BRITISH COMMUNITY REPORTS FOR ACTIVITIES IN 2020
BRITISH COMMUNITY REPORTS FOR ACTIVITIES IN 2020
Reports on activities in 2020 were received and recorded for the following British institutions and services:
1. BRITISH COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY (BCS)
Michael Hardy, Chairman of the British Commonwealth Society reported on activities in 2020:
BCS is a long-standing community organisation, founded in 1922. BCS has grown to be the “backbone’ of British community activity – primarily in Santiago, but also elsewhere in Chile – and participant in many community initiatives and legal structures. Further to “social events”, BCS ran the Casi Nuevo second-hand exchange market in Providencia and an old people’s home in Ñuñóa. BCS was a founding shareholder in both the PRINCE OF WALES COUNTRY CLUB (PWCC) and the CONCEPCIÓN COUNTRY CLUB (CCC). Throughout its existence, BCS’ main objective has been to Support our elderly community members in need.
Today, in a much changed and smaller community, BCS focusses on the legacies that remain relevant. In line with its statutes, BCS is run by a 12-member Board where, for practical purposes, there is a five-member Executive Committee (MH, JM, AD, JC & PM) and seven Non-Executive Directors (JII, VH, CR, GY, DT, AM and AW). Along with its active participation as founding shareholder in PWCC and CCC, BCS also manages the British plot in the Cementerio General de Santiago, and organises periodic cultural activities for community members, normally as fundraisers for our charitable actions for members in need.
As with every most other organisation, the BCS was negatively impacted by Covid 19, and this 2020 report reflects this. The Pandemic, and the resulting restrictions, saw the BCS change its focus and modus operandi in the community. The Board quickly moved meetings to the online Zoom platform and added direct support to community members hit by Covid 19, affecting some members’ access to essential supplies. Similarly, financial support was raised from across other community organisations, where members ability to generate income was affected. We would like to thank CHILE SPOUSES and INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILE, for their support in this. All this, while we continued our usual help offered to elderly members in need.
It comes as no surprise that we were unable to carry out any regular fund-raising activities - these halted in October 2019, at time of the civil unrest have yet to be resumed, due to the pandemic restrictions and the imposition of social distancing.
This affected not only the BCS, but other community organizations, whose activities, such as the Caledonian Ball and RBL’s Garden Party at the Embassy Residence, amongst others, were cancelled. This situation will likely extend well into 2021 and it may well not be until next year that Community activities are resumed. However, one event we wish to flag immediately, is THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY’s Centenary, which will take place in 2022.
Despite restrictions and lockdowns, 2020 saw BCS continue to cover other areas of its commitment, such as maintaining its contact with THE CONCEPCIÓN COUNTRY CLUB where we have been encouraging a development plan for the Club in a new location, so as to ensure continued activity in the local community, in line with the objectives set out at its foundation.
Although the pandemic interrupted the steps taken in 2019, these will continue once restrictions are lifted.
Similarly, the PRINCE OF WALES COUNTRY CLUB, where the BCS holds the majority of founder shares in the governing institution, leadership and support was provided in facing the difficulties imposed by the severe health constraints on gatherings in the multiple lockdowns, which continue to significantly affect normal operations in the Club.
2. BRITISH EMBASSY SANTIAGO
David Gardner, Country Director, Department for International Trade | British Embassy Santiago, reported:
Context
2020 was dominated by two things – the social unrest and COVID. While we were out of Social Crisis Mode by the beginning of 2020, we had to cancel various high-level visits. At the end of 2019, the visits by the Chilean Minister of Sport along with that by the PANAM Games Board to UK were cancelled. The visit by HM Trade Commissioner to Chile was also pulled. Numerous other ministerial visits were also pulled.
We said goodbye to Jamie and Sarah Bowden in July and welcome to Ian Duddy and his partner Neil Morrison as our interim Ambassador.
DIT did take part in an early March Roadshow promoting Chile among other Latin American markets. Presentation and one-on-one meetings with British companies were held in Manchester, Birmingham, London, Bristol and Cardiff. The last venue of Belfast was postponed as the reality of the COVID pandemic kicked in and all DIT country directors returned to their posts.
