handled in the town during the appeal is more than 100,000 with the majority of them being worn with pride.

"There is still a big demand on the Legion for help and the money we raise is essential for the welfare work that is carried out.

"I was too young to fight in the war, but I do remember the soldiers coming back from Dunkirk and then going off to Normandy," he said. "There were so many left behind and some of their dependents need help and that is why I enjoy doing what I do. I really take the poppy appeal to heart."

"It is a lot of hard work but the people are great and the total amount of money we raise is incredible."

Alan believes that more younger people are now beginning to understand what poppy day is all about because some schools are asking Legion members and flag sellers to talk to pupils about it.

Don Dedman is the man who deals with claims for help from ex-servicemen and their families in Swindon.

He is the Swindon RBL branch treasurer and also the Legion's district welfare officer work he has been doing for 23 years.

And he says that the number of people needing the help and support of the Legion is growing.

He said: "My job is to look after ex-service personnel and their immediate relatives who require help in such things as anything from pensions to filing out paper work and forms.

"During the year I usually get up to 150 inquiries and end up with around 115 cases which need to be seriously looked at.

"We do not as a matter of Legion policy publicise what we do for individuals but I can say that during the last 12 months we have sent three people to convalesce at a RBL home in Weston-super-Mare which is just like a first-class hotel.

"We have also had 30 cases of helping people pay their bills such as the gas, electric or even for food, and have contributed to the cost of several holidays."

Among the other tasks Don helps out with is applying for service medals that have not been claimed, and helping secure pensions for people.

Some of the money used to pay for welfare work comes from the local branch but the bulk is paid out by the RBL headquarters in Pall Mall.

Don said the number of requests he receives for help is rising.

"People are not so proud as they used to be but now at last they are coming forward to get what they rightly deserve," he said.

"I welcome this because this is what we are here for, but it means I am involved in some form of Legion business on most days of the week," said Don, 69, a former Swindon ambulanceman.

He said that the branch has now started getting requests for help from Gulf War veterans and he expects this to grow.

He said: "If someone is genuine, the RBL will go to the ends of the earth to help them.

"Many years ago my own father had to go to the Legion for help in those days it was a ten bob food or coal voucher and I have always respected them for that and this is one of the reasons why I do this job."