Season’s greetings to all our members, all 580 of you!

Our membership has experienced an incredible growth over the last few years and as a result, this year was very busy for the British-Luxembourg Society (BLS), we hosted a large number and diverse range of events throughout 2024, offering our members cultural, educational, and social experiences.

The BLS is an A.S.B.L. and our Council are all volunteers.

We are very appreciative of the members of the council who spend many hours in their spare time to deliver this such quality events, in particular, Jacqui Spence, Debbie O’Keefe, Louise Benjamin and Diane Longden.

 

Cultural and Historical Events

 

Social and Networking Events

 

Arts and Music

 

Courses

With over 80 students regularly enrolled, we currently offer 7 diverse courses for personal development and skill enhancement. 2024/2025 Courses.

Language Courses

  • Conversational Luxembourgish at three levels: Beginner, Lower Intermediate, and Upper Intermediate
  • English Language: Writing, Grammar, Conversational Intermediate level
  • English Literature for Advanced Students

Art Courses

  • Practical Drawing and Watercolour Course at two levels: Beginner and Intermediate

Taught by experienced instructors including Sandra Bossi, Christelle Schiltz, Chris Atkinson, and Elsa Charalampous. We thank them and express our appreciation to our VP of Education, Chris Atkinson.

 

Guy Dockendorf became an Honorary Member

Mr Dockendorf’s connection with the Fondation Nationale de la Résistance Fondation (FONARES), means that he has become a regular feature at our annual Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture. and Guy or a Member of the Council of FONARES gives a short speech to remind us of the roots of the Society, borne out of the Second World War and to honour the memory.

 

Andrée Hentgen-Theisen became a Patron

Mrs. Hentgen-Theisen is one of the longest-standing members of the Society with deep roots. Her connection extends beyond her own involvement; her father-in-law, Aloyse Hentgen, was one of the founding members of the Society in 1947.

 

2024 Highlights

Our special highlights include the Summer Reception, albeit for the severe weather disruption, there was still much effort and coordination. The Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture, delivered by Allen Packwood OBE, Director of the Churchill Archives Centre, was a notable event with over 300 in attendance. The year concluded with the Gala Dinner, featuring H.E. Georges Friden, Luxembourg Ambassador to the UK, as a special guest speaker who delivered a very humourous after dinner speech. This year we also held a stand at the Luxembourg Expat Day with the Luxembourg Times and also at the St George’s International School Summer Fayre.

We also made a partnership with Bourgmeisterin, a project that shares captivating stories from and about Luxembourg.

The BLS extends its gratitude to council members and patrons, including H.E. British Ambassador Fleur Thomas, Sir Nicholas Forwood, Patrick Santer, Hubert Wurth, and new patron Andrée Hentgen-Theisen, for their invaluable contributions and ongoing support.

Our LinkedIn page had grown to almost 4.500 followers and Facebook to over 1.500, providing our Sponsors with further visibility.

Special thanks are also extended to our 2024 sponsors Aztec Group | Carne Group | Harneys | HSBC Luxembourg | LALUX Assurances  Oakley Capital | Panteo Global Partners | PwC Luxembourg | Stonehage Fleming, whose support has been instrumental in the success of the society’s events throughout the year.

Thank you Desom and Monhowen for generously supplying our refreshments at our Summer Reception and Done.lu for managing our website.

All our council members have been active in many of our activities, our Treasurer, Diane Longden and our General Secretary, Alexander Ludbrook-Miles, need a special mention for the management of accounts and organising our meeting/minutes.

We look forward to welcoming you to our new 2025 calendar of events shortly.

We are delighted to inform you that we have lined up our speaker for the 2025 Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture. We are honoured to welcome The Right Honourable Dominic Grieve, KC, a former British politician who served as Shadow Home Secretary from 2008 to 2009 and Attorney General for England and Wales from 2010 to 2014. He is currently the President of the Franco-British Society  and the Interim Chairman of our Sister organisation in the UK,  The Luxembourg Society (Est. 1942)

We thank you for your continued support, your membership contribution ensures the survival of our Historic Society, established in 1947.

We look forward to seeing you during 2025 and sharing in the camaraderie of this historic and prestigious community. Gently nudging you toward renewing your membership for 2025. Please diarise lots of canapes (and an AGM) on 3rd March 2025.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Warm regards

Darren

Darren Robinson – President

British-Luxembourg Society

Please follow the BLS page on LinkedIn and Facebook

 

2024 Council

Alexander Ludbrook-Miles, Amela Skenderovic, Chris Atkinson, Christos Floros, Darren Robinson, Debbie O´Keefe, Denton Lilley, Diane Longden, Fiona Urquhart, Ian Berry, Jacqueline Spence-Willis, Laurent Peusch, Louise Benjamin, Michael-James Clifton, Nasir Zubairi, Paul Schonenberg, Richard Aboboto, Sam Elsey, Sam Vinandy-Lau, Thomas Keipes.

 

Photo Galleries

Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture

Summer Reception

 

Press Items

Thank you to the Chronicle.lu and Jazmin Campbell

Gala Dinner

Sir Winston Churchill Memorial Lecture

New Honorary Member

New Patron

AGM

Ambassador’s Christmas Lunch 2024 for the British Communities

Pictured: Danial Shaikh (Deputy Head of Mission), Darren Robinson (President – British-Luxembourg Society), Reverend Geoff Read (Chaplain – Anglican Church), H.E. Fleur Thomas (British Ambassador), Andrew Notter (Chair – British Chamber of Commerce), Zeba Clarke (Principal – St George’s International School), Tursun Aitbaeva (Chair – British Ladies Club).