COVID-19
The Embassy entered Crisis Mode on 18th March 2020. We had over 1,000 UK nationals trapped – over 800 on cruise ships in or approaching Chilean waters. We transferred staff from other duties to coordinate the return of those that wished to leave by commercial means. We managed to help around 600 cruise passengers leave on commercial means. Some ships were denied access to Chilean ports and had to carry on to other destinations that would let them embark to UK. Our efforts culminated with an evacuation charter flight to the UK in mid-June.
Work continued on vaccine and medical supplies diplomacy and dealing with more complicated consular cases. This work continues now.
The Rest
Much of our programmed work was cancelled – Chile Day, QBP, Ministerial Visits, trade missions, parliamentary missions etc. The latter part of the Embassy’s year was spent trying to get the bureaucracy surrounding the Entry into Force of the UK-Chile Association agreement in place. The agreement, essentially a carbon copy of the existing EU-Chile agreement but with the UK as partner should have been straight forward. It got caught up though with the debates around the CPTPP in congress. We were eventually able to decouple the two and were able to obtain ratification towards the end of the year. Entry into Force took a bit longer as the Enabling legislation on the Chilean side was not quite ready on time. It eventually entered into force on 11 January 2021. We enabled UK exporters who had been hit with tariffs during the first 10 days of January to reclaim their money. We continue to work on the surrounding paperwork required for phytosanitary and agricultural exports. Latest paperwork agreed covers bovine, ovine and caprine genetic material. In cases where there is no agreed paperwork, the two countries have agreed that EU paperwork can continue to be used.
We are looking forward to a more productive 2021 and hoping to be able to host physically present events from around October/November time though that remains to be seen.
3. ROYAL BRITISH LEGION (RBL)
Mark Watkins, Chairman of RBL gave the following status report for 2019/2020:
The last 12 months, in fact the last 18, have been a particularly challenging time both for the ROYAL BRITISH LEGION in Chile and for those that we support. We rely heavily on fund raising events and of course we have been unable to hold any at all. This has, of course, seriously impacted our finances, but also, we enjoy the social aspect of being involved with our members and our community as well as working with the other organisations. We were beginning to seek joint opportunities to work together but that all hit the back burner. We hope that we can hit the ground running as soon as the rules (and common sense) make it appro
The one event we did have, albeit reduced, was our Annual Remembrance Service. SANTIAGO COMMUNITY CHURCH featured Remembrance in their service, as traditional, and this was broadcast via Zoom. However, we felt it especially important to have a physical presence, given the magnitude of what we are remembering.
Interim HM Ambassador Ian Duddy kindly permitted us to use the open-air forecourt at the Residence provided we stayed strictly within Country and Embassy rules as well as being sensible. We had an excellent turn-out from all the Embassies, one of our best for many years in fact, and THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION, BRITISH COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY, members, beneficiaries, Diplomats and, of course, our colour party. Excellent support, as always, from THE GRANGE SCHOOL represented in the person of their Headmaster, Head Boy and Head Girl.
The service was presided over by Bishop Alfred Cooper. On which note the Bishop has now agreed to become the Legion Chaplain. It is surprising how often gems come from adversity, but it became a lovely, respectful, both sombre and joyous occasion.
There are a few changes to the RBL (Chile) Committee:
Canon John Cobb is moving out of our front line after so many years of supporting, commitment and contribution. We thank him sincerely for all that he has done for us. We will not be losing touch, since we intend to work together with John and the SANTIAGO COMMUNITY CHURCH, finding ways to use our recent of experience of remote meetings and services to make sure both organisations become more accessible from outside Santiago. As already mentioned, Bishop Alfred Cooper has kindly agreed to become the Legion Chaplain and we very much look forward to working with him.
Peter Walbaum has become our Treasurer, taking over form Ian Kerr. Ian will remain on the committee. Welcome to Peter and let that be a warning to you about asking if there’s anything you can do to help. There always is.
