Melton's legion social club threatened with closure

The future of the Thorpe End venue will be decided by members at a Special General Meeting (SGM) on the evening of Tuesday August 9.

The building is also used by the Melton Mowbray branch of the Royal British Legion but it is a separate entity to the social club.

A letter sent to members, and seen by the Melton Times, lists items on the agenda, including one which asks for new members to come forward to sit on the committee.

If no members come forward, a motion will then be read as follows: “Due to the untenable financial position of the club and the fact that no members have come forward to serve on the committee, members of the Melton Mowbray Royal British Legion Club Ltd grant permission to the current club committee and officers to wind up and close the aforementioned business and appoint and appoint an Insolvency Practitioner.”

If the social club does close then the legion branch, which organises the town’s annual Poppy Appeal and helps run the annual Remembrance Sunday parade, may need to find a new place to meet in Melton.

Danny O’Brien, chair of the Melton British legion branch, told the Melton Times: “The legion club is in dire financial straits and it is 90 per cent likely to close next month.

"The legion branch is still up and running and we will continue to do what we do.

"The only thing that may change for us is where we operate from if the social club does close after their meeting.

"We are hoping to be able to stay at Thorpe End for a weeks if the club is closed and we will then reassess the situation.”

The potential closure of the social club follows the closing of another town centre members-only drinking venue, the neighbouring Conservative Club, which also ran into financial problems after operating since 1904. A planning permission has been submitted to Melton Borough Council to convert it into a pub with function rooms.