News

Come and join us on Sunday 7th July from 12 noon onwards for our Annual Picnic in the Oxford University Harcourt Arboretum at Nuneham Courtenay. We will meet again by the kozolec (Slovene hay rack).

Bring your own picnic, drinks, plates, cutlery, chairs, tables, blankets, balls — not to mention your children, grandchildren and friends. As usual among Slovenes, we encourage you to bring plenty to eat and drink and share it with everyone!

Children of all ages can take part in a fun drawing workshop with Nina Nemec, a Slovene graphic and fashion designer (see www.cacka.eu). The pictures made by the children will be displayed on the hayrack, and each child can take his/her picture home.

The Arboretum is situated just south of Nuneham Courtenay on the A4074 road from Reading, eight miles south of Oxford. The postal code is OX44 9PX. From London it can be reached by the M40, exit 8, A40 to Oxford, then southwards round the Ring Road (A4142) on to the A4074 towards Reading. Website: https://www.harcourt-arboretum.ox.ac.uk/.

If you come to Oxford or Reading by train and need a lift, mail to evelina@ferrar.org.uk or call 07584 199 177 and we will do what we can to help.

Entrance fee to the Arboretum has been reduced to £2 (half price) for the British-Slovene Society. Children and Members of Oxford University enter for free.

The picnic will take place whatever the weather. Join us for a day together outside in nature!

The British-Slovene Society held its Annual General Meeting in London on 21 June 2013 under the Chairmanship of David Lloyd.

The Meeting approved the Chairman’s Report and the Financial Statement. It re-elected the following:

Chairman: David Lloyd.

Trustees: Alan Banes, Igor Cesarec, Michael Chant, Željka Charles-Jones, Evelina Ferrar, Gorazd Kert, Keith Miles, Shirlie Roden, Breda Wilkinson.

The Chairman advised that Anica Page did not seek re-election as Trustee.

At the end of the meeting, inscribed silver salvers were presented to Keith and Slava Miles for their long and valuable service to the British-Slovene Society.

The Annual General Meeting of the British-Slovene Society will be held on Friday 21 June 2013 at Howard Kennedy LLP, 19 Cavendish Square, London W1A 2AW at 7 p.m.

The AGM will be preceded by a talk by Marcus Ferrar, a member of the British-Slovene Society, starting at 6 p.m:

“Writing about peoples with difficult histories: Slovenia, Germany, Hungary”

Marcus is a former Reuters correspondent who reported from Eastern Europe and Germany during the Cold War. He has written historical memoirs about post-war events in Slovenia, a hundred years of Germany, and the traumas of a Jewish family from Hungary. 

From left to right: Shirlie Roden, Alan Banes, Michael Chant, David Lloyd (Chairman), Gorazd Kert, David Bennett, Anica Page, Keith C. Miles, Igor Cesarec.

Not on the picture: Željka Charles-Jones, Breda Wilkinson and Evelina Ferrar.

A delegation of Slovenian Parliamentarians visited the UK last week. RTV Slovenija 1 covered a reception given for them by Slovenian Ambassador Iztok Jarc at his London residence. Click on this link to see the RTV programme

https://tvslo.si/predvajaj/v-zivo-tv-slovenija-1/tv.slo1/#ava2.161396217

The coverage starts at 3mins 10 secs. It was broadcast in Slovenia on 17 March at 17.00 and includes an interview with the British-Slovene Society.

Do you wish your child to learn languages, and combine it with all sorts of adventures? Here’s how you can do this in the midst of Slovenia’s beautiful countryside: Poletni tabori

Would you help a 14-year-old girl from Prekmurje in Slovenia, who is suffering from cancer and dreams of visiting London?

Britons in Prekmurje have already collected 1,000 euro to make Bogomila Kuhar’s dream come true. Derek and Susan Smith, who live in that area, organised a fund-raising charity walk. Radio Televizija Slovenija interviewed Susan for a news report which highlighted the humanitarian spirit of the local British community.

Members of the British Embassy and British Council in Ljubljana then chipped in with more funds. I appeal now to members of the British-Slovene Society to join in helping this girl achieve her wish.

What can you do? You could contribute further funds to make sure this trip is unforgettable. Or you could accommodate Bogomila and her mother for a few days. They hope to be in London towards the end of June. You could also obtain tickets for some of the sights and pleasures of London. Anything which will give her the time of her life.

If you want to help, please contact me through info@britishslovenesociety.org. Any suggestions are welcome.

Bogomila lives in Murska Sobota. She is a brave girl and deserves our help. Please show that we too in the British-Slovene Society have generous hearts.

David Lloyd

Chairman

The British-Slovene Society’s annual Prešeren Dinner, held on 9^th February in London’s Hotel Russell, has never been more animated or well attended. The dining room was packed to capacity, and it pulsated to the sound of lively conversation, a Slovene accordionist, and the shouts of lucky winners in the tombola.

Members and their guests sang Slovenia’s national anthem, written by the 19th century poet, France Prešeren, the central figure of Slovene culture. Slovenia’s Ambassador in the UK, Iztok Jarc, launched the proceedings, followed by David Lloyd, the Society’s new Chairman.   

The retiring Chairman, Keith Miles OBE, and his wife Slava, were presented with silver salvers for their unstinting work for the BSS and Slovenia since the earliest days. During the independence process in the early1990s, Keith was instrumental in helping the new state achieve recognition and standing in the UK.

Keith has not really retired. In fact, he is spending time in Slovenia these days helping various bodies with his accounting and auditing skills.

More and more young Slovenes living in the UK come to the Dinner, distinguishing themselves by the impressive professional and academic credentials which they have already achieved in a globalised world at an early age.

English-speakers could brush up their Slovene by joining in the traditional sing-song led by the visiting accordionist. Each found something different to enjoy. One Slovene who lives in an area where there are hardly any compatriots said what she liked most was to hear Slovene spoken in the Ladies.

The tombola meanwhile brought in a record £494 for Barka, community of people with disturbed mental development in Slovenia supported by the BSS.

   Click for video: mi se imamo radi, radi, radi, radi

More photos in the Gallery.