The Ball is organised to the benefit of the Royal Belgian Benevolent Society (Charity Registration No. 233435).

H.M. King Albert II graciously granted his patronage to the Benevolent Society in 2005. The Royal Belgian Benevolent Society was founded in 1866 by King Léopold II – long before the Union and the Cercle that were to become the Anglo-Belgian Society, and long before the Anglo-Belgian Club.

It is the oldest foreign charity registered with the Charity Commission.

Its original aim was to help Belgians in need in the UK. Since 1986, the Benevolent Society, with the close co-operation of the British Council in Belgium, has made awards to Belgian postgraduate students who have the opportunity to study at British universities but who do not have sufficient means to do so.

The Benevolent Society receives applications from 30 to 40 students a year from Belgian universities. With the assistance and the guidance of the British Council, the Benevolent Society selects a number who are finding it difficult to assemble the funds necessary for them to take up posts they have been offered at British universities. Many of these students would be unable to take up the places offered to them by British universities without the Benevolent Society’s help.

Through your generosity, the Benevolent Society hopes to be able to assist more students to come to Britain to pursue their studies and form ties of friendship between the two countries.

For further enquiries about the Royal Belgian Benevolent Society, please contact Mr Patrick Bresnan at secretary@anglo-belgiansoc.co.uk