A FORMER RAF officer has become the first chairwoman of the Oxfordshire Royal British Legion.

Lynda Atkins, who was elected Wallingford mayor last month, has taken over the top county RBL role from Jim Lewendon.

She said: “I’m very excited about this new role.

“The RBL supports all members of the armed forces and their families, and all veterans and their families. It is not just people who have been injured.

“I would like to get more young people involved in supporting the RBL. The obvious thing is the Poppy Appeal but there is a lot more good work that the legion does.

“When people come out of the service, some struggle to have the skills to get on in civilian life and the legion can help with that phase of the process.

“I hope I can work with all members of the legion across the county, based on the fantastic work that Jim has done.”

Mr Lewendon, 86, has been chairman or vice-chairman of the RBL in Oxfordshire since 1999, and the great-grandfather announced last year he would be retiring.

He said: “Lynda is ex-service and a member of the RBL and I am delighted she wanted to take the job on.

“There never has been a woman county chairman before. It’s a first for Oxfordshire.”

Ms Atkins was in the RAF for eight years in the 1980s when she was in her 20s.

She added: “I never served at RAF Benson. I was at RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire, RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland, and RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.

“I was a Flight Lieutenant in the RAF and worked on personnel accounts and recruiting, and after the RAF I was a captain in the Territorial Army for three years.

“I got a huge amount out of my time with the RAF and the TA and I want to give something back.”

It comes as the Wallingford legion, in Goldsmiths Lane, has been saved after being under threat of closure due to a lack of volunteers.

In 2013, Linda Shoebridge, who has been secretary, acting treasurer, membership secretary and welfare secretary of the Wallingford branch, warned it needed about eight people to come forward to take on committee roles, or it would close.

Now new people have come forward to keep it running.

Mrs Shoebridge, who lives with husband Aidan in Millbrook Close, Wallingford, said: “The branch is no longer in danger of closing – I’m relieved it’s not going to close.

“We have had several people come forward to help keep it running, offers that we have not refused.

“I stepped down as secretary last year and Frank Hames stepped down as chairman.”

The branch is thought to date back to 1921 and ran until 1965 when it folded, but was then relaunched in 1987.