SHOCK CLOSURE OF TEDDINGTON’S ROYAL BRITISH LEGION CLUB
NEWS SPECIAL
Teddington’s Royal British Legion Club has closed down amid reports of ‘financial irregularities’ and is to be relaunched as a private members’ club for the community, we can exclusively reveal.
A special general meeting is due to be held at the Club tomorrow night (Tuesday)
The bar area of the club which will continue to offer drinks at heavily-discounted prices
A notice at the front of the club at 135 High Street states: “Dear Members. As you will be aware, due to financial irregularities, the RBLTC went into administration and we, the intermim committee, have had to make substantial changes in order to save our beloved Community Club from closure.
“While we will endeavour to support the RBL charitable activities, such as the Poppy appeal and Remembrance Day marches, we will no longer be officially affiliated with the Royal British Legion Charity, and any membership with the RBL Club Limited will cease.
“We do hope that you will continue to support the new Club in order to ensure that this community asset continues to exist for many more years to come.
“If you have any questions, please pop into the bar, have a drink and we will be happy to have a chat! Thank you. RBLTC Interim Committee.”
The new private members’ club will be called the Cambridge House Club – the original name of the building – and plans to open later this week.
It will continue to offer community bingo sessions on Tuesdays and Sundays and a special disco-type event is planned as an official grand opening on Friday.
Drinks will still be offered at cheaper prices than pubs in the High Street.
A second message on the notice board says: ” IMPORTANT. NOTICE TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION TEDDINGTON CLUB LIMITED. SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING TUESDAY 29 SEPTEMBER – 7PM.”
It adds: “Following the notice of closure of the RBL Teddington Club Ltd, we are holding a Special General Meeting to bring members up to date with the work that has been and is currently being undertaken to try to save the club and update you of the next steps that are planned.
“Please attend if you can. This is our community club and your voice and opinions are valuable.”
Today, workmen were busy inside the club decorating the interior area which includes the bar, a TV area, a dart board, a snooker table and fruit machines. There is only a small kitchen.
Details of membership are yet to be confirmed but will probably be £20 a year for individual membership and £30 for a couple. Membership for those already signed up will be valid.
The new Club also hopes to take full advantage of the extensive garden area at the rear of the Club.
Leading the campaign to save the club and launch the new Cambridge House Club is Matt Corrigan, a member of the former Club.
He told Teddington Town: “We all agreed there was a place for another social space at this end of the High Street which will complement other offerings, not cause them difficulties.
“The wider range of places Teddington has to offer apart from the large selection of restaurants, the more people will want to come to the area for a night out so a decision was made to start a new club on the premises, unaffiliated to the Legion.”
Despite the formal and shock closure of the RBL club the new operators will be happy to accommodate the activities of the RBL branch which historically has played such a significant and traditional role in supporting Remembrance Day events include the annual parade, which usually assembles opposite the Club in Kingston Lane and makes its way to the war memorial outside the Teddington Memorial Hospital and gathers back at the Club for drinks afterwards.
According to reliable sources club members decided at a SGM in July that the club could not survive in its current state and low level of members. One said: “Put simply, Legion clubs have a reputation of being old fashioned and run down places and a lot of people thought you had to be services or ex-services to join anyway.”
Matt Corrigan said: “We fully intend to support the Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Day parade but it is the Branch side which organises that and, whilst we have a supply of poppies already, we have no idea whether they have made the arrangements for road closures, bus diversions but we would happily help.”
The Club will also be available to hire for local clubs and societies as long as they are members and a private meeting room is avalable in the basement of the four-storey building.
Matt added: “Me and my wife were members of the old club on the interim committee when the previous lot resigned. We formed a new committee to try and save something there rather than let the building fall derelict.
“The company set up is such that all profits will go back to the club, there are no shareholder payouts and our Articles of Association provide that if we fail, any money the club has will not be split among members so it cannot be deliberately run down in the expectation of a payout – as was the case with the previous committee.”
It is unclear what the ‘financial irregularities’ in the notice relate to but the police are not understood to be involved.