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History

The BCF is older than the country of Belgium, having been founded by the Duke of Wellington in 1815.  The fund's original purpose was to help provide for the dependants of soldiers killed at the battle of Waterloo - families and camp followers left stranded in Belgium with no means of support.  Ever since that time the BCF has remained in existence to provide help to British citizens who find themselves in distress whilst living in Belgium.

For much of the time since 1815 the majority of people helped by the BCF has been, in some way or another, the consequence of military conflict - former service men or their dependants.  In particular survivors of the two World Wars.  Fortunately, such causes are now receding into history, hopefully never to be repeated.
 

Today

Whilst we still help some war pensioners and their widows, today we find an increasing number of cases having no connection with the forces.  The growing fluidity of employment within the European Union means that more and more British people settle in Belgium for several years, or perhaps permanently.  Sadly, some of these fall on hard times - broken marriages, sudden death, disability.  Without immediate family at hand, help from the community may be needed.

Sometimes advice from one of our consultants, or just guidance, is all that is required.  Frequently, however, financial aid is still needed in order to help a family back to normal life, or to bridge an unforeseen obstacle of fate - there is still a number of holes in the social security net.
 

Future

Over the coming years we anticipate a decline in the number of elderly people requiring long term assistance.  At the same time, as the number of British subjects resident in Belgium continues to rise, and as that population matures to some extent, we anticipate that the number of shorter term cases will increase.  Eventually, it is likely that there will again be a return to an elderly, longer term, scenario, as it is probable that several of the current residents will remain here into their retirement years.  Such residence will inevitably give rise to attendant difficulties which will vary considerably according to circumstances, unforeseen and accident related needs.

What does the Fund do

The assistance given to what we term our protégés varies from case to case, but is essentially on a person to person basis with regular contact, visits, follow-up, by individual BCF committee members, as dictated by the circumstances of each case.  In practice assistance falls into two broad categories:

Longer term cases:
Typically elderly people, pensioners, war widows who are in need of assistance in daily activities such as shopping, visits to hospital, etc., or just regular social contact.  In addition, there may be a financial need.  In such cases the committee makes an assessment of the need and, provided funds are available, will make provision for regular monthly payments - either in cash or food vouchers.  A biannual review of cases and support level is made.  In assessing the level of assistance to be provided, cognizance is taken of help received from related organizations.

Shorter term cases:
The BCF also provides assistance in the shorter term to people who find themselves in more temporary difficulty resulting from such events as: marriage breakdown, sudden death, prolonged illness.  The nature of the assistance provided will vary from case to case:- financially, often a one time payment or loan is all that is required, sometimes medium term support for months or a few years is appropriate; non financial assistance may also be important, particularly advice from one of the BCF's consultants, especially lawyers and other contacts, who have specialist knowledge relevant to the particular circumstances.  With the increasing mobility of labour within the European Union there has been a huge increase in the number of British subjects working in Belgium and, consequently, an increase in the numbers who find themselves in temporary difficulty.

The BCF works closely with the DGAA-Homelife charity in the UK.  Some of the BCF's protégés are supported by this charity.  In these cases the BCF acts as the charity's agent in Belgium, receiving money from the charity and disbursing this to protégés in accordance with the directives of the DGAA.  In addition to the DGAA, the BCF liaises with other charitable organization, in particular the English speaking churches, the Royal British Legion, The Royal Air Force Association, in order to help ensure a broad and equitable coverage of potential cases.

How does the BCF work

The BCF has a 3 person executive (chairman treasurer and secretary), these people, together with a small group of assistants, form the General Purposes Committee - the team which assesses cases and provides regular contact and help to individual protégés.

Also the BCF has a network of representatives in various locations in Belgium.  These local representatives both visit protégés as necessary and bring potential cases to our attention.

Finally, the BCF has the help of a number of professionals - lawyers, doctors, etc., who provide advice and assistance to our protégés.

All this activity is entirely voluntary, and members receive no remuneration whatsoever.  Apart from an irreducible minimum of administrative and legal expenses (around 2% of income), all of the fund's income is used to directly help protégés, maintaining a rough balance of income and expenditure year by year.

The BCF's income comes from 3 main sources: collections and contributions from schools, clubs and associations with a British connection; donations from individuals and companies; investment income deriving from some small legacies left to the fund in the past.

Donations to the fund may be made by bank transfer to either a/c 632-0991000-65 Lloyds Bank or a/c 000-0208814-70 CCP, for the account of The British Charitable Fund, c/o Royal & Sun Alliance Reinsurance, ave Louise 66, 1050 Bruxelles, or by cheque to the same address.

Donations to the BCF are recognized by the Belgian Ministry of Finance and donations of 1,000 BEF and above are tax deductible.  For the majority of expats this means, at incremental tax and social security rates, that a 1,000 BEF donation in practice costs a little over 300 BEF.

If you know of anyone who is in need of assistance and might be a potential protégé (they must be a British citizen, or the spouse of a British citizen) do please bring the case to the attention of the BCF by contacting the secretary:
bruce.guy@skynet.be or tel: 02/767 7103, fax: 02/767 0351.