MEMBERS of Wiltshire’s Royal British Legion Women’s Section said they are devastated after it was announced they will be integrated into a District rather than continue as a standalone section.

Around 500 women have been involved in Women’s Section groups across Wiltshire including Trowbridge, Melksham, Bratton and Heytesbury for the past 80 years.

Formed in 1921, they initially cared for the interests of wives, widows and children of men who served in the Great War, and now support the families of current and ex-servicemen.

Wiltshire county chairman Marie Nunn MBE said the announcement came as a complete shock to the members.

“The first we knew about was when we had the letter through after Christmas,” she said.

“It is the way they have gone about it because they haven’t asked us at all.

“It has really upset us and it makes me upset for the women in the section and I am determined that if we go, we won’t go quietly. It is like going back to the old days when women were subject to the men and I don’t think it is right.

“People don’t know about the Women’s Section as well as they could have done and it is like being a light under a bushel.”

The announcement was sent to members through a letter that was decided by the Board of Trustees of the national RBL charity.

Mrs Nunn and other members protested outside the annual Wiltshire RBL conference in the Civic Centre in Trowbridge over the weekend to show their frustration and to call on others to write to the board of trustees to rethink their decision.

She said: “We know it isn’t the local men, it is the board of directors and they are forgetting we are a charity."

“The Women’s Section gets through to people in a different way and it is also about the comradeship it offers people which will be missed.

“We try to publicise locally and for the last two years, we have done a static cycle ride to raise money and it is mainly about raising awareness too. We need to be seen more and people think the Royal British Legion is all about the Poppy Appeal and that’s it but every penny we make we donate.

“If they had said we would faze you out over the next five years that would have been understandable but in a few months is no time at all.”

The Women’s Section, which has groups across the UK, will be transitioned into the main Legion from October.

A spokesman for the Royal British Legion said: “As a charity, the Legion has a responsibility to ensure it is run as efficiently as possible and regularly reviewing how its activity is arranged is an important part of this.

“The Women’s section is administered separately with its own set of operating overheads so by moving the provision of its welfare services to the main body of the charity, we can avoid this cost duplication.

“This helps us to make the best use of the funds kindly donated to the Legion in support of the Armed Forces community.

“Members of The Women’s Section have always provided a valuable contribution to the work of the Legion and we look forward to this continuing in the future.”