The main problem with the club system is that they are run by a committee of well meaning amatuers who in the main do not have the experience nor the background to run such.

It is only these type of clubs that are closing down. The RBL has a new initiative called New Legion Clubs Ltd. (no, not a take on Teflon Tone!) they are a professional body that take a club, revitalise and reorganise it, renovate and place it in the managership of an experienced manager and run it as a business. The committee is then only used for social and membership purposes as the manager does everything else in conjunction with NLC in London.

Bridgewater club has just reopened after this process was put in place and it turned £7000 profit in week one (the cheapest drinks in town to boot) plus a huge increase in membership so it does work.

Regards

John

surely the main reason for declining members,is old age for its core membership,and less people in the forces=less people in the legion,to increase membership,to maintain funds for its historical committmant, membership qualification is being diluted,this is what is happening,and this is giving rise to the cheapest pubs in town,hard decision time.

Two years ago at my local branch I tabled a proposition to advertise in our local free newspaper for new members.
What happened????the proposition was accepted,nothing ensued,memebership is struggling,and our branch committee seems to be stuck in the past.I am rapidly becoming very disalliusioned.


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Hold the line steady boys.

With a New Legion Club the updated and renovated buildings plus Pall Mall advertise them for you. It is not necessarily the age of the vets but apathy which is our worst enemy - much like the PJM issue, if people don't get off their butts to do something positive then you flounder.

With the single membership you do not have the 'them and us' attitudes anymore and you might be very surprised at the interest in belonging to an 'up market' well run club. I have 150 members in my branch but if and when the NLC take over and buy the Conservative Club for us, I have promises of another 850 plus. The image of the seedy down trodden club disapears under NLC and they do the clubs up to first class standards which together with the 'cheapest beer in town' makes them more attractive than ever.

Try it.

John