The Norwich Annual Reunion was a great success and enjoyed by everyone who attended.  In due course there will be an AR Report and videos of the three presentations, including PowerPoint slides. In the meantime, members may enjoy browsing the photo album which now posted on the website: AR 2025 Photo Album Credits to the BAFUNCS Paparazzi: Marilyn Carr, Robert England, Carole Harris, Charles Robson, Nicky Rodgers, Carol & Richard Saynor, Vida Sherkat, Coby Sikkens, Richard Sydenham and Nina Zealey.

Hannah Shabathai and Carole Harris of the London Region had the honour of representing BAFUNCS at the ceremony on the occasion of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers in Whitehall on 22 May 2025.  In previous years, Tekeste Ghebray had nobly represented BAFUNCS, but Carole and I felt it was our duty to lay the wreath at the Cenotaph this year. The ceremony was organized with attention to every detail by David Wardrop of the UN Association for Westminster.  As part of the VIP group, we formed a grand parade with band, marching up Whitehall towards the Cenotaph, following the various diplomats headed by students from the Grey Coat Hospital School for Girls and the Westminster City School for Boys.  After speeches commemorating the courageous peacekeepers who had fallen in their line of duty, we lay our respective wreathes at the Cenotaph.  Particularly moving for Carole who had worked alongside the Peacekeepers some years ago.A very memorable occasion, at which the respects of BAFUNCS were duly paid. Hannah Shabathai.  BAFUNCS Regional Representative for London

 He was perhaps the greatest English novelist so visiting his only existing London abode, the rooms in which he once lived and worked, his legacy, was all fascinating, thanks to the Charles Dickens Museum opening its doors for a private BAFUNCS guided tour. The two curators lavished upon us a wealth of knowledge about the illustrious author – 1812-1870 – a brief life span beginning in poverty, but progressing to an elegant lifestyle, during which time he wrote the most wonderful and memorable of stories. The house at Doughty Street was lived in by Dickens as a young married man over a period of about three years.  It was there that he wrote Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby and completed The Pickwick Papers.  Dickens was a man fascinated with people, and we learned how some of his fictional characters relate to common folk.  It was also interesting to see how Victorians lived in the 19th century, and we saw the very desk – brought in from a later home – on which Dickens wrote Great Expectations. Although we were quite few in number, we were a happy crew, who appreciated the tour and the warm and friendly welcome of the two curators, Jordan and Flynn.  Our cream tea in the Artful Dodger Room rounded up the afternoon perfectly.  Should you have missed our visit, the Dickens Museum will be commemorating its 100th anniversary on the actual date – 9 June 2025, providing free entry to the public and an opportunity to meet the modern Dickens family who will share their own stories of their distinguished ancestor. We look forward to seeing more of you at another BAFUNCS London Region event – coming to a location near you shortly! Hannah Shabathai BAFUNCS Regional Representative for London  

The Association’s Annual General Meeting process will end on Saturday 31 May, when voting closes. The Voting Form covers all the decisions to be taken at the AGM, including the approval of our revised consititution and election of the new Executive Committee. Click on the link below to send your vote to Alnoor Nathoo, our Polling Officer. This can also be done quite simply by emailing your agreement to all the resolutions. Cast Your Vote in AGM 2025