On the 9 April HRH Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburgh, sadly passed away. What a remarkable man he was. In November 1997 at a lunch at Banqueting House in London the Queen said in her speech honouring her husband “He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years, and I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know”.
On behalf of the Members of the British Residents’ Association a message has been sent to
the Online Book of Condolence set up by the Royal Family for people to pay their tributes.
The corona vaccination programme is well underway. Have we learnt a lot from this past year?
I have learnt, amongst other things, patience and slowing down to adjust to the lifestyle we had to adopt. It has saddened us to hear of local businesses which did not survive the past year, not forgetting for one moment all the deaths of loved ones from the corona virus. One could only watch what has been happening and help out where ever possible and hope that we can slowly get back to some kind of normality. It will be different and I presume a lot of changes are here to stay.
Despite lockdown so much has happened over the last year. Due to circumstances we had to rethink our policies and how we run the BRA. The Bulletin is a good example of how we are hopefully modernising and keeping you even more up to date. I know that our articles from you, the Members, have really been appreciated. We are trying to get different perspectives of Switzerland, written by people living in the regions, giving us a taste of what Switzerland has to offer.
Perhaps as more of us will be holidaying in Switzerland one of the articles has appealed to you for a visit.
Hopefully, all the events we have planned for May, June and July will be taking place. We will still hold The Queen’s Birthday Celebrations. We will not only be celebrating the Queen but also remembering Prince Philip.
A celebration of both their lives.
One planned event is the National Summer Luncheon on the 24 July, it is to be held at The Unique Hotel Innere Enge in Bern. This is where the Central Region hold their very enjoyable jazz evenings.
The hotel has a real jazz history, ‘Marians Jazzroom’, in the cellar of the hotel, has welcomed some all-time greats of jazz such as Louis Armstrong, John Lewis and Clark Terry.
We will advertise all the details of this outdoor event on the BRA Website “Diary Dates”, so please keep on checking for any changes.
“Memories are links in a golden chain that bind us until we meet again”
(Jacqueline Winspear)
Last but not least a THANK YOU message from the Council
The Council would like to express its appreciation to you our Members, for your patience over the past year and for your continual, much valued support. During this challenging time the regions have organised many events but as you know they have almost all been cancelled. However, where possible, we have tried to hold virtual events (Zooms) in order to keep in touch with you.
We hope that we have managed to keep you up to date with our Bulletins and newsletter and most importantly our Website.
“Could we see when and where we are to meet again,
we would be more tender when we bid our friends goodbye”
(Author: Ouida)
Looking forward to seeing you all at an event in the ‘not too distant’ future!
My very best regards to you all
Angela Meier-Jones
BRA Chairwoman