News and Events -----------

Two Venetian gondoliers discover that one of them has become the King of the distant isle of Barataria - but which of the two is it?  They also learn that he (whichever it is) was married when a baby - but as both gondoliers are already married, this makes one of them (but which one?) an unintentional bigamist.  Two husbands, three wives - that's two-thirds of a husband to each wife - but you can't marry a vulgar fraction!

The Gondoliers is Gilbert's topsy-turvydom at its best, and Sullivan's music at its most sparkling!

Join the Brussels Light Opera Company (BLOC) in Venice and Barataria with five performances of this Gilbert & Sullivan classic from 19 to 22 June at De Bosuil Cultural Centre in Overijse.  Book your tickets here: http://www.bloc-brussels.com.

BLOC is an amateur musical theatre company that performs principally in English and has over 200 members from over 20 nations.

The company welcomes all newcomers.  To perform in a show, you must audition, however a formal musical training is not required – but an ability to read music is helpful. Non-singing members are very welcome to help backstage, front of house or with administration.

Get ready for an evening of fun quizzing, delicious food and great music, brought to you by the Community Kitchen and the Hot Air International Vocal Ensemble (plus friends) on 13 June at Holy Trinity.

You already know the Community Kitchen but Hot Air is a 14 voice ensemble based in the Brussels area. They sing a wide variety of music but mainly on the lighter side: folk songs, spirituals, jazz and pop. Joining Hot Air on the evening of Friday 13 June are The Ladybirds - a female duo who perform the songs of Paul McCartney and the Beatles - and Triple Threat - a trio of female performers with a shared passion for musical theatre.

Get ready for an evening of fun quizzing, delicious food and great music (that may also be quiz rounds), brought to you by the Community Kitchen and the Hot Air International Vocal Ensemble.

Dinner, from the Community Kitchen, will be served and of course the bar will be open. Don’t miss out!

You can either arrange a team in advance (up to six people per team) or just turn up on the night and a team will be found for you. To be sure though, you can book tickets in advance here. Tickets cost EUR 30 per person and cover admission, entry to the quiz, dinner and one drink from the bar.

See you on 13 June from 19h00 at Holy Trinity Brussels Anglican Church, Rue Capitaine Crespel 29, 1050 Brussels.

The annual Summer Fayre at Saint Anthony’s Catholic Church in Kraainem takes place on Sunday 15 June from 13h00. The fayre is free to enter and promises lots of fun! Entertainment includes a BBQ and refreshments, a bar, live music, a dance and fashion show, tombola, bouncy castle, games and stalls including toys & books, clothes & jewellery and bric-a-brac. All in the charming grounds of the church.

Saint Anthony’s is at Oudstrijderslaan 23-25 in Kraainem and has been serving the international, English-speaking, Roman Catholic community in the Brussels area since 1973. The church is part of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. The church is home to a vibrant and diverse community of over 40 nationalities.

Central Brussels Scouts (CSB) are on the lookout for new members. CSB is an English-speaking group that is part of British Scouting Overseas. The group takes kids, boys and girls, from 6 to 14 years old across their three sections: Beavers (6-8 years old); Cubs (~8-10 years old); and Scouts (~10-14 years old).

CSB is an international group with members from across the world, the only criteria is that the joining children should speak a good level of English, so they can understand what is going on.

The group does a wide range of activities from crafts, to cooking to outdoor games. They also participate in camps and other events. Weekly meetings are held on weekday evenings between 17h00 and 20h30 during school term times.

For more information and to sign up please visit the CSB website. The Group also has a Facebook page.

The British Charitable Fund (BCF) was founded by the Duke of Wellington in 1815 following the Battle of Waterloo to take care of wounded soldiers and their families. Today, some 210 years later the BCF is still caring and helping people in times of crisis.

The BCF exists to assist persons of British nationality or persons who are married to or divorced from a British citizen. The BCF also helps widows/widowers of British nationals regardless of nationality. Assistance may also be extended to the children of a British national. In each of these cases, the only proviso is that the person concerned is resident in Belgium.

The patron of the BCF is Philippe, King of the Belgians, and its Honorary President is the British Ambassador to Belgium. The day-to-day work of the fund is undertaken by a small team of volunteers - all give their time freely and running expenses are kept to an absolute minimum.

The people that the BCF helps are young and old, long-term residents in Belgium and new arrivals, some just passing through, and they come from all walks of life. The BCF is non-denominational and non-judgemental, and simply does what it takes to help get lives back on track.

