Comment
Election of new presidents at the AGM of the Swiss Club Tyne Tees in May 2008
Dear members,
I would like to take the opportunity to tell you how honoured I am to be a member of the committee and webmaster. I look forward to supporting the Swiss Club.
We all would like to thank Ursula, our former president, for her great work over the past years and her loyalty to the Swiss Club Tyne Tees! Fortunately Ursula will continue supporting our club in becoming a member of the committee.
Furthermore we would like to thank our hosts Ralph, Jacqueline & their family who kindly offered their beautiful place in the wonderful setting of the Lake District for this year´s AGM. They have prepared everything so nicely and have made this sunny day unique. A big `thank you` also to Arthur Broadhurst, honorary consul, and his lovely wife Huldi for the Swiss wine!
May I also introduce our two new Presidents:
Felicity was born in Durham with an English father and Swiss mother from Lengnau near Biel. Her mother was a member of the Swiss Club in Durham for many years before her death in July 2007. She has been a member of the Swiss Club in Durham for about two years and organised a drama event at the dinner for the Fossuk AGM in Durham about three years ago. Felicity attended the Fossuk AGM hosted by the South West group in Exeter about two years ago and makes regular trips to Switzerland visiting relatives. She believes clubs have an important role to play in the life of Swiss nationals in England and their partners /relatives/ families/friends. She looks forward to working with Sophie and all members in developing our club.
Sophie was born in Göttingen in Lower Saxony/Germany and baptised in Romont in FR/Switzerland, where most of her maternal relatives live. With a German father and a Swiss mother she was eligible to become Swiss after her 20th birthday and she is ever since very proud of her Swiss nationality. Twice, sometimes three times a year, her family visits their relatives in Switzerland. When she was young, her family went skiing in the Valais in Saas Almagell every Easter and in the summer time, they loved to go for mountain walks and enjoyed the breathtaking panoramic views. Sophie has seen more of Switzerland than of Germany, where she was brought up. Her Swiss family was delighted when she announced her wedding to me, because I speak French and love Switzerland as much as she does. We moved to England in April 2006 and joined the Swiss Club Tyne Tees 2007 after searching for Swiss expats to celebrate the 1st of August. In a couple of years, we would like to move to Switzerland, but have not yet decided to which part of our beautiful country. Sophie is very honoured to be President and to work in a team with Felicity to support our club. She would be delighted to introduce more Swiss related activities in our events and to strengthen the Anglo-Swiss relations and the bonds between expats in the North of England.
Welcome to both of you & all the best for the future of our club!
Kind regards,
Martin
News
FOSSUK AGM at the Swiss Embassy in London in June 2008
Dear members,
it was a lovely & sunny Saturday at the Swiss Embassy in London. The reception was held on the beautiful croped terrace, where we were obligingly served with Swiss white wine and delicious amuse-bouches. We enjoyed talking to members of other Swiss clubs as well as to members of the Swiss Embassy. It was interesting to hear about the many cultural events, which are taking place in London and surroundings and also to know about the work of the Swiss Benevolent Society, which supports Swiss expats in the UK. We talked about the possibility to link with this great society to help individuals experiencing difficulties in the North of the UK.
We were also talking to the ambassador Mr. Alexis Lautenberg, a very charming and eloquent personality. With the help of Arthur Broadhurst, who enthusiastically promotes our slightly forgotten Swiss Clubs in the North, including Manchester and York, we hopefully could remind the ambassador of our Swiss Clubs!
Warmest regards,
Bises
Sophie
INTERESTING ARTICLES
Opening of the new consulate general in Edinburgh 2006 with the official Tartan 'Swiss Red'
Link (in German):
swissinfo
Federal Yodel Festival in Lucerne 2008
Link (in English):
swissinfo
