Veterans’ fury at British Legion’s £100k rebrand
Money ‘should be used to help homeless soldiers’
VETERANS reacted with fury yesterday after it emerged that the Royal British Legion has spent £100,000 on rebranding.
The charity spent the money on a new logo to improve its ‘brand identity’.
Its current logo was designed more than 30 years ago and was ‘no longer fit for purpose in the modern world’, a spokesman claimed. But critics said the cost was ‘disgraceful’ and could have been put to better use, such as for keeping RBL social clubs open or to help homeless exservice personnel.
The new logo, which will be used from tomorrow, uses a poppy to create the B in RBL. The font is inspired by the grave of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey.
Allan Meyers, 79, of the RBL club at Llay, near Wrexham, North Wales, said: ‘To spend £100,000 on a new logo seems crazy to me.
‘They’re always saying they need more money for ex-servicemen and their beneficiaries and they are throwing money away on a logo. They should be spending money on getting soldiers off the streets.’
And Major Donald Moore, 86, the club’s former president, said the cost was ‘disgraceful’. Major Moore, who spent 25 years in the Army and colonial police, added: ‘It [the money] could be spent looking after soldiers sleeping on the streets, soldiers who have probably got PTSD.’
He said it was instead being spent on ‘making themselves look better’ and added: ‘ The RBL has ceased to become a charity and has become a business.’
Graham House, from campaign group Justice4Troops, said: ‘£100,000 could employ five councillors who specialise in PTSD and with money used more wisely you could even prevent deaths.’
And James Gannon wrote on Facebook: ‘ This is why I left the RBL. Money being wasted on unnecessary projects that should be put to better use supporting veterans in need.’
‘Fit for the next 100 years ’
The cost of rebranding was spent over a two-year period and included research and design work.
The Legion said the clubs were run separately from its charity’s welfare work.
This means that, legally, the money raised through charitable funds cannot be spent on the clubs.
A spokesman said: ‘Our current brand was designed before many of today’s digital channels existed and unfortunately it is no longer fit for purpose in the modern world.
‘We have made this investment to ensure we can reach more members of the Armed Forces community in the future by making it simpler for them to find us. 2021 marks the RBL’s centenary and it is vital we lay the foundations for an organisation that is fit for the next 100 years.’