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British Czech and Slovak Association About the BCSAThe BCSA was launched by Alexander Dubcek in November 1990 and has been a registered British charity since 1995.The BCSA raises public awareness in Britain of Czech and Slovak life in all its aspects: history, arts, literature, economies, politics and sciences. BCSA Executive CommitteeHonorary officersChairman: Sir Michael Burton KCVO, CMG Vice-chairman: Ruzena Holub email: bcsa AT bcsa DOT co DOT uk Honorary Treasurer: Douglas Gibb Honorary Secretary: Blanka Shrimpton email: secretary AT bcsa DOT co DOT uk Elected members Michael Ivory, Events Coordinator Edward Peacock, Competition Organiser email: prize AT bcsa DOT co DOT uk Angela Spindler-Brown, BCSA Review Editor Co-opted members Zuzana Slobodova-Nepil One vacancy Non-executive Officers President: Ladislav Hornan Vice-president: Graham Melville-Mason Chairman's report for 2007It is my pleasure once again to report on your Association’s activities, in the course of 2007.BCSA Review Pride of place in 2007 goes to our well-loved Review, the 100th number of which appeared in December. It has been going in one form or another for the past 16 years. The Review continues to fulfil its mission to inform about developments in relations between Britain and the Czech and Slovak Republics. The fact that a great percentage of the content is generated by the users is a cause for celebration. One third of our magazine pages are now produced in colour. Advances in computer design and printing are incorporated into its production, e.g. the way photographs are obtained and printed. At the moment our work in progress is incorporating a wider use of diacritics in the printed text. BCSA Events in 2007 Our annual programme of events, all of which were held at the Czech Embassy, was as follows: Zdenka Fantlová deliver a moving talk in March on her experiences in Terezin and Mauthausen entitled “In calmness lies strength”. Also in March Clarice Cloutier spoke on “Drinking Life Up: Wine in Czech Poetism”. The Association’s Annual General Meeting in April was to have been concluded with another literary event in the form of readings by our senior member Bohuslava Bradbrook from her recently published “Handbook of Czech Prose Writing 1940-2005”. Unfortunately Bohuslava was unwell and the AGM had to proceed without the customary entertainment. Nevertheless, those members who attended were able to enjoy convivial moments following the formal part of the meeting. At the end of May architect Robert Votický, another long-standing BCSA member, spoke on “Kinesis in Architecture”. Our Annual Garden Party, our 11th, was threatened by traditional ‘Wimbledon weather’. Fortunately for us, the Czech Embassy again agreed to open their reception rooms where our guests could take cover during outbursts of rain. The Czech Embassy chef had presented a colourful selection of traditional Czech food of a very high standard. Not even the bad weather could stop people enjoying the good food as well as the by now traditional barbequed smoked sausages. About 250 BCSA members and their guests attended. We were also delighted to welcome Linda Duffield, HM Ambassador in Prague. Guests who attend the Garden Party regularly recognised the talented group of musicians who entertained us two years ago. The Garden Party was also a success as a fundraising event thanks to the generous donation of Budvar beer and an excellent contribution of wines and spirits from J M Cullen Wines and Spirits Ltd. for our raffle. We would also like to thank all helpers who helped us on the day and all contributors to the raffle. In October, it had been hoped to mark the 70th anniversary of the death in 1937 of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk with a symposium at which a number of speakers would discuss his life and legacy. In the event, only one of those proposed was able to attend; an authority on Czech-German relations, Eva Hahn, who chose as her subject “25 Years with TGM”. Our 16th Annual Dinner took place on Friday, 30th November at the Radisson Edwardian Marlborough Hotel. Everybody enjoyed the evening in pleasant surroundings and in a friendly atmosphere. The after-dinner speaker was HE Mr Juraj Zervan, the newly arrived Slovak Ambassador in London. Budweiser Budvar UK supplied the beer again this year for the pre-dinner drinks. Despite the lower number of guests the raffle still raised £705. The BCSA would like to thank all contributors for their continued support of this event. Prize Writing Competition 2007 saw the sixth of our annual writing competitions. Entries came not only from our ‘home’ three countries but also from Germany, France, Australia and the USA. The winner was James Gault, who until he moved to France last year had been working in Prague as a teacher, trainer and author of English language materials. He won our first prize of £300 with Old Honza’s Day Out. This short story consists of the often sardonic thoughts of 75-year-old Honza as he does his best to cope with the complexities and indignities of life in Prague today. Second prize, of £100, was awarded to Bethany Croy, an American living in Prague, for Preserving National Identity among Czech Jewish Children in Britain during World War II. This essay relates some of the experiences of Jewish children who had managed