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

The sun shone and the weather was extremely kind to us at the BBCA Summer Garden Party on Sunday 25 June 2023.

The sound of leather on willow provided the backdrop at the Royal Brussels Cricket Club (RBCC) who hosted our annual summer charity fundraiser near Lasne-Ohain. A friendly ‘village green’ cricket match featured teams from SHAPE and the UK Embassies in Brussels.

This fifth edition of our free community celebration kicked off from 1pm with Timm’s Pimms, a BBQ (organised by Stonemanor), a tea stand with a generous spread of home-made cakes and fresh strawberries (donated by Domaine La Falize, Namur) and cream, as well as a cash bar in the cricket clubhouse.

The little ones joined in some traditional fun games such as an egg and spoon race, a three-legged race, sack race and a tug of war.

Other activities included 'Guess the Weight' of the BBCA's mystery box and our ever-popular raffle offering prizes from generous donors that helped to raise much-needed cash for the BBCA’s four local charities: BCF, CHS, RBL and the Wednesday Club.

The draw for the raffle was preceded by a short speeches from the RBCC Captain, Wasooq Butt, and the British Ambassador to Belgium, Martin Shearman

Our Chairman, Glenn Vaughan, responded on behalf of the BBCA before acting as Master of Ceremonies for the raffle draw and announcement of the winner of the ‘Guess the Weight’ competition.

The festivities drew to an end at 6pm.  A gallery of images from the day taken for us by Damien Maguire of Image Digital Photography from Namur can be found here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/QAjviA2YDrYfshDE7.

The BBCA warmly thanks the 100s of people who turned up for the event, its sponsor, The FRY Group, the RBCC, Stonemanor, BCF, CHS, RBL, The Wednesday Club, BRITCHAM, the AMIGO Hotel and Domaine de la Falize for their participation in and support of this event.

An exciting week learning about and performing musical theatre is happening at St. John's International School, Waterloo from 7 August to 11 August. This summer activity is ideal for 6- to 13-year-olds and the week will end with an amazing performance for the whole family.

The cost of the week is EUR 310 (EUR 270 for siblings) and the children will need to bring packed lunches.

For more information contact Thomas Kett via umpenquiries@gmail.com

A team of three ‘athletes' is being sought to represent Britain at a revival of the 1910 ‘Belle Epoque’ Olympics in June.

On Sunday 11 June 2023, 'La Belle Époque', the period on the eve of the First World War, returns at Château d’Ursel in Hingene (between Antwerp and Brussels). In 1910, Robert, seventh Duke d'Ursel, was commissioner-general of the World's Fair in Brussels and he held a festival for the international delegates and representatives in his castle grounds.

On 11 June the Duke’s festival is being recreated and as part of this a revival of the Olympic Games of that period is being staged. And it requires international teams to compete. In Hingene, the country teams will compete in the 'Hingene pentathlon': long jump from standing, high jump from standing, shot put from standing, relay and tug-of-war. Each team should consist of three athletes: a long jumper, a high jumper and a shot putter, who together run the relay and tug-of-war.

In these Olympics participating will be more important than winning! So the organisers are looking for amateur athletes who do their best to put in a good performance, but who also find pleasure in portraying athletes from 1910 while providing a bit of spectacle for the audience.

Your country needs you!

The athletes will represent the countries welcomed by the Duke in Hingene: Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Denmark, Great-Britain, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg, Switzerland, United States, Turkey, Canada, Brazil, China and Japan.

The athletes will need to dress correctly: white shorts or bermuda shorts with a white T-shirt above and their country's flag sewn or pinned on the back.

The Kasteelfeesten starts at 11 am, but the entrance of the athletes (with a big flag for each country) is planned at 1 pm. The games will take place on the lawn to the right of the castle from 1pm to 5pm and at 5.30pm the winning teams will be lauded. At 6pm there will be a big closing parade with all participants from the Kasteelfeesten.

If you would you like to participate with a team of three athletes then send an email to info@kasteeldursel.be and mention the country you would like to represent!

You can find more information on the Kasteelfeesten 1910 itself here.

As seen on Amazon Prime, BBC, Comedy Central and Live at Apollo, the Bafta Breakthrough star and one of the most loved comedians on the circuit, Luisa Omielan, is finally coming to Europe with a brand new tour.

