The Royal British Legion Newcastle Emlyn branch is looking to increase its membership ahead of the branch’s 103rd Annual General Meeting.

The meeting takes place Tuesday 17 October at 7:30 pm in Cawdor Hall, Newcastle Emlyn, and members of the public who would like to join the branch are invited to come along.

Many members of the branch are over 80 years old, and the needs of the branch have become ‘too heavy for its executive officers to carry.’

British Legion Newcastle Emlyn Branch Secretary Teresa O-Ryan said: “The first general meeting was originally attended by members of the Federation of Welsh Servicemen, which came into being in the early part of the First World War. These members became members of the Royal British Legion in the same year that the Legion was born in 1921. Those members, if they were alive today would - we feel - be disappointed that, although the Poppy Appeal continues to be very well supported, the work of the Branch is not.

“Two of our officers are well over eighty, one over ninety, and our overall membership is beyond retirement years. Whilst we can still take hundred-year-old members to an RAF Station upon their birthday, and attend funerals, both here and at crematoria, we have come to the stage where the Branch standard is too heavy for executive officers to carry. Our Standard Bearer also needs an assistant to act whilst he is working.

“Our role has always been to give local support by service and comfort to those injured by war. That need continues today, and we anticipate as great a need in the future. Becoming a member of the legion costs £18 per year. The money isn‘t spent on the branch, and is instead used to support injured ex service men and women.”

If you would like to join but can’t attend the meeting on 17 October, you can show your interest by calling 01559 370035 or 01559 371710.