to escape Czechoslovakia by various means, including the Kindertransporte organised by Sir Nicholas Winton. Both essays have appeared in the Review. You’ll be able to read other entries in the Review, on our website and in another booklet we are bringing out soon. Thanks to the judges and all the others who worked so hard to make the 2007 competition another success. This year’s is now under way – you’ll have found notices about it on your seats. Details are also in the latest Review and on the website. Entries must be in by 30 June. BCSA Website Our website continues to be one of the main methods of communicating with our members and of advertising our events to the general public. The most popular section is the link to related organisations, particularly those that serve Czechs and Slovaks in the UK. In addition to our own website we publish details of our events on community websites such as Pohyby and Facebook from where over 180 people have joined the BCSA group. School Support Fund In 2007 we supported an elementary school in Brno called Bakalka with a donation of £1000. This enabled the school to buy a digital projector for their language laboratory and some English books. The school was visited by Linda Duffield, the British Ambassador in Prague, in February. Get Together Meetings The BCSA continues with monthly Get-together meetings in the Czech and Slovak National House in West Hampstead (at 74 West End Lane NW6 2LX) between 7 and 11pm. These are an opportunity for anyone interested in the BCSA (members, supporters and friends) to meet, eat, drink and get to know each other. Food and drink is available from the restaurant and bar. All you have to do is turn up! Membership At the end of the year we had a total of 311 members, from which 6 are students, 5 are corporate members and 9 are overseas (France, Belgium, Czech Republic, Poland and Australia), We would like to thank all members for renewing their membership by standing order, direct debit or bank transfer. It saves us time and cost in processing the renewals. Many thanks also to all the members who include a donation with their subscription. It is very much appreciated. The Committee I am glad to report that we were able to fill two key positions on the Executive Committee. Blanka Shrimpton has taken the post of Honorary Secretary and Douglas Gibb that of Honorary Treasurer. We are delighted to have them on board. Finally I should like to pay tribute, once again, to the Czech and Slovak Embassies for all the help and support they have given us throughout the year. Sir Michael Burton, Chairman, April 2008 Treasurer's Report for 2006The BCSA finances are in a good and stable shape and the level of reserves is steadily growing. The financial results for 2006 showed a surplus of £5,081 and increased the BCSA assets from £51,825 to £56,906. Total income in 2006 was £21,107 and expenditure in the same period was £16,026.The Largest Income Items Subscriptions and members" donations amounted to £5,489 and formed 26% of the Association's income. The garden party and the annual dinner continued to be important fund-raising events for the Association and raised £3,833. The grant of £2,619 from the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs helped to fund the BCS Review. The Gift Aid scheme for Charities enabled the BCSA to reclaim tax of £778 from the Inland Revenue. Interest received on the BCSA deposit account was £2,153. The Most Significant Items of Expenditure The BCSA continued to fulfil its main objective of deepening British, Czech and Slovak relations and carried on with its support to elementary schools in the Czech and Slovak Republics to improve the tuition of the English language. A grant of £1,000 was awarded to the Levocska primary school in Stara Lubovna, Slovakia. The School used the funds to buy English dictionaries, children's books and other much needed teaching materials. The BCSA is glad that this support really makes a difference. The publishing costs of the BCS Review were £4,985. The cost of the popular writing competition organized and funded solely from the Association funds was £929. The expenditure on the regular events programme was £914. Governance costs remained very low and amounted to £131 due to the fact that all Executive Committee members are volunteers, and also because the independent examiners of the BCSA Accounts worked on a semi-honorary basis, for which the Association is most grateful. Approval of Accounts The Association's accounts were approved by the Executive Committee at its meeting on 21 March 2007 and have been made available in the AGM papers. Moore & Smalley Chartered Accountants once again carried out an independent examination of the BCSA's accounts. I would like to thank all members, patrons and volunteers for supporting the BCSA's activities. My particular thanks are due to the Czech and Slovak Embassies for their kind permission to provide their premises for BCSA events. Ivana Prusova, Honorary Treasurer, April 2007 Contact detailsemail: secretary AT bcsa DOT co DOT ukpost: BCSA, 643 Harrow Road, Wembley HA0 2EX, England telephone: +44 20 8902 0328 fax: +44 20 8795 4875 |
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Last updated 22 June 2008. Copyright British Czech and Slovak Association. Registered charity 1049411
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