FURY AT LEGION’S £100k ON NEW LOGO
British Legion slammed for spending £100k on new logo
VETERANS have branded the Royal British Legion’s decision to spend £100,000 on a new logo an “unforgivable” misuse of cash.
Former servicemen are aghast at the cost of the Legion’s rebranding project, being launched tomorrow.
They accuse the charity of losing touch with its ethos of supporting ex-soldiers as needy veterans face red tape and long delays and four respite centres closed.
Andy Price, 42, who runs the Veterans Hub support group in Weymouth, Dorset, said: “I am dumbfounded.
“Spending £100,000 on a brand change is a gross misuse of their funds and unforgivable at all levels.
“Our logo and branding cost us a pint of beer. I have to beg borrow and steal to keep the hub open in order to help people.”
The Afghanistan veteran added “We have just helped one guy who was £79 in arrears on his rent and about to be evicted. It would have taken two or three months for the RBL to have helped him.
“Another member who suffers from bad arthritis and can”t use his bath has waited a year for the RBL to put in a wet room. Another was rehoused by them, yet it took three months for him to receive white goods and an oven.
“I think the RBL has lost touch with what they are supposed to be. When they were set up they supported veterans returning from the Great War, but they are more like a corporate organisation now.” There are thought to be 3,500-6,000 UK homeless veterans and the suicide rate among the ex-military has doubled in the past decade.
The RBL, which has an annual income of around £150million and bank reserves of nearly £70million, is launching its new logo to coincide with the charity’s centenary year.
The RBL says its old logo is no longer “fit for purpose”. The new £100,752 design has its R and L initials in blue and a bright red poppy instead of the letter B.
War hero Trevor Coult, who suffers from PTSD and now campaigns to help veterans, claimed the charity’s priorities were “all wrong”.
He said: “The RBL shut down every one of their respite centres because they needed to save money, yet they are still willing to spend over £100,000 on a new logo.
“It is shocking and is a kick in the teeth when so many veterans are struggling. They have gone from being a charity that helps veterans to being a massive corporation.”
Former rifleman Craig Monaghan, who suffered brain injuries in a blast in Afghanistan in 2009 and now runs Manchester’s Veterans Garage, said of the RBL: “When veterans reach out to them they are already in their darkest place, yet a lot of the time they are told to go back to their regiment welfare system or to Combat Stress.
“Spending over £100,000 on a new logo while veterans are killing themselves left, right and centre or crying out for help leaves a sour taste in the mouth.”
The RBL said: “Research shows that whilst the Legion is well known for Remembrance, understanding of our welfare work is dropping year on year and we are taking action to address this.
“We have made this significant investment to ensure we can reach and support more members of the Armed Forces community by making it simpler to find us and understand who we are and what we do.
“As we mark our centenary in 2021, it is vital we lay the foundations for an organisation that is fit for the next 100 years.”