She has packed her car and is taking a road trip around Europe with her dog Bernie. In search of adventure, purpose and comedy clubs. Every city she visits she is going to put on a show. 

And Brussels is on the tour with a show on 9 June at the Theatre L'improviste, Rue de Fierlant 120, 1190 Brussels. More info and a link to tickets here: https://bit.ly/3OlnuzB

Luisa

Luisa Omielan is a British comedy star with a Polish passport, who has been performing stand up since 2008 and in 2012 created her own genre of stand up comedy with a show called 'What Would Beyonce Do?!' The show toured around the world and was performed for over 5 years. Her follow up show, Am I Right Ladies?! has a Thigh Gap joke that went viral from Melbourne’s Comedy Gala and has amassed over 50 million views. She changed the game again when she wrote 'Politics For Bitches' and was awarded a BAFTA breakthrough and created a BBC series of the same name. In April she will have self-produced her comedy special "God is a Woman.' Her one woman stand up shows have been called 'genre defining'.

The next free webinar on Brexit issues from the Commissioner.Brussels Expat Welcome Desk will be on Monday 22 May from 12h00 to 13h30 and will cover the various routes open to UK citizens to obtain Belgian citizenship post Brexit.

Since Brexit, acquiring Belgian nationality has become increasingly appealing to UK citizens resident in the country. Becoming Belgian not only offers a route to unconditional residence and democratic rights in Belgium, but also restores your rights as an EU citizen — including freedom of movement - within the rest of the EU.

After a certain period of residence in Belgium, adult UK citizens residing in Belgium can acquire Belgian nationality if they meet specific eligibility requirements. There are various routes to citizenship, each with their own conditions. British children can also acquire Belgian nationality, but they have access to a different set of possible routes with their own specific rules.

In recent years, a number of questions have arisen regarding the eligibility of UK citizens for Belgian citizenship, in particular in light of issues related to their residence status (for example, as holders of Special Identity Cards) or to their employment status (for example, as posted workers or EU civil servants).

This webinar will outline the general eligibility conditions and process for Belgian nationality, while focusing on some of the questions that have arisen for UK citizens. Some insights into the latest developments in practice and in case law will also be shared and there will be an opportunity to ask questions after the presentations.

The webinar will be chaired by Amélie Bovy, Legal Adviser Welcome Desk, commissioner.brussels and the speakers will be Wout Van Doren and Jana Schellemans from Fragomen Brussels and Anthony Valcke, Avocat au Barreau de Bruxelles and a professor of Law and Migration Law at Vesalius College and the University of Kent amongst other roles.

To register for this webinar send an email to inscription@commissioner.brussels stating the name and/ or date of the webinar. A link to access the webinar will then be sent to you before the event. By registering, you will consent to be added to the UK Citizens in Brussels newsletter from commissioner.brussels.

The following webinar in this series will discuss the options for bringing family members to live with you in Belgium and will take place on Thursday 22 June 2023.

Despite less-than-cheery weather on Sunday 7 May, the BBCA-supported Coronation Party at Stonemanor in Everberg was a resounding success with hundreds of British residents, Belgians and international friends turning up to celebrate.

This free to enter garden party kicked off at 11h00 with free cream teas on offer, traditional Fish and Chips, plus Timm’s Pimms, a cash bar, cakes, and strawberries and cream. The ‘Expatriate Bistro’ that has recently moved into the tearooms at Stonemanor also supplied tasty BBQ treats and a wider menu. Fortunately, all was under cover as large tents had been erected in the Stonemanor car park.

The UK Ambassador, HE Martin Shearman made a short speech passing on the greetings and good wishes of HM King Charles IIII, and musical entertainment was supplied by local singers and bands.

A charity tombola was held and all profits from that and the other activities will be donated to the World Wildlife Fund – a conservation charity that King Charles, as Prince of Wales, has been very active with as patron and President from 2011.

The fun continued through to 6pm.

More photos from the day can be found here. If you have photos you would like to add to our album, please send them through to our bbca.newsandevents@gmail.com address.

