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

Many of us learned to use our smartphones and tablets because it became unavoidable, often being the only way to remain connected with friends and family (thinking of the grandchildren’s video calls). Today, people can be vilified as antisocial for being constantly on their smartphones, while the past is often glorified (the good old days of reading hard copy newspapers versus the digital newspapers of today) – mostly because we don’t fully comprehend the power of today’s technology and what it does for us.

On Monday 9 October the International Study Group will tackle the topic 'Understanding ever-evolving technology and its place in our lives' with their speaker, Sara Van Zandycke, who will offer a playful insight into today’s technology. With a hint of nostalgia, she will cite examples of how that technology has evolved and affected society, and how we view smartphones and tablets. Sara questions: why spend two hours at the town hall applying for a new identification card when you can do it at home in two minutes?

The meeting on Monday, 9 October 2023 starts with a welcoming coffee from 10h00 am with the talk starting from 10h30 at the Château Malou, Allée Pierre Levie 2, 1200 Woluwe-Saint-Lambert.

Directions by car: To access the château, take Allée Pierre Levie 2 which is the first left off Chaussée de Stockel (see the sign to Château Malou). The (free) parking is in the park on both sides of the château.

Public transport: Tram 8, stop Voot; Bus 28, stop Deportés or Parc Malou.

For more details of this meeting and other ISG activities visit the website: www.isgbrussels.be

Sarah Crew reflects on a life of adventure combined with a passion for rugby and a commitment to helping underprivileged kids.

When Chris Trapman and his wife Caty retired to Belgium in 2001, little did they know it was to be the start of a new and particularly fruitful period of their lives.

After a career as an agricultural economist for the World Bank in Central America, Africa and the US, home for the Anglo-French couple was now a farm in the Condroz region of Wallonia.

While Caty trained as a sommelier, rugby fan Chris joined the local rugby club in Namur. The former second row player was soon applying his leadership skills to the burgeoning club, helping it secure grounds in Jambes and royal status.

His commitment resulted in positions as vice-president of the Ligue Belge Francophone de Rugby and the president of Royal Rugby Namur. A fan of rugby sevens, he was instrumental in growing the sport in Belgium, serving as manager of the Belgian sevens team for five years, accompanying players on tours to Dubaï, Las Vegas, Moscow and Hong Kong, to name a few. For many young players, Chris’ infectious enthusiasm for the game and the ideals it represented, inspired them on and off the pitch.

When Caty opened a wine bar in the Walloon capital, Chris helped out behind the bar, entertaining everyone with anecdotes from his far-flung travels. The inveterate sportsman also started swinging golf clubs, playing at Rougemont near Namur and Sherry Golf, Jerez, in Spain.

In Belgium, he joined fellow Britons at La Tournette with a similar love of sport and helping the less fortunate. They fundraised through golf competitions.

Says Martin Blackwell: “Chris joined the Orbit/Rinya charity projects team in 2014 and contributed tremendously until very recently; his experience in various African countries helped us enormously in understanding how to finance projects without fear of their being mismanaged. This helped us ensure that the financial support given by our friends and supporters was spent wisely. He will be sorely missed.”

The aims of the Kenyan project mirrored those at the heart of The Children of La Calera, the charity that Chris and Caty founded to help educate children in a rural village in Honduras.

The couple divided their time between Namur and their home in Spain. For the past six years, Chris stoically battled with cancer, never complaining and remaining positive and cheerful until the end.

For his family and global network of friends, Chris’s passing leaves a gaping void. He will be remembered for his wicked humour, his spirit of adventure, his English gentleman demeanour and his quiet determination to help those in need, particularly young people.

Born in Sussex on 23 August 1946, Christopher Trapman died in Namur on 22 September 2023. He is survived by his wife Caty, daughters Loïs and Zara and five grandchildren.

The Cirque du Soleil show ’Kurios – Cabinet of Curiosities’ is now in town! This spectacular show opened yesterday (7 September) under the Big Top at Brussels Expo next to Palais 12 and runs until 29 October.

Step into the curio cabinet of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space and dimension to reinvent everything around him. Suddenly, the visible becomes invisible, perspectives are transformed, and the world is literally turned upside down. In an alternate yet familiar past, in a place where wonders abound for those who trust their imagination, a Seeker discovers that to glimpse the marvels that lie just below the surface, we must first learn to close our eyes.

More information on the show and how to book tickets can be found here: https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/belgium/brussels/kurios/buy-tickets.

BBCA members check your email for a special offer on tickets.

For those inspired by the cricket at our Summer Garden Party - and anyone else looking for a fun summer sporting activity - a 'Cricket Fun Pairs' competition is being organised on the afternoon of Sunday 30 July at Ghent cricket club.

Organiser Julian Hale says the event will be a fun and sociable cricket pairs competition, where people compete as a couple. The rules will be explained on the day but the format is open to beginners and more experienced players and people of any age and any ability. Julian will adapt the rules/play with different balls to match the players involved.

The event will kick off from around 2pm til 6pm and other matches and/or practice sessions may be organised.

Want to know more? Contact Julian Hale via email or text/whatsapp on +32 473 690749

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!