The battle to keep Bridge of Don British Legion social club open – the last in Aberdeen

It is the last Royal British Legion social club in Aberdeen, but the Oldmachar venue in Bridge of Don is facing a battle for its survival.

A short distance away from the club is the war memorial, something British Legion members have gathered around over the years to pay tribute to those who lost their lives in combat.

Nestled in the older part of the Bridge of Don, looking at it from the outside you might not realise it has upstairs and downstairs bar areas. In fact, when I popped into the club to hear about the current situation, I was jokingly told the place was “like the Tardis”.

I met with branch president Fred Small, chairman Matt Fyfe, the social club’s bar manager George Stewart and member Hazel Morrison, who are doing all they can to keep the doors open amid rising costs.

Why has the club been struggling?

Chairman Matt Fyfe opens a book and shows me a section about the branch and points to a page about the history of the building on Balgownie Road, which opened in 1956.

Even just a few minutes into our meeting and the dedication is already clear.

Hazel Morrison, who also works in the branch’s office, tells me the club has been “struggling”.

She added: “It’s been tough this last month, or so.”

There are a number of pubs in the Bridge of Don with a couple of those fairly close to the social club.

Hazel said: “We’ve got a lot of competition, and we’re now not on the bus route.”

George chips in to point out the slope the surrounding area sits on.

He adds: “Some of the older people can’t manage the hill.”

Who uses the club?

In a bid to help, they have set up a Go Fund Me page, and so far have raised almost £700 out of a £3,500 target.

A fundraising karaoke disco will take place on Saturday, August 9, with other measures also put in place to try and attract people to the club.

The Oldmachar social club has opened a small cafe on its premises in a bid to attract new faces and raise the profile of the club.

And it’s not just members of the club that use it.  The space in the building has become a valuable resource to the community.

It hosts a number of groups catering to a wide number of interests and ages, such as Slimming World, war gamers, line dancing, bingo, Quarriers and more.

Hazel said: “The club would be missed if we had to close.”

Legion clubs facing closure across north-east

In recent years other Legion clubs in Aberdeenshire have found themselves facing closure.

Like many pubs and venues, the social club is operating in a tough economic climate.  This year has seen venues such as The Esslemont on Union Street and BrewDog’s flagship bar on Gallowgate announce their closure.

At the moment they “have a bit to go” to reach their fundraising target, but as Hazel said: “Every little helps.”

Chairman Matt Fyfe added: “Especially when you see the amount of pubs that have closed in Aberdeen – but we’re doing all we can.”

What has the Oldmachar club been doing to help?

While the club accommodates a pool, snooker and darts team, footfall associated with them drops out of the games seasons.

In a bid to get more people through the doors, they have opened the upstairs bar to use – although they plan to keep using their main bar downstairs during the sports seasons.

George said: “It’s trying to keep people interested, getting people in and getting the younger ones coming in as well – and making them aware we are open.”

Like any social club, the Oldmachar Legion has its regulars, and George, who has worked there for 13 years, said: “For our regulars, if this place was to close, even though there are bars around the area they wouldn’t go there. They would have nowhere to go it would be hard on them as well.

He added: “If they didn’t have here to come, they wouldn’t go anywhere else. It’s not that they don’t like the other places or anything. It’s just this is where they want to be.”

Hazel explained, “We know the customers and the customers know the staff.  It’s
like a big family with the regulars.”

Is the club just for those with links to the forces?

The club is a place where former and current armed forces members have been able to meet up and socialise. However, they are keen to stress that people don’t need to be in the forces or ex-forces to go to the club as associate membership is available.

Hazel said: “People think you have to be ex forces or current forces, but in actual fact, we’ll accommodate just about anybody.

“Whether you are forces, or whether you’ve never heard of the forces, you can have your membership. We are open for police, fire – all the emergency services too.”

Chairman Matt has been involved with the RBLS for 30 years and explained the venue gets hired out for functions, which I’m told they rely on and is helpful to the club.

Looking back at our archives, it’s clear that many memorable celebrations and functions have been held in the hall.

When we met, the club was set to host a darts event that weekend, and they were expecting a good turnout.

Has the cafe helped?

Among the challenges is making sure they are on people’s radars.

President Fred Small said: “We’d like to make people more aware of this building. There’s people that live quarter a mile away and just think it’s this little building –  they don’t know about the interior. ”

The opening of the cafe around a month ago has attracted interest, and they are hopeful it’ll have a positive impact.

George said: “With opening the cafe these last few weeks, we’ve had people come in. They’ve all said, we didn’t know this place was here, didn’t know it existed or thought it closed years ago.

He added: “We’ve got the door open, we’ve got neon signs and there’s billboards outside as well. So people are stopping and looking. And they may not come in that day, but they’ll maybe come in the next day.”

Matt tells us they have had a few new members since the cafe opened. Currently they have 183, a proportion of which they see regularly.

Where to find the social club’s fundraiser

The club issued an appeal for members earlier this year, and did gain some new members. However, any income generated doesn’t alleviate the mounting costs associated with running the venue such as bills, stock and wages.

RBLS branches and social clubs are run independently of each other, though Oldmachar did get help from the branch for some work and repairs that needed done.

Hazel explained: “Anything else inside the club is up to us – and the biggest problem right now is energy bills.”

Matt said: “We’re still the only club left in Aberdeen, so we’re not too bad.”

Hazel added, “We’re just clinging on.”

Agreeing, Matt said: “We’re just clinging on and no more.”

• To donate to the club’s fundraiser go to their Go Fund Me page.
• To find out more about the fundraising event, go to the club’s Facebook page.

[Source: Press and Journal]