The Royal British Legion Riders Branch (RBLR) was formed in 2004 as a branch of

The Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ...

, a registered charity that supports past and present members of the Armed Forces. While its membership is dominated by former and current HM Armed Forces personnel, it also welcomes members who support the aims of the Royal British Legion charity, namely of helping and assisting service people, ex-service people and their dependants. The members are regularly seen at many motorcycle events wearing the distinctive rider's badge. They have become synonymous with the repatriations of fallen service personnel at both

Royal Wootton Bassett Royal Wootton Bassett , formerly Wootton Bassett, is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, with a population of 11,043 in 2001, increasing to 11,385 in 2011. Situated in the north of the county, it lies to the west of the major ...

, where they have met since 11 December 2008 for the repatriation of the bodies of fallen service personnel who were flown into RAF Lyneham. and since 1 September 2011 at

Carterton, Oxfordshire Carterton is a town in West Oxfordshire district in the county of Oxfordshire, England and is south-west of Witney. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 15,769. History Much of what is now the northern part of the town was hel ...

after repatriation flights were moved back to

RAF Brize Norton Royal Air Force Brize Norton or RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, about west north-west of London, is the largest station of the Royal Air Force. It is close to the village of Brize Norton, and the towns of Carterton and Witney. The statio ...

. They still attend all Repatriations & continue to do so. Ex-military members of the RBLR often wear medals and head dress with their leathers and motorcycle kit. RBLR runs events such as Weston Bike Night in

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

, an annual rally, and is now running the annual RBLR 1000

Iron Butt Rally The Iron Butt Association (IBA) is a US-based organization dedicated to safe long-distance motorcycle riding, which claims membership of over 75,000 people. The IBA is a loose-knit organization with only one way to earn membership: ride one of t ...

. In 2009, 173 riders completed 1,000 miles in 24 hours and raised £10,000 for the

Poppy Appeal A remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn in some countries to commemorate their military personnel who died in war. Remembrance poppies are produced by veterans' associations, who exchange the poppies for charitable donations used to gi ...

. The RBLR also organises poppy runs (a kind of

motorcycle rally A motorcycle rally is a gathering of motorcycle enthusiasts. Rallies can be large or small, and one-time or recurring. Some rallies are ride-in events, whereas some like the Iron Butt Rally involve days of riding and an actual gathering only at t ...

) to raise both awareness and money for the

. Its members also become involved in rides to places with special military resonance such as the Armed Forces Memorial in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands C ...

and European battle sites. The RBLR has had some celebrity support with

Hayley Westenra Hayley Dee Westenra (born 10 April 1987) is a New Zealand classical crossover singer and songwriter. Her first internationally released album, '' Pure'', reached number one on the UK classical charts in 2003 and has sold more than two million ...

and

Simon Weston Simon Weston (born 8 August 1961) is a Welsh veteran of the British Army who is known for his charity work and recovery from severe burn injuries suffered during the Falklands War. Early life Weston was born at Caerphilly District Miners ...

both having received the Branches' Poppy Appeal cheque. The Hairy Bikers are members and can often be seen wearing their riders branch wristbands.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal British Legion Riders Branch Charities based in England Motorcycle clubs in the United Kingdom British veterans' organisations Organizations established in 2004 Motorcyclists organizations The Royal British Legion