Dear Reader,
On a rather sad note, I wanted to inform you that after nearly 5 years of being a board member and holding various roles including that of Vice-President and Secretary, it has come to the time that I need to hang up my hat.
I have thoroughly enjoyed volunteering my time and energy to this association and its board that has helped steer its members successfully though the COVID years, assisting with the applications of thousands of WARPs, launching the newsletter, ‘Keeping in Touch’ and creating the email helpline. Thanks to the hard work, skills and insights of the board members, the FBN now covers the whole of France, greatly assisting those wishing to live and work in France and for those already doing so.
I have really enjoyed meeting and getting to know our members during the many social events over the years. I also feel that I have been able to give something back to my adopted home country by helping to build both a professional and social network for English speaking residents.
I will be leaving the board and the FBN at the end of July and I will miss my involvement with the association and the friends that I have made. My key role as Secretary will be taken over by Sasha Smit-Macardier until a permanent replacement can be appointed.
For the foreseeable future ‘Keeping in Touch’ will take a different format. There will be four new articles each month, these will be posted on our website and Facebook page. The FBN newsletter will be produced twice a year and will contain some of the most important articles already published plus a list of all others written in the previous six months and that can be found on our website.
I wish you all and the FBN all the best for the future.
Kind regards
David
Parting Words from Board Members to David
From: Roger Haigh MBE, President
Dear David,
Without a doubt you will be truly missed by us all for your empathy, enthusiasm and dedication. You have hugely participated in laying the foundations of the FBN thus enabling our association to continue assisting those English speakers wishing to settle in the Dordogne or beyond.
As President of the FBN I would like to thank you personally for all the invaluable backup you provided to me in your dual role as Vice President and Secretary of the FBN.
Un grand merci…….
From: Marie-Claude Bessout – Treasurer
As treasurer of the FBN I had the pleasure to work closely with David during those last years.
When he was appointed as secretary, he didn’t know anything about the FBN but he understood very quickly the philosophy of our association and he became an essential link between all the members of the board, organizing all our meetings, doing all the administrative job, and many other tasks, being always very professional and efficient. All those qualities pushed us to appoint him also as Vice President, and he proved very helpful for our President.
It will be a hard task to replace you David, and I want to thank you for all those years of collaboration which were very pleasant and rewarding.
From: Simon Crerie – Marketing and Communications Manager
Best wishes to David in his future and many thanks for his invaluable contributions to FBN.
We will miss him, but FBN will continue to support individuals and small businesses currently living or thinking of moving to France
From: Tharwat Mansour – Events Manager
David has been a great addition to the board of The Franco British Network; He has been a very active Vice president and Secretary and fulfilled his role diligently.
I wish him happy retirement and thank him for the commitment and hard work he put while he was fulfilling his role.
From: Elena Djelil – Help Line Manager
I first met David back in 2020 when we were helping UK nationals apply for their WARPs. Afterwards, when I took over the role of Admin Assistant, he continued to be a great support and source of encouragement; he was always willing to help or lend an ear when needed. All of us at FBN will certainly miss him as a friend as well as a dedicated colleague.
I wish him all the very best in life’s next new chapter! Bonne continuation!