And don’t forget to mark your diary for a couple of future BBCA events:

• Our Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 24 May 2023
• Our Summer Garden Party on 25 June 2023

See you there!

On the morning of Monday 22 May, the International Study Group (ISG) will hold its last talk before its summer break with Alice Graas who will talk about the beginning of Art Nouveau in Brussels; how and why this style appeared specifically in the neighbourhood of Avenue Louise and the exceptional constructions of the movement that were built there from 1893 until the early years of the 20^th century.

Alice Graas is the coordinator of Art Nouveau Brussels 2023.

After graduating in anthropology, she focused on the study and valorisation of heritage, specifically that of Art Nouveau heritage through various initiatives.

Since 2017, Alice has coordinated the association Maison Cauchie which is dedicated to the valorisation of the house and the work of the decorators Paul and Lina Cauchie. In this context, she has carried out archiving and researching the work on the building as well as updating the exhibition's scenography, in order to be able to enrich and improve the work of the guides. She is also involved in the day-to-day management of the association, as a volunteer, in order to keep the house open on a regular basis. Alice set up a heritage study that was conducted by an architectural and stenographic office, Architectures Parallèles.

Concurrently, she is creating guided tours dedicated to districts where Art Nouveau is strongly represented in order to share her passion of this heritage with the public and is working on the implementation of the Art Nouveau year, a project of “Urban.Brussels” which endeavours to establish the Brussels Region as the capital of Art Nouveau, celebrating the 130th anniversary of the first "Art Nouveau" house, the Hotel Tassel.

The talk is on Monday, 22 May 2023 at Château Sainte-Anne, Rue Du Vieux Moulin 103, 1160 Bruxelles. On street parking is available. Doors open at 10h00 and the talk will start at 10h30. The event is free for ISG members and guests are welcome and pay €10 on arrival.

ISG talks will recommence in September.

The Brussels Light Opera Company (BLOC) will be performing Gilbert & Sullivan’s Iolanthe from 18 to 21 May 2023 at the De Bosuil Community Centre in Jezus-Eik (Overijse).

What happens when a flock of formidable fairies descends upon a party of Parliamentary Peers? The answer - complete chaos! The worlds of Fairyland and Parliament collide in a marvellous musical masterpiece of comedy entertainment.

Why not put on your wings and join in the fun with BLOC - and the British House of Lords - in Fairyland!

More information and booking details here: https://bit.ly/41hP3N0

Their motto is ‘be prepared’, but nothing could have prepared Girl Guides who are members of Girlguiding UK’s Overseas (BGO) operations for this week’s news. The senior leadership of the organisation in the UK has decided to end all British Girlguiding overseas from 1 September 2023. The whole of BGO, its volunteers and young members will no longer be part of Girlguiding UK from that date.

The news was a shock for BGO leaders in Belgium who had not been consulted about the decision. Ali Anderson is the local District Commissioner for Brussels and Waterloo Girlguiding that runs activities at The British School of Brussels.

She has informed parents this morning (19 April) and commented that: “Our girls remain our absolute priority and we will not let the distraction of this news impact upon our commitment and ability to deliver a happy, safe Girlguiding programme up to the end of the school year.”

You can read the announcement from UK Girl Guides here.

Petition!

BGO volunteers, members and parents do not think forcing overseas operations to cease, because UK trustees apparently no longer wish to invest the time and effort required, is an acceptable course of action for senior leadership to take. They are calling on the UK Girlguiding leadership to reconsider.

You can help their efforts and make your support for BGO operations in Belgium (and globally) known by signing and sharing this petition.

Or you can contact BGO leadership direct via this email.

As part of the British and Commonwealth's Celebrations of the Coronation of HM King Charles III, and in consultation with the British Embassy, the Pro Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Brussels is pleased to invite you to a service of prayer for King Charles on the evening of Thursday 4 May from 19h00.

The Pro Cathedral of the Holy Trinity is situated in rue Captaine Crespel 29, 1050 Brussels. It would be helpful, though not essential, if people can let Holy Trinity know that they will be attending. RSVP via admin@holytrinity.be.

There will not be a formal procession or parade on this occasion, apart from that of the choir and clergy.

Please feel free to pass on this invitation to members of your communities and organisations and other people you think may be interested in attending.