Simon Tarbutt, I think the longest standing Committee member by some distance will step back from a Director role, but will remain one of our advisors, as is Aubrey Whinney. Thank you to both of them for their valuable and ongoing advice and counsel
Fundraising: We have continued to be successful in obtaining support from the UK organisations for our beneficiaries and this is obviously of massive value. Our Poppy Appeal, whilst not as successful as previous years, actually did a very credible job, thanks mostly to Nick Murphy, our Director, in particular and THE GRANGE SCHOOL in general. We have received various spontaneous donations this year for which we are incredibly grateful. I don’t really want to detail them since I either include them all or have to value them individually. Suffice to say we are grateful as it is how we have survived, and every penny is well spent. HARMONY MASONIC LODGE has joined us, and we are now one of their supported charities, that helps a lot. Thank you.
Welfare: All our directors take our primary responsibility of welfare very seriously and in this difficult year we have worked hard to ensure that we have looked after our beneficiaries and members as well as we can, ably supported by the other organisations in particular BRITISH COMMONWEALTH SOCIETY. Some of our beneficiaries have had COVID-19-related difficulties, either themselves or in their families, and others have been suffering from the usual vagaries of life. Please do remember we are here to help and if do know of someone who needs our support, please do let us know.
The Future: The best thing we can do is look forward - look forward to the world and our community emerging from underneath this cloud and moving into a world where we try to support each other even more than we have done in the past. For ourselves, we’re ready to go and we shall expect every last community member to show up in your best clothes and impressive smiles for our next Garden Party… whenever that may be.
4. ST. ANDREW’S SOCIETY (SAS)
Joanna Mackenzie, Chieftain of ST. ANDREW’S SOCIETY submitted the following report on activities in 2020:
SAINT ANDREW’S SOCIETY of Santiago was founded in 1924 by resident Scots, who had come to Chile, either to work in the Railway Company or in the Nitrate Fields and some to raise sheep in the southern farms near the Magellan Straits. Today, the Society has around 40 active members, most of which are descendants of those first Scots and welcomes all those who are interested in Scottish tradition and are willing to help us keep the spirit of Scotland alive and have some fun!
The social unrest starting up in October of 2019 which lead on to the current covid-19 pandemic put a dampener most of the Society´s annual activities: dancing club activities, the Caledonian Ball and the Ceilidhs were all suspended. The Quaich and Currie Golf Tournament was held within a small window of opportunity at the end of 2020 but was only attended by a few members who are also members of the PWCC. In this way the tournament continues to be played uninterruptedly since 1925!
During the lock-down we have held no other activities than maintain connection with the dance club members through a “WhatsApp” group originally organized to keep track of dance class schedule and now used to pass on titbits of Scottish Lore and general information of its members.
We are undoubtedly very indebted and thankful to the PWCC for it continued support in granting access to its premises for our Wednesday’s practices and our other events. We hope when all this passes, we will return to our usual routine.
5. 14TH FIRE COMPANY "THE BRITISH AND COMMONWEALTH FIRE & RESCUE COMPANY J.A.S. JACKSON"
Enrique Gostling Echeverria, Director of the 14th Company reported:
Last year the Fire Company celebrated its 62nd anniversary, having been founded in 1958.
Between September 2019 and September 2020, the 14th Fire Company attended 774 emergency calls and 1,767 events related to barrack confinements, rescue drills, training and others, and we would like to celebrate the commitment and professionalism of the Company’s 131 volunteers.
A short, meaningful ceremony was held the 14th July 2020, to introduce our new Ferrara 2020 fire engine, which replaced the Renault Camiva Premium, in service in the Fire Company for the last 20 years.
The new fire engine, the B14, was imported from the USA, and custom built and designed to generate sufficient water pressure to reach the top floor of the Costanera Center building. It has 1.200 meters of hoses and is equipped to handle all kinds of emergencies. This fire and rescue engine provides rescue and pre-hospitality treatment to victims of traffic accidents, injuries from falls and elevator emergencies.
Undoubtedly, one of the 14th Company’s greatest challenges has been dealing with the Pandemic caused by Covid 19.
This has meant strict infection prevention measures, with the need to adapt the night watch quarters, and fire station. The number of volunteers present in the building at one time had to be limited, and 24-hour personnel shifts were created with a weekly rotation.
