ATTENTION ALL FORMER MEMBERS OF
The GB-USSR Association, The Britain Russia Centre, The British East-West Centre
Since 2001 BEWC has not charged a membership subscription.
However Direct Debits from a number of people have continued to arrive.
Despite repeated efforts over the years to find and contact the parties concerned in order to stop these funds, a few still come in – down to 9 in financial year 2023.
While the sums concerned are small, and often reflect levels of subscription from many years ago, they simply accumulate on our account and cannot be used. Our bank has advised that it is not possible to prevent Direct Debits arriving.
If you think you might be one of those affected, please check your Direct Debits and cancel any made to The GB-USSR Association, The Britain Russia Centre, The British East-West Centre or similar names.
Many thanks for your assistance.
FUTURE
With so many unmet needs across the region, it is no longer appropriate for these funds to sit unused.
During 2024 we are therefore donating the balance of funds accumulated as described above as one-off grants to one or more UK registered charities involved with the countries and region that we work with.
ELECTION MONITORING
From 2000-2021, BEWC (as one of three bidding organisations) provided hundreds of UK long- and short-term observers to OSCE election observation missions across numerous countries in the CIS region and beyond.
This ceased with FCDO's decision to operate only via a single supplier to cover all observer missions.
We are proud of what we achieved across two transformative decades, of our political neutrality and organisational independence, and of our track record in consistently delivering successful missions and value for money while also increasing the range and diversity of observers.
Above all, we are grateful to all of those who were LTOs and STOs for BEWC and worked so successfully with us over the years in bearing witness to electoral processes and performance.
