The Royal British Legion is the UK's leading Armed Forces charity and one of its largest membership organisations. Members get together through the network of branches and clubs all over the country and overseas to participate in social, fundraising and welfare activities.

WRENTHAM BRANCH - small but mighty!.

A little bit about the branch:

The Wrentham and District branch was formed in 1927 and therefore has a long local history. If you can add anything to our history with photographs, stories, memorabilia or anything else, please get in touch.

We are a small, but rejuvenated branch, with much bigger ideas with some already in the pipeline.

Meetings are held at 7.30pm, usually bi-monthly, at the Wrentham Village Hall in the centre of the village.

The next meeting will be on Wednesday 30th October 2024 at 7.30pm at Wrentham Village Hall and all are very welcome to attend. Come and enjoy a cup of tea or coffee and some biscuits with us.

In the photo above is (left to right) Mrs Rouse, Mrs G Knights and Mrs Youngs. They are pictured after a trip to London in 1938 to represent the Wrentham Branch.

Forthcoming events:

We have plans for celebrating two events next year - the 80th anniversaries VE Day and VJ Day, so come back to the website to see what we are doing!

Previous events:

16.06.24

At the end of our meeting, we celebrated with two of our members who had reached the magnificent achievement of their 65th wedding anniversary. What an achievement! Of course, we all enjoyed glasses of 'fizz' and cake to mark the event.

09.06.24

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of D Day, a drumhead service was held at 3.00pm on Sunday 9th June 2024 at Wrentham Village Hall. Wrentham Band provided the music for the service, the drumhead altar was assembled by the 759th Beccles Air Cadets, the standards were from the air cadets and Wrentham RBL, with Rev. Jon Sermon leading the service. A full hall enjoyed the service and the refreshments afterwards.

08.10.23

Giles Stibbe gave a fascinating talk on a 'behind the scenes' view of the coronation of King Charles III, revealing details of some of the rehearsals, mishaps and other unknown stories. Thank you, Giles. 

07.05.23

The coronation of King Charles III was celebrated on 7th May 2023 in Wrentham Village Hall  There was a free BBQ, cash bar, ice cream and some entertainment - Wrentham Band, Martial Arts and Dance displays. This was a huge success with good weather and everyone enjoyed the village event.

23.11.22

The AGM, was held in Wrentham Village Hall at 7.30pm. Visiting us was Ken Rowbottom and Tony Dawes.

13.11.22

Remembrance Sunday service was held at Wrentham Church starting around the war memorial. The themes for this year's service was the story of 'Pearls before Poppies', the conflict in Ukraine and the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War.

09.10.22 Tea Party

The Wrentham Branch of the RBL hosted a tea party in Wrentham Village Hall with Giles Stibbe giving a talk on the Household Cavalry Foundation.

The afternoon was very well attended, and Giles gave an account of the work done by the foundation, set up in January 2013. The Household Cavalry Foundation (HCF) is the official charity for the Household Cavalry.  The HCF exists to provide charitable and pastoral support to all the members of Household Cavalry family: serving Soldiers, Operational Casualties and Veterans. As well as running a museum, the Foundation also supports the protection and development of the rich Heritage that surrounds the history of its Regiments (The Lifeguards and The Blues and Royals) and the welfare of retired Horses.

Before and after Giles’ talk teas, coffees, cakes and scones we the order of the day as well as having a chance to catch up with friends and neighbours.

Platinum Jubilee 05.06.22

Wow! What a day! What a celebration! Despite the awful weather forecast, the rain held off and the BBQ on Sunday 5^th June, celebrating the Platinum Jubilee, was a real and enormous boost to us all. There was a superb atmosphere throughout the afternoon as the community came together to celebrate, eat drink, chat and thoroughly enjoy their time together. There were many, many local people who contributed in various ways by making cakes, providing salads, staffing the bar and food tent, providing the raffle prizes, providing equipment, setting up, breaking down, giving their time on other things, dressing up, providing the live music etc., and they all deserve our real and sincere thanks for all that they did to make the afternoon such a memorable event. I would just like to particularly thank the parish council for funding the afternoon, the Original Factory Shop for providing the parking, Southwold Rotary Club for providing the BBQ and my fellow organisers, Lindsay Hanger, Lucinda Hutson and Rita Perry, as we spent several months planning and preparing for this event.

Poppy Appeal 2021

The branch is very proud to have raised £2,024 for this year's Poppy Appeal, especially with the difficulties caused by the pandemic. This is a record result for our small branch, and we hope to improve on this in future years, building on the foundation we have started.