The Company acquired special masks and equipment to protect the health of the volunteers as and, as a consequence, the health of those rescued.
Even in these difficult times the Company has continued working at 100% operational capacity throughout the Pandemic to serve the community.
6. 11TH FIRE COMPANY “GEORGE GARLAND CUERPO DE BOMBEROS DE VALPARAÍSO”
Director Carlos Jorge Hernández Valenzuela of the 11TH FIRE COMPANY flagged the following highlights
• The 11th Fire Company celebrated its 120th anniversary, having been founded in 1901.
• The celebration of HRM Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday at the CLUB DE VIÑA in April.
• Support from ICBC in English language trading for two firefighter volunteers.
• In the year to September 2018 the 11th attended 108 emergency calls and celebrate the commitment and
professionalism of the 59 volunteers.
Mr. Hernández wanted to recognise that they have developed many of their community activities throughout the year in
conjunction with Iain Hardy, the British Consul.
7. ENGLISH-SPEAKING UNION CHILE (ESU CHILE)
Jonathan Callund, Chairman ESU CHILE gave a report on activities in 2020:
ESU CHILE is part of a UK-based ESU OF THE COMMONWEALTH and one of 54 countries. It was set up in 2004 by Richard Collingwood-Selby and as an NGO active to provide activities to 15 of the ABSCH member schools. Subsequently ESU has since grown to 51 member schools across the country. The primary aim is to raise awareness of the importance of “oracy” in pre-university children of both private and (increasingly) public institutions.
At the start of last year, when classrooms were closed for the pandemic, consideration was given to suspending activities. However, and fortunately, the ESU directors took the initiative to move our events to Zoom. Unfortunately, as London cancelled the International competition, we also decided to cancel our Public Speaking Competition. Likewise no Writing Competition was held in 2020. That said, we did hold regular activities, all of which managed and run via Zoom:
Poetry Recitation Contest, with 20 schools and 149 participants and 18 medals winners. School winner: La Maisonette
Debating Competition, held over 4 weekends, had 13 school teams and was won by SANTIAGO COLLEGE, with 2nd place going to VILLA MARIA ACADEMY and Craig house coming in 3rd.
Teacher workshops were run virtually with for 34 schools and 79 participants - led by Prod Alan Howe from UK - to develop debating and oracy techniques.
Jonathan Callund gave the opening address at the Model United Nations (MUN) inauguration ceremony in Craighouse school hold on 2nd October 2020, extending an invitation for ESU and MUN to work together in coming years.
Subsequently that month, Jonathan Callund was elected President of the International Council of ESU, a two-year appointment to assist 54 countries – all members other than UK and USA – in sharing and developing their activities.
Finally, the ESU Chile Committee has begun a pilot project to create the ESU Oracy app with a software house in India and this initiative now has sponsorship from ESUs in Pakistan and Bangladesh and is expected to be launched in 2021.
The ESU would like to record its thanks to the ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH SCHOOLS, its members and the sponsors, such as ICBC, MINDBUILDER and BOOKS & BITS at our events this year.
8. BRITISH SOCIETY OF VALPARAISO
Iain Hardy, Chairman of the BSV provided the following highlights for 2020.
All activities in Valparaiso were cancelled in 2020. That said, we have maintained close contact with all members of the community and assisted and supported appeals during these difficult times.
Prizes for progress in English were presented to local (ABSCH) schools for their “online” prize giving ceremonies.
9. SANTIAGO METROPOLITAN PIPE BAND
Tomas Henríquez - Band Manager at SMPB, shared their 2019/2020 highlights:
The Santiago Metropolitan Pipe Band have had no events or presentations since October 2019. That said, we have held bagpipe percussion and Scottish dance classes online since March 2020.
The only event SMPB participated in was the World Online Piping & Drumming Championships in the Fall of 2020, where Second Place: 2 in the band category was obtained. Please see https://bagpipelessons.com/competition/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnw5Ovzwi_k to view videos and comments.
This competition is an important global event and SMPB are the only South American band that earned a spot. Several members of the band also took part as soloists obtaining several awards. In this case Magdalena Pacheco on percussion and Gonzalo Quezada on bagpipes.