The personal cases that  the BCF get involved with are many and varied. For instance, coping with administrative requirements upon the loss of a spouse can often be daunting. Loneliness and isolation (often coupled with financial issues) can be longer-term problems for many people, not necessarily just the elderly. Language barriers only add to the difficulties and anxieties experienced by many people, often the most vulnerable amongst us.

Case studies

The two examples below are typical of the current work of the BCF.

Gloria and Sylia have both been a part of the BCF family for many years. They each receive a very small state pension and a monthly stipend from the BCF. As the years pass, they continue to live active lives in the knowledge that the BCF checks in regularly with each of them and maintains their financial support.

Alex has lived in Belgium for many years. In 2024, his employment situation changed, and his income decrease abruptly. Referred to the BCF by a mutual contact, a series of financial measures have been put in place to help him until his income flow stabilises.

Plus ça change

“I recently came across a copy of the BCF annual report for 1957,”says BCF Chair Julie Huckle. “Reading the report, it struck me just how much things have changed on a world scale but then again, how nothing has changed on a human scale. In 1957, the work of the BCF was funded by donations from many, many individuals and companies, Today, our list of donors is a more restrained affair.”

“Also in 1957, the BCF supported almost ten times more people with regular pension payments than it does today,” she continues. “Then, as now, however, steps were taken during the year to supplement payments in an effort to bring them more in line with the cost of living because the Fund’s protégés are, without exception, people who are trying to make ends meet on what by any standards can only be regarded as a bare subsistence level.”

“Nowadays, we are all connected with an immediacy that can sometimes be overwhelming. Yet, in general, there is a recognition that we live ever more individualistic lives, behind the protective barriers of GDPR and privacy rights. Many British people in Belgium are hiding in plain sight and the people who could usefully benefit from BCF support risk going un-noticed.”

“In practice, there are few limits to the type of help the BCF can provide,“ concludes Julie. “The BCF works as a small committee and is a group of unpaid volunteers. We work in conditions of the strictest confidentiality but are an ‘agency of last resort’, only stepping in when applicants have exhausted the normal means of family or government support. Our structure enables us to react very quickly - often the same day - and assistance can last for anything from a few days to several years.”

How can you help?

Spread the word – The BCF is concerned that there may be many needy people who are simply unaware of the help that the BCF can offer. The BCF is working to increase awareness of its activities amongst the British and anglophile community in Belgium.

Volunteer – The BCF works closely with other organisations which also help British nationals in Belgium, supports the work of the Wednesday Club and is a member of the BBCA. They liase regularly with the Consulate and the British Embassy. But volunteers are at the core of providing and facilitating the BCF response to individuals. Can you spare a few hours to help?

Donate - If you don’t have time to volunteer, then please consider donating. Donations to the BCF are recognised by the Belgian Ministry of Finance and annual contributions of €40 and above are tax deductible.

Donations to the BCF can be made to ING account ‘The British Charitable Fund asbl’ at IBAN BE37 3101 8900 8428 – please include the message “Donation” and your email address so the BCF can keep in touch -  and send you your tax attestation!

Find more about the BCF on their website and Facebook page.

From 2- 14 June The Bridge Theatre Brussels will be premiering a brand-new production ‘855-FOR-TRUTH’ at The Berger Court near Porte de Namur in Brussels. Bridge Theatre is a professional English-language company whose last production in November – ‘Radiant Vermin’ – scored a five-star review with L’Echo.

Somewhere between Hilldale, Utah and the end of the world, an 18-year-old cult member and a young climate scientist collide in the woods. As Meredith prepares for the apocalypse and Isaac scrambles to save the planet, the lines between faith, science, and survival blur.

Tender, provoking, and bitingly funny, 855-FOR-TRUTH explores our urge to fix the world—and each other—while asking what we’re willing to believe when everything is falling apart.

855-FOR-TRUTH is written by Eva Hudson and stars Max Rapahel (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Lionsgate, Black Beauty - Disney+) and Molly Hanly (Youth's The Season - Abbey Theatre).

This exciting production takes place in The Berger Court at Stassart House, a beautiful and historic venue near Porte de Namur, that has been transformed over the years from a reception space for the Union Coloniale Belge to housing the Maison de la Radio (RTBF) and then the theatre department of the Conservatoire.

