Aldwick Legion rubbishes rumours it will close

Treasurer Mark Morgan said the club had ‘pulled itself out of a hole’ after running into financial trouble at the end of last year.

He strongly denied claims made by councillors that the Aldwick RBL was set to close.

It follows comments made at the Bognor Town Council meeting on Monday night, suggesting a lack of volunteers had caused the imminent closure of the branch.

It had been rumoured that if the club were to fold, Bognor’s Remembrance Day service and parade would be thrown into doubt.

But speaking to the Observer on Wednesday, Mr Morgan, said: “We’re now doing fine. Back in October we were in trouble, we were in debt and there was a possibility we would close.

“Our chairman and secretary left and since then we have managed to sort our problems out, pay off our debts and get solvent again.

“We were in financial trouble but we’ve managed to pull ourselves out of the hole we were in.

“So there’s absolutely no uncertainty about us at the moment, there’s no risk of us shutting.

“We have our AGM next week and the condition of the club is in great shape again.”

The Aldwick branch has been running for nearly 60 years in the Memorial Hall in Hewart’s Lane, which was officially opened in 1957.

In a separate development, it has been confirmed that the popular Bognor Regis Armed Forces Day has been cancelled.

The annual event was due to be held on June 25, but now won’t go ahead, though it could return next year.

David Hewings, from the Bognor Regis branch of the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA), which organises the event, said: “In a way we have become victims of our own success, because everyone said last year’s event was the best yet.

“It takes a huge amount to organise, more than a year to plan, so it’s not going to run this year. Hopefully it will return next year but we need people to come forward to help.”