A BRANCH of the Royal British Legion (RBL) is fighting to stay open as the number of members dwindles.

Volunteers from the Fairford branch of the RBL, pictured, have put out a plea for more members to join before they have to shut their doors.

The veterans charity provides support for millions of ex-service personnel and relies on its passionate network of volunteers to raise most of the funding.

In Fairford, membership has been falling over recent years and many of the group are now at an age where they can no longer be as active.

Branch member Alfred Hoult expressed his concerns in a letter to the Standard.

He said that at a recent fundraising event they realised that nearly all the volunteers manning the stalls were over 8o years old.

“The branch committee, with help from Gloucestershire county, sent leaflets to 3,000 dwellings in Fairford, explaining the predicament and asking for just a few younger helpers to join in,” he said.

“It was very revealing – there was absolutely no response.”

The RBL was founded by veterans after the First World War and needs £1.6million a week nationally to keep providing welfare to its dependants

Legion officials estimate there are between 6.5 and 6.7 million members of the Armed Forces community living in the UK.

Brian Hewitt is branch mentor for Cirencester, Kemble, South Cerney and Fairford RBL.

When he took on the role and was told the Fairford branch may be in danger of closing, he replied “over my dead body”.

“Fairford was one of the best branches out there in years gone by,” he said.

“But when I look at the 50 odd members and start analysing their ages, there are only a couple are 40 or 50 then most are over 70 or 80.”

Brian faced the same problem in his local branch, Stoke Gifford, and introduced a big recruitment drive to ramp up membership.

“First of all we told each member to go out and find someone to join,” he said.

“Then we made a really conscious effort to keep an eye out for any potential members, anyone who might want to volunteer, whether they’ve been in the forces or not.

The Stoke Gifford branch is now thriving and has a number of younger members helping out.

He has also had meetings with top officials in the RBL to find a solution to the problem.

He told the Standard his motives in no uncertain terms: “The trust is, it is a damn good cause and we want to keep it going.”