A DEFIANT British Legion club has refused to increase its recommended yearly subscription by absorbing most of the increase itself.

Droitwich Royal British Legion, along with every other legion club and branch within the organisation, was informed by its headquarters in Pall Mall, London, that affiliation fees were to be increased by £2.50. The current subscription is £14.50.

The 33 per cent increase was to help cover rising administrative costs.

But the Droitwich branch and club committees decided the increase was too high, especially for the majority of the members who are pensioners, and agreed to absorb most of the costs themselves and increase the year's subscription by 50p only. They intend to absorb the extra costs by increasing efficiency.

"We have around 400 members at the moment and a lot of them are elderly," said Rob Guest, entertainments secretary for the Droitwich branch.

"The recommended increase would have been hard for pensioners to afford.

"We take so much from members for running the club but we won't be taking the new recommended amount.

"We've got members in their 90s and active branch committee members in their 80s as well as people in their 30s."

But despite the small increase of 50p to help keep older members in the club, Mr Guest said the branch was hoping to attract younger people.

"Although more senior members can still enjoy plenty of entertainment with tea dances, ballroom and sequence dances, family disco and karaoke nights are now becoming more popular," said Mr Guest.

"The entertainment is open to anyone and we do encourage families to come along to any of our events."

On Friday, July 26, the club will be holding a family disco with games and prizes for adults and children.

Anyone interested in joining the Droitwich legion can contact the club on 01905 770080.