14.11.21

The annual Remembrance Service was held at Wrentham Church, beginning at 10.50am.

08.10.21

The branch held its annual general meeting at 6.30pm followed by an open meeting where Giles Stibbe will gave a talk on his work at 'Battle Back', an organisation that helps and supports wounded and injured service personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

04.09.21

On Saturday 4th September, the branch held a tea party in Wrentham Village Hall as a 'drop in' event. There were visitors from around the district who enjoyed teas, coffees and cakes and a general good chat with others. Hopefully this will be an event that is repeated in the near future. 

During the meeting, our retiring Poppy Appeal Organiser, Brenda Townsend, was presented with a long service award by Mandi Cox-Osborne, both for her dedicated work in the Wrentham and District branch and for raising over £30,000 during her tenure in the post. Well done Brenda - it will be a hard act to follow!

Our new Poppy Appeal Organiser is Andrea Hood, so please give her your support.

Retiring donations were collected for the Poppy Appeal.

08.11.20 Remembrance Service 

The annual Act of Remembrance at the War Memorial Wrentham was held on Remembrance Sunday, 8^th November, beginning at 10.55a.m. With the congregation gathered around the War Memorial, the ceremony was led by the Vicar, the Reverend John Loftus. Beryl Banester on the cornet sounded the Last Post, followed by two minutes silence, before she was to play Reveille. The Standard was lowered and raised accordingly by the Standard Bearer, Mr Frank Pope.

The Kohima Epitaph was read by Lucinda Hutson followed by Peter Small reading out the Roll of Honour. Seven wreaths were then laid on behalf of different organisations.

These were: - The Royal British Legion by Susan, Lady Gooch, SSAFA by John Woodcock on behalf of the Waveney division, Wrentham Parish Council by Ian Watson (Chairman), Merchant Seamen by Peter Boyce, Wrentham Fire Service by Fireman Luke Hazzard, Southwold and District Rotary by Alan Hardwick and Wrentham Band by Philip Harrold (Musical Director).

Along with some singing, The National Anthem was played on cornet by Beryl Banester and drums by Ronnie Carter, three readings and further prayers followed before the Minister gave the final Blessing.

At the conclusion, all those present were invited to take a cross and plant it near Wrentham’s War Memorial before leaving. Each cross had been individually named with the name, rank and number of the fallen by Rosie Carter, who had also devised and organised the occasion.  A collecting bucket was taken around on behalf of The Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. 

15.08.2020 - VJ Day was commemorated at the churchyard war memorial with the laying of a wreath, Last Post and Reveille with the roll of honour of those from our local parishes who lost their lives in the Far East and prayers from Rev. John Loftus. Our standard bearer, Frank Pope, carried the flag.

06.05.2020 - VE Day was marked with a very low key and socially distanced Last Post and Reveille sounded at the Village Hall at 11.00 am by Beryl Banester. The flag was raised for the day.

07.02.2020 - At 11.00 am in Wrentham Church, the branch honoured its former treasurer and long-standing member, David Mansfield, by taking part in the thanksgiving service for his life.

Membership: 

Membership is open to everyone. If you have an interest in the objectives of the Legion and want to help and support for those who have served and their families, come and join us. We welcome men and women of all ages, whether they have served in the Armed Forces or not.

Legion membership ensures that

• Remembrance is kept alive and that the sacrifices our brave Service men and women have made are never forgotten.
• The ex-Service community have a voice and that their concerns are brought to the public eye.

Becoming a member also provides the opportunity to get involved in a wide range of activities and events held locally, regionally and nationally throughout the year.

Use the link below to join online now.

If you have any problems with our online joining, please phone 0808 802 8080 and one of our staff will be happy to process your membership application over the phone.

If you wish to contact us or to report any inaccuracies or omissions on this site, please email Rosie Carter at carterandson@hotmail.com

About The Royal British Legion

We provide financial, social and emotional care and support to all members of the British Armed Forces - past and present and their families. The Legion is also the national Custodian of Remembrance and safeguards the Military Covenant between the nation and its Armed Forces and is best known for the annual Poppy Appeal and its emblem the red poppy.

Founded in 1921, the Legion is not just about those who fought in the World Wars of the last century, but also about those involved in the many conflicts since 1945 and those still fighting for the freedom we enjoy today. 

Visit www.britishlegion.org.uk for details of our national initiatives.