The play runs from 2 to 14 June, Monday-Saturday at 20h00 plus Saturday matinee at 15h00 at The Berger Court (Stassart House), 13 rue du Berger, 1050 Brussels. Find more information and tickets here.

Join the Community Kitchen at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday 17 May for a warm, heartfelt evening of music, community, and good food to support the excellent work of this important charity initiative. This special benefit event will feature a live performance by the Scottish folk band Laverock, whose rich harmonies and traditional melodies will transport you straight to the highlands. Laverock brings their own unique take on Scottish folk traditions, weaving storytelling and song into a captivating live performance.

Laverock is a Scottish folk trio known for their beautiful vocal arrangements, traditional and contemporary repertoire, and infectious enthusiasm for storytelling through song. They have deep roots in the folk tradition and a strong commitment to community.

In addition to the music, the Community Kitchen will be serving dinner and operating a bar during the show. Tickets for the concert, dinner and one drink cost €30 and can be purchased here.

All proceeds from the evening will directly support the Community Kitchen’s efforts to provide nourishing meals and social connection for those in need.

Doors open at Holy Trinity, Rue Capitaine Crespel 29, 1000 Bruxelles at 19h00 with music from 19h30. There will be a break for dinner at 20h15 followed by a second tranche of Laverock from 21h10 to 22h00.

The Community Kitchen

The mission of the Community Kitchen is to create a Brussels-wide community of volunteers and donors committed to ensuring that no one in our city goes hungry. The Kitchen is a diverse community of cooks who come together every day to prepare nourishing meals for people in need. Based at Holy Trinity Brussels, meals are sent out across the city to humanitarian, refugee and other food distribution centres. The Kitchen also operates a weekly food bank and cafe providing essential food items to families and individuals in our city.

Find out more about the work of the Community Kitchen here.

Join the Arts Society Brussels on the evening of 14 May for their last lecture of the 2024-2025 season on Antony Gormley and his work. Gormley's career spans nearly 40 years, during which time he has made sculpture that explores the relationship of the human body to space, often using his own body as his starting point.

His work has been shown across the world, in galleries including the Tate in London and the Hermitage in St Petersburg, but his art is also very public including  Another Place at Crosby Beach, near Liverpool and the iconic and monumental Angel of the North.

This talk will look at some of his earlier and less well-known works, to give an overall view of the development of his work across his whole career to the present.

The talk takes place at the Maison Communale Woluwe Saint Lambert on the evening of Wednesday 14 May. The talk is free for Art Society members, but non-members are welcome and can pay on the door.  The talk will start at 20h00 with complimentary drinks from 19h30.

More information here.

On 18 April, Good Friday, Holy Trinity Pro-Cathedral in central Brussels invites you to join a Musical Act of Worship around the performance, with choir and orchestra, of the Seven Last Words from the Cross (sung in German) by Joseph Haydn. The service will commence at 19h30. For more details see below.

2025 will be a busy year for our colleagues in the Royal British Legion (RBL) Brussels branch with the 80^th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Ahead of the VE (Victory in Europe) Day on 8 May, RBL Brussels is inviting members and friends to the ‘British Day’ commemorations in Hotton and La Roche on Sunday 4 May 2025.

This annual event marks the contribution of more than 55,000 UK and Commonwealth troops who fought in the Battle of the Bulge – the final German offensive in the west in the winter of 1944-45. Hotton marks the western limit of the German offensive through the Ardennes and the Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery there contains 666 burials.

A memorial above the town of La Roche-en-Ardenne commemorates 54 men of the 51st (Highland) Division who lost their lives during the Ardennes Offensive. The town itself was liberated on 11 January 1945 by the 1st Black Watch, supported by the Derbyshire Yeomanry.

The programme for the day starts at 9h00 with a welcome coffee or drink at the Café Le Jacquemart, opposite the Church in Hotton where a bilingual Mass led by Père Herman Kusola and Rev Canon John Wilkinson will take place at 9h45.

This will be followed by a wreath laying ceremony outside the Church, followed by a procession to the Hotton Commonwealth War Cemetery led by La Fanfare Royale des Joyeux Travailleurs for a further commemoration event.

After lunch events move on to La Roche-en-Ardenne where a short commemoration ceremony will take place at the 51st Highland Division Memorial.

For more details, including how to book and pay for an optional lunch in Hotton etc, please contact RBL Brussel’s Joint Hon. Secretary Andrée Ferrant via this email.