Royal British Legion community comes together at spring ball

Some 150 people turned out in their finery for the Royal British Legion spring ball in Mijas last Saturday.

La Sierra restaurant was the venue for the RBL's fifth annual event that brought together veterans of the British armed forces, several of them with a string of medals on their lapels, along with friends and supporters.

RBL poppy appeal and welfare coordinator Andy Nye described the event as a celebration of "Britishness".

Bagpipes and Scottish dancing were followed by a three-course dinner and a raffle and auction. Toasts - with port - were proposed to the Kings of Spain and UK and to absent friends, as silence was kept for The Last Post.

And after the formal part of the evening, live entertainment with Gary Scott guaranteed a full dance floor.

Nye, 59, whose own medals were gained in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq and Yemen, among other places, explained how funds raised on the night - some 4,275 euros - would go towards the work of the Royal British Legion in the south of Spain.

"All the money we raise stays in Spain," said Nye. "Last year we raised something in the region of 60,000 euros [in total], which is a pretty reasonable annual average," he added, explaining that the RBL helps ex-servicemen and their partners with a whole range of services.

From the extreme case of someone who has found themselves living on the street to someone in hospital with no visitors or a tourist who has lost their passport, the services offered rely on a network of volunteers.

"Sometimes our help is as simple as carrying someone's shopping upstairs," said the coordinator.

Also sporting a lapel full of medals was RBL volunteer Eddie Lloyd. He describes more of the help the RBL provides for ex-servicemen on the Costa del Sol.

"It ranges from sitting down and having a little chat with a person who's maybe a bit lonely to helping out financially. It may involve taking people to hospital, helping them out with appointments, doing some translation," he explained.

"It's a little bit of a payback and it's not costing me anything. It's just a little bit of my time," said Lloyd, adding, "The skills the volunteers picked up during their service help to put these things together."

Lloyd's son Craig, 39, who is currently serving in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and has been in the British Army since he was 16, travelled to Spain to spend the special evening with his father.

He praised the work the RBL does on the Costa del Sol. "They're bringing a community together and I think that's essential," he said. "I think that's something that you don't get in the UK so much now."