BCS - Annual Appeal letter, Chairman's Report and other News
BCS Annual Appeal letter:
Dear Members and Supporters,
During April we closed the 2017 cycle with our Annual General Meeting, at which the full year financials were reviewed and approved. The British Commonwealth Society’s (BCS) largest expenditure every year reflects our main legacy and on-going responsibility with which the Community in Santiago has entrusted us, that is the support to elderly community members in need.
As an organisation, we can only help in as far as our cash inflow allows us to do so. The BCS generates cash from three main sources: interest from assets held, our fund-raising events and community donations. Interest returns are conditioned to our assets and market rates and our fund-raising activities depend on opportunities that arise. But the last item, and the least restricted, are the donations we receive which depend on the support from all of you in the community. We are making every effort to extend the donating base.
As we leave 2017 behind and look to complying with our current support commitments, we look to take on new responsibilities which we have identified and will shortly need to respond to. Once again, I reach out to members, supporters and friends to help us to help those in need. The support of the less fortunate is a significant task and one that the community expects the BCS to administer. We do so diligently and are ever grateful for your commitment.
Michael Hardy
Chairman
If you would like to make a donation to BCS please click on this link to see our Bank details for bank transfers or deposits.
BCS Chairman's report for 2018:
Once again, we are innovating our annual review process so as to better communicate our activities to members and supporters and to facilitate constructive interaction with other English-speaking community organisations. As we did in 2016, we will hold a Coordination Meeting with sister societies during the month of April, in order to share the plans and activities programmed for 2018, and to outline further activities for the future. With this, we hope to ensure coordination and technical support for these activities and to discuss our overall objectives as we respond to the community in the different areas which we cover. We feel there is more value in seeking to share and discuss what we will be doing in the coming year, rather than to listen to a report of what was done in the year that passed. But we do have an obligation to the community to report on our activities and this will be done in a summary bulletin and published with our Newsletter.
In reviewing the BCS activities in 2017, a good place to start is precisely the Newsletter, which earlier in the year was significantly enhanced. I would like to thank Gordon and Pamela Yorston for the great work they do with this communication vehicle which has become the main tool with which the different institutions inform of activities to the Community. We are committed to extend this role as communications facilitators as far as possible within our sister societies and across the wider community. This wider coverage is part of the evolution and perceived role of the BCS and is reflected on our Executive Board. Several of our members are also on the Boards of the different organisations (Royal British Legion, English Speaking Union, St. Andrews Society) and this makes this coordination role more effective.
During 2017 the Santiago Community, and the BCS in particular, were deeply saddened by the passing away of Colin Fox. A keen and enthusiastic supporter of Community activities, Colin participated on the BCS Board for many years, and was instrumental in the evolution and transformation of this organisation. In the name of the BCS I wish to express our deepest sympathy to Patricia his wife, and to all the Fox family
Victor Hawkins' move to Canada saw him retiring from the Executive Committee, but because of his ever-present commitment to the Community and to the BCS, he requested to remain on as a Non-Executive Board Member. So we are fortunate to continue to benefit from Victor’s knowledge, experience and wise advice, be this from Canada, or when he visits Santiago as he plans to do on an annual basis.
As we informed during 2017, National Theatre Live restricted non-commercial screenings of their productions around the world. We have been working with Teatro Nescafé de las Artes to establish a mechanism which would allow us to offer some of their very relevant productions to the wider community and also use these events as a fund-raising mechanism to help support our charitable work. In August 2017 we showed Shakespeare’s "As You Like It", which as with the other four productions offered since 2015, congregated an audience of over 300 people, included some 50 pupils from English-speaking schools invited free of charge. As mentioned, we hope to show at least one NTL production this year and are seeking alternatives to offer relevant events to the community which will also serve as fund-raisers. We will be informing more on this during the year.
During 2017, the BCS diligently covered all the areas considered in its scope which included its participation in “Inversiones Principe de Gales” (PWCC) and “Inversiones Pedro de Valdivia” (Concepción Country Club), as well as the administration of cemetery plots entrusted to us. Our main focus is to assume the funding to support community members in need, and we are grateful to all members and supporters who kindly contribute to help us achieve this. We continue to support several individuals and circumstances indicate that we will be extending our support coverage in 2018 to another member of the Community. We take this aspect of our mission very seriously and are always open to considering support where it is needed as circumstances arise.
The BCS has also reached out across the Community to support activities in areas beyond its scope, and in 2017 we were instrumental in the showing of the ecological documentary, "Plastic Oceans", as well as supporting the Pipers Band in the organisation of the “South American Pipers Festival” in November.
In line with the above, I would like to give a special thanks to the Instituto Chileno-Británico de Cultura, who over the years have given huge support to the BCS activities, as well as to many other Community academic, cultural and charity events. A special thanks goes to the Prince of Wales Country Club, who facilitate rooms for our monthly meetings and for the cocktail at our annual general gathering.
In closing, I would like to assure members, supporters and the Community in general, that all of us on the BCS Board are aligned with, and committed to the legacies set out at the foundation of the Society, and strive to accomplish this in the rapidly changing reality in which the Community is situated. I would like to thank my fellow Board Members for their time and dedication to the BCS issues and to Pamela Yorston for her outstanding administrative support in all areas we cover.
Michael Hardy
Chairman
BCS and National Theatre Live events - UPDATE As mentioned in a previous Newsletters, the National Theatre Live has restricted all non-commercial showings of their productions, including those done for fund raising purposes. This was very disappointing, as there had been a wonderfully strong response from the wider community to all four showings of productions over the last two years . Teatro Nescafé has been very supportive in seeking alternatives to allow the Community access to the commercial events they will continue to show during 2018 . Meetings have been set up with Teatro Nescafé to coordinate showings for first semester.
BCS has established contacts with two film distributors in Santiago to identify relevant films for avant premiers and/or spot appropriate films which are not being screened in Chile, to share them with the Community as fund raising events with the idea of setting up a series of film nights for the community in an appropriate location.
BCS Remembrance Wreaths:
If you need to send a Remembrance Wreath contact us.
It is quick, easy and it helps support the community.
Method:
Please make an electronic transfer with a voluntary donation to:
British Commonwealth Society,
R.U.T. No. 81.456.700-1
Bank Account: Banco Santander
Cuenta Corriente: 00-18255-9
Also please send the following details in an email to: britishcomsoc@gmail.com
1. Your name, address and telephone number
2. The name of the deceased person
3. The name and address of the bereaved person to whom you wish us to send a card.
We will send you a receipt and the bereaved person a Remembrance Wreath card in your name
