Thank you Kathryn Dobson and Kalba Meadows

It’s the end of an era for British in Europe as Kalba Meadows and Kathryn Dobson step down from the Administration Council after seven years.

Both Kathryn and Kalba were driving forces behind ensuring the WA RP process in France was designed and implemented with the needs of UK nationals in France foremost. Kathryn organised meetings attended by over a thousand British nationals while Kalba led a popular forum dedicated to giving much-needed advice. Together they represented British citizens at meetings with French authorities and influenced proposed processes for the better, ensuring vulnerable citizens were top of mind and the British population outside of Paris was considered and informed.

So many of you have said how much you appreciated the guides BiE published through the Withdrawal Agreement process and still refer to them today. Both Kalba and Kathryn were key to their preparation, Kalba with her meticulous drafting expertise and Kathryn with her extensive communication skills ensuring that these reached the widest audience possible. Kalba also represented BiE at Select Committee meetings and Kathryn drove BiE’s key messaging, building important audiences through social media and other channels from scratch. As volunteers, they led fundraising to help BiE function until BiE was finally able to obtain EU funding for the ICE project this year, which Kathryn continued to support through the launch phase, ensuring the strategic communication planning is in place before stepping down.

All of us at BiE would like to thank them both for the thousands of volunteer hours they have put in to safeguard the rights of UK nationals in France and the wider EU. Their commitment, enthusiasm and dedication to this cause went far beyond the call and it is fair to say that British in Europe would not be what it is today without their foundational efforts. We will miss their energy and good humour and wish them both the best with their future plans. We are sure they will both continue to make a significant impact on people’s lives as they move on to new challenges.