Cultural activities are particularly affected, and we have had no income since 2019. As a result, cost-saving measures will include taking down the SMPB website. The cancellation of all CALEDONIAN SOCIETY and PRINCE OF WALES COUNTRY CLUB events has made it hard to support the band.
10. BRITISH-CHILEAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Greg Holland, General Manager of BRITCHAM gave the following overview of their activities in 2020:
2020 was a spectacularly successful year for the chamber. We managed to reinvent ourselves early in the year to become the leading chamber playing in the virtual space, with as many as 4 events a week during last winter.
We maintained our membership levels and attracted new members from new sectors, strengthened our ties with the UK and generally outperformed all our stakeholders’ expectations.
We have made a similarly strong start this year, with excellent attendance at our 8 active committees and more 2-way communication than ever before.
Further details are available on the website at https://www.britcham.cl
11. BRITISH COUNCIL
Katherine Hutter, Director the British Council shared her summary of 2020 highlights:
BRITISH COUNCIL, supporting the MINISTRY OF EDUCATION’s National English Plan and in collaboration with the English Open Doors Programme, developed and implemented a complete portfolio of online continuous professional development programs for 1,800 public sector teachers. This included tailor-made programs combining synchronous and asynchronous work to improve methodological strategies; a mentoring scheme to help teachers implement new methodologies learnt; and knowledge sharing through the English networks.
Our teaching programme for young learners successfully transitioned to an online model, reaching students from all over Chile and even a few international students. Learning Time with Timmy was featured on TV Educa Chile and shared with the MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. Our “Connecting Culture” summer programme with Venezuela and Colombia allowed students to improve their English and learn about other cultures.
In the area of assessment and qualifications, we enabled 2,342 Chileans to access life-changing educational and work opportunities through valuable UK qualifications. We also successfully piloted a direct delivery model to offer IELTS exams and continued to work with our 2 Independent Testing Centres: ICBC and English UC.
In higher education, we ran our first online diploma programme with the UDD to support English teachers working at the primary level, and also offered an Academic Teaching Excellence course to academics from the PUCV who use English in their courses.
Key elements of our Arts/Culture programme included:
Chilean Crafts Human Nature - During September and October of 2020, the BRITISH COUNCIL together with the Ministry of Culture, the Arts and Heritage of Chile, participated in London Craft Week, a series of events highlighting the best the world has to offer in contemporary Crafts. A selection by French Curator Romain Juilha of 11 Crafts people from all over Chile, “Chilean Craft, Human Natures” shed light on the diversity of the artistic know-how of Chile’s craftsmanship and techniques which mirrored the plethora of landscapes and cultures within the Chilean territory, embodying centuries of tradition, using natural materials and respectfully reinterpreting Chile’s heritage, while innovating through the introduction of new techniques and aesthetics.
TEATRO DEL LAGO (Frutillar) & Breakin’ Convention - Over a thousand people in Chile participated in the showcase of Sadlers Wells - Breakin’ Convention – a Seminar, Workshop and Showcase about urban culture and community development, originally curated by British choreographer Jonzi D for Sadlers Wells. TEATRO DEL LAGO also screened Breakin’ Convention film, which celebrated its 10th Anniversary.
Scored in Silence - Scored in Silence is a Performance piece created by British-Japanese dramaturg Chisato Minamimura, part of the Edinburgh Fringe Showcase of 2019, which speaks about the horrors of the bombing of Nagasaki in Japan from a deaf person’s perspective. The online screening of the work took place on the 11th September 2020, as part of GAM’s inclusive arts programming, and to mark the year -long celebrations of GAM’s 10 year anniversary, which all took place in Lockdown.
The Minister of Culture, the Arts and Heritage, Consuelo Valdés, also participated in the online version of the Edinburgh International Cultural Summit, sharing her vision of how education and culture are connected and the links between heritage and memory.
