Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire speaks at BRASS AGM

On September 10th, we held our AGM at St Peter’s Church. Following a welcome and

report from Morris, elections were held by Sharif: the re-election of Morris Johns as Chair, of Sanja Radic as Secretary, and the election of Dr Lien Luu as Treasurer (Trustee). The

BRASS Finance Report was given by Jon and the BRASS funders were all acknowledged. Thanks were given to all staff and volunteers and a special presentation was made to

Sabina, who has volunteered with BRASS for over 15 years. Her dedication, energy and enthusiasm inspire us all and her English classes have changed the lives of many of BRASS’ clients.

Sharif’s speech brought the relevance of BRASS’ work into focus. Here is an extract:

"I would like to briefly talk about why BRASS is so desperately needed today. There are

many reasons, but I will state two core reasons. Firstly, we provide urgent support to

those who deserve it, often because they lack linguistic skills, cultural knowledge, or

financial means. Secondly, BRASS (as my father beautifully called it decades ago) is a

platform that helps introduce our clients to British society. It makes their personal

journeys easier, smoother, and far less stressful. In simple terms, it is a platform for

integration. This is clear to see across our drop-in service (providing benefits,

housing, and immigration advice), ESOL courses, our employment-related

courses, and our community trips and events. This integration is not just

beneficial to our clients, but to British society as a whole; something that the

vast majority of British people want to see."

We were delighted to welcome The Lord Lieutenant of Bedfordshire, Susan Lousada, as

the guest speaker. She gave an engaging speech about her role and about the strength

in community that she sees across Bedfordshire, as a result of diversity, tolerance and

compassion.