12. INSTITUTO CHILENO-BRITÁNICO DE CULTURA (ICBC)
Pedro Pfeffer, Chairman of ICBC provided the following report for 2019/2020:
The highlight of year 2019 was the LABCI Conference (LATIN AMERICAN BRITISH CULTURAL INSTITUTES). For the first time The British Institute hosted this international conference which gathers professionals from Latin America, the UK and other English-speaking countries in the area of education, teaching and learning English, the publishing companies and other related services. This year over 350 delegates from the member countries (Mexico, Brazil, Perú, Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile) held plenaries, concurrent sessions and social activities with the aim of sharing experiences, best practices and learn from each other in order to provide better services to our students.
Year 2019 ended with a difficult scenario brought by the social and civil unrest we experienced as from October 18th, just when our last academic term had started. This implied cancelling lessons, temporarily close some of the more vulnerable branches (downtown, Maipú, La Florida). In spite of this, we managed to finish the lessons towards the very end of the year with fewer students in the period.
Sumer 2020 started well and promissory as we had a higher number of students doing summer courses. The increase was 14% compared against summer 2019. We also started March with optimism, but then, as of 16th March, everything stopped, and we were forced to implement new strategies to continue with our business.
The pandemic provided two main opportunities:
The sudden interest of people to follow online courses. The fact of not being able to freely move around the city led to more students taking 100% online courses, reaching over 1.300 students.
The implementation of lessons delivered by streaming using Zoom. This is something we had planned to start some time in 2020, but lockdown forced us to move the plan forward. This is why we resumed our operation delivering lessons through zoom. More intake periods were introduced and because of this we have lessons starting practically every month of the year.
In September 2020 we were able to resume our International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exam operation. We moved our lab to our venue in Américo Vespucio and as from then we have been delivering computer based IELTS in this branch, forced to stop during lockdown. As for Cambridge exams, the registration in 2020 was reduced to nearly 20% compared against a normal year. This is understandable as many of the exam clients are schools which had to adapt their lessons, timetables and curricula as well.
The University continues with its closure process and it is expected to finalise operations towards the end of 2021, once the last student finishes his programme. Different actions and measures have been taken in order to ensure the process goes as planned and avoid delays.
As for the Professional Institute, there are new developments that will allow it to keep running as a higher education institution. The new translation programme at professional level was entered and accepted by the CNED (NATIONAL EDUCATION COUNCIL). This, together with the new programme of Interpreting at professional level and its traditional programme of Translation at technical level will form the Humanist side of the Institute. Additionally, the new programmes of Bilingual Accountant and Accountancy at technical level have been approved and have started running in this year 2021. These programmes will make the School of Administration and will expand the scope of action. There is hope and confidence that all these actions will give the Professional Institute fresh air and opportunities to grow.
We are fully convinced that all the work we do helps to fulfil our Mission statement, which is teaching English, sharing culture and strengthening links between Chile and the UK.
13. INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILE (IAC)
Katherine (Kathy) Anderson, Secretary of IAC reported that in 2020 THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHILE held the following activities for members and guests:
General meetings: Throughout the year meetings were held in person or on Zoom, with the following topics: the IAC Charity program, the Legal Board Vision and Vision for the future of the IAC and the Annual General Meeting.
Weekly coffees were held in January and February at Beppo Cafe and on Zoom for the remainder of the year.
Mom’s Play Cafe met four times in December and January.
Cooking demonstration and wine tasting events were held via Zoom.
Games - American mah-jong was played online and International mah-jong was played in person prior to March and again since October.
Charity - Funds were raised and provided for special projects, including supporting The British Commonwealth Society, Misión de Maria, Las Crèches, Fundación Apoyo Para El Embarazo, Cristo Joven, Municipality Lo Barnechea, Nuestros Hijos, Desafió Levantamos Chile, Fundación Origin, Fundación Camino, Colegio Helen Keller, ONG
Edudown, Fundación Crescendo, Juventud Para Cristo, ONG Visión por Chile (Casa Esperanza), FUNDALURP, Federacion Beneficenca Maria Ayuda, Fundación Antonia, and Fundación Honra.
14. PRINCE OF WALES COUNTRY CLUB (PWCC)
Carlos Ruiz de Gamboa, Chairman of PWCC provided the following report
Founded in 1925, The PRINCE OF WALES COUNTRY CLUB has always been the centre for gatherings of the British community. Built with the financial support of some twenty large British companies that operated in Chile at the time as well as individuals from the community.
Set on a large stretch of land alongside THE GRANGE SCHOOL, PWCC has some 1,500 members who, with their families, enjoy the social and sporting facilities the club has to offer. The club’s mission is defined as “Be an incomparable gathering place for the entire family with high-quality premises and services for recreation and sport, sharing British traditions and values”
Accordingly, the PWCC maintains close contact with the founding British companies still in Chile, with community
organisations in Santiago and with the British Embassy, where HM Ambassador holds the title of Honorary President. The club strives to maintain a traditional British “look and feel” through the sports offered (golf, rugby and field hockey, but sadly no longer cricket) and the ambience of its premises (a pub-style bar, bridge room, trophies cabinet, wall-plaques, etc...).
Club facilities are open to various British community activities, regardless of membership, including Scottish Pipe Band
rehearsals and Scottish dancing and team sports and regularly organises UK -related talks and exchanges for its members.
Full details of PWCC activities and services can be found at www.pwcc.cl and include some of the British community activities in 2020 run in spite of the challenges of Covid-19 and its dramatic effects of club members:
• St. Valentine’s Day celebration.
• Saint Patrick’s Day celebration.
• Tribute to volunteer members of the Club, who enlisted in the British Army during World War II.
• Commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the end of World War II.
• Commemoration of 95 years de the founding of the Club, with a nota on Prince of Wales visit.
• Practice sessions of the SANTIAGO METROPOLITAN PIPE BAND and Scottish Dances in the months the Club was open.
• Sponsoring and hosting the on-line talk about “Henry VIII”.
A new area of activity has been the rapid adaption by the PWCC Food and Beverages division to offering traditional dishes and drinks, such as fish ‘n’ chips, apple pie, teatime with scones both on premises and as home delivery.
15. SANTIAGO COMMUNITY CHURCH (SCC)
Reverend Gerardo Gimpel, through Audrey Louise Wilsdon, shared the following report on SCC activities in the year:
SANTIAGO COMMUNITY CHURCH is a self-supporting international, inclusive and interdenominational Protestant church serving the English-speaking community. Under “normal” circumstances, it offers services every Sunday at 10:30, with Holy Communion every first and third Sunday of the month, with Sunday School classes for children 4 to 18-year-olds.
Like everyone else the SANTIAGO COMMUNITY CHURCH has had to adapt to these challenging times. As of March 20 last year all our church activities have had to turn to technology – but this has enabled them to continue and even to welcome back online several who are no longer living in Santiago and many who find themselves on different continents! Anyone can join our Sunday Services via Zoom or Facebook Live as of 10:20 am.
Via Facebook Live you would be able to watch the Service with the words projected via a PowerPoint, which replaces the physical Service sheet.
Via Zoom you can actually participate unmuting your microphones to join in with some of the responses and after the Service there are small breakout groups where you can stay on for a chat.
The links for these Services are on our website, https://www.santiagochurch.org.
Sunday School for children from 3rd to 6th graders is now offered via Zoom at 11:45 am, with Sunday School for the Middle- and High-Schoolers via Zoom at 12:15 (the links are available from Suzanne at suzanne@santiagochurch.org).
Our Bible studies continue online – and again everyone is welcome. The Bible Studies which meet via Zoom are The Monday Afternoon Women’s Bible Study at 4 pm, the Tuesday Men’s Breakfast Study at 9 am and The Young Adult Bible Study Wednesdays at 7.30 pm. The Monday Morning Women’s Bible Study meets at 10 am via Skype.
The Church continues her commitments with various charities, namely Youth for Christ, Hogar La Granja, Casa Esperanza, Fundación Crescendo, Clamor en el Barrio, Habitat for Humanity, and the Salvation Army.
Since Covid, a Service of Evening Prayer has been incorporated into the weekly schedule, running from 9 pm – 10 pm Tuesdays to Thursdays via Zoom for anyone who’d like to pop in. This is a small informal service, which offers the opportunity to share in a time of open conversation from 9:00 – 9:30 pm, followed by a devotional with a time of prayer. This was initially directed by our pastor, the Rev. Fred Milligan, and took place from Monday to Friday, before being reduced to Tuesdays to Thursdays, with Andrés Herrera in charge.
In November of last year, after 6 years’ dedication to SCC, Pastor Fred Milligan’s contract with us came to an end and he was given a good send-off by individual groups, as well as by the church as a whole. Canon John Cobb and Alfredo Labbé then led us through December and January, and continue to work alongside our new pastor, the Reverend Gerardo Gimpel.
Though Reverend Gimpel is unable to be with us physically (whilst in lockdown in Northern Ireland, where he has been living and working over the last 12 years), with all our activities online distance is not too much of a hindrance to him being our pastor, but we hope that he, his wife Suyai and their son will be able to move to Chile as soon as Covid allows it. Meanwhile you are invited to meet our pastor at any of our online Sunday Services.
As the church office staff are working from home, should you need to contact the church for anything, please either send an e-mail to office@santiagochurch.org or contact one of the SCC members you know who will be able to put you in contact with the right person.
16. THE ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH SCHOOLS IN CHILE (ABSCH)
Carolyn Pettersen, President of the ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH SCHOOLS IN CHILE provided the following report on the year:
The ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH SCHOOLS IN CHILE (ABSCH) is an organization that has 19 member schools, spread between Antofagasta, Viña del Mar, Casablanca, Concepcion and Punta Arenas, and over 21.000 students.
2020 was a different year for ABSCH. The pandemic forced many changes in the calendar of activities, having to suspend those face-to-face and adapt to the new conditions allowed by the system.
One important aspect was the participation achieved by the different instances of the organization, through its 20 Subject committees (formed by teachers from different schools and by the different subjects of the curriculum), meetings with the Heads of the member schools and the Executive Committee of ABSCH. It is true that there were fewer student-oriented activities, so the focus was on organization of the Association and schools, opening up opportunities to share experiences, best practices and concerns about the future of private education in Chile.
At the beginning of the year, one of the traditional educational activities was suspended (the annual Conference), which involves speakers mainly from the UK. Instead, some Subject Committees organized teacher training to help each other in this new scenario. The twenty Committees met regularly, with good attendance, offering their peers advise and tips for online classes.
They also organized some events for students, like the Essay-writing Competition, the Debate, Mathematics, Biology and Chess, which involved students from the different member schools and their teachers. All these activities are coordinated by ABSCH facilitating the logistics and technology required. In summary, 2020 was a vastly different year, with interesting and challenging activities and a big commitment from member schools, which was reflected in their participation and the sharing of information and experiences
17. THE CHILE CLUB
Julie Monteleone, Chair of The Chile Club for 2021 provided the following summary of the year’s activities:
The Chile Club, "Founded in March 1949 for the betterment of social, cultural and commercial relations between Chileans and residents in Chile, whose native language is English” would normally hold monthly lunch meetings at Club de la Unión, its traditional home since 1949. But the year 2020 was, as you can imagine, unusual.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic we had to cancel our first lunch planned for 25th March and under the leadership of 2020 Chairman Eliel Hasson, The Chile Club transitioned to holding "virtual lunches" over Zoom.
We heard from the following speakers, and topics:
• Max Colodro, UNIVERSIDAD ADOLFO IBÁÑEZ CHILE - Pandemic and Pre-Existing Social Demands: Are we ready for the next normal?
• Jeanette von Wolfersdorff and Veronica Pinilla, members of the FINANCE MINISTRY's Advisory Committee - Public
Spending, Challenges of Chile's post-pandemic public spending.
• Tomás Perez-Acle, FUNDACIÓN CIENCIA & VIDA - The Future is Now: forecasting the impact of COVID-19 using massive data and machine learning.
• Javiera Parada, actor and former Cultural Attaché in the U.S.- The Constituent Process: an opportunity for Chile.
• Juan Gabriel Valdes, former Foreign Minister & Ambassador to U.S., U.S. Elections: Perspectives and Potential Impact on Chile and Latin America.
• Claudio Hohmann, former Minister of Transport and Telecommunications, Post-Truth: The Breakdown of Truth on Social Networks.
We are continuing our "virtual lunches" series so for this year, with the hope of returning to in-person lunches during the
second half of 2021.
