Generic and local information for the UK Military community in SHAPE/Belgium including Serving Personnel, Families, Veterans, and MOD Civilians.
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Wednesday 31 March 2021
Things to do; Visit the Citadel of Namur
Plan for ‘urban forest’ to run from Botanique all the way to Central Station
How would you like that 15-minute walk from Botanique to Central Station to be through a forest? That will eventually be reality as landscape architects Bureau Bas Smets reveal their master plan for Slopes of the Pentagon.
The bureau is working with Brussels-City to create an ‘urban forest’ that would run from Boulevard Pachéco at Botanique, down Berlaimont, past Central Station and on to Place de l'Albertine. The ambitious project is meant to create green space while connecting the neighbourhoods along the way.
“Redeveloping the North-South axis is essential to reconnect the neighbourhoods and to create new meeting places in the area,” says Brussels-City mayor Philippe Close. “This is how we preserve urban diversity. The reconnection of the slopes of the Palace of Justice with the Marolles district was the first step in the realisation of this vision.”
To read the full article CLICK HERE
Tuesday 30 March 2021
Thinking About Booking A Day Out - Check Out The Defence Discount Service
Enjoy the sunshine as we exit lockdown and create lasting memories with our top range of great savings on fun days out across the UK.
Friday 26 March 2021
10 tipes for a good nights sleep
Welcome To Scotland - New Guide Launched Online
The Scottish Government have launched a new 2021 updated version of Welcome To Scotland.
Monday 22 March 2021
Family Life and the Armed Forces Community
Wednesday 17 March 2021
Things to do - Bois de Colfontaine
Friday 12 March 2021
Veterans UK Customer Satisfaction Survey 2021
Veterans UK are always trying to improve the services we deliver to our customers and one of the best ways to understand how we can make improvements is to ask the people who use our services.
The survey is open now and until midnight on Tuesday 6 April at 11.59pm.
If you would like to tell us about your experiences of using our Veterans UK services, please complete our Customer Satisfaction Survey 2021
Thursday 11 March 2021
Services Cotswold Centre (SCC)
Do you need a change of scenery? Are you looking for a short break after the restrictions of lockdown but don’t want to venture abroad?
In beautiful countryside, just one mile south of the small Cotswold town of Corsham and midway between Bath and Chippenham lies the Services Cotswold Centre, a Tri Service Accommodation Centre.
The Centre is open to any Service person or MOD Civil Servant and their families who need short-term housing for welfare purposes (including contact housing), between assignments, on discharge, home leave or just a short break in the country.
Offering 3- or 4-bedroom self-catering chalets in a secure and peaceful 25-acre site, all accommodation is centrally heated and fully furnished and includes a fridge, freezer, cooker, microwave, TV, Freeview, towels and bedding.
On site facilities include a Community Centre offering internet access, the Tavern Bar, a 24-hour launderette, a fitness suite and 2 fantastic new Playparks.
For a relaxing break at minimal cost, in easy reach of the many tourist attractions the South West offers, contact the Centre on 01225 810358.
Wednesday 10 March 2021
The PANDAS Foundation
Offering hope, empathy and support for every parent or network affected by perinatal mental illness.
What's The Definition Of Veteran/Ex-Armed Forces Being Used In The Census?
Tuesday 9 March 2021
Op Courage - The Veterans Mental Health & Wellbeing Service
Monday 8 March 2021
8th March - International Women's Day; Five women who changed the course of Belgian history
International Women’s Day is on Monday, 8 March. We recognise the day devoted to the emancipation of girls and women around the world with a list of five women who helped chart the course of modern Belgian history.
Had Isala Van Diest not had such progressive parents, she might not have become the first woman in Belgium to obtain a university degree, which led to her become its first female doctor. Born in 1842 Leuven to parents who did not believe in educating their daughters and sons differently, Van Diest eventually travelled to Switzerland to obtain her diplomas as university was not open to women in Belgium.Told that her foreign medical degree did not allow her to practice in Belgium, she enrolled at the ULB in Brussels when it opened to women a few years later. She famously had to enter the building through a back door as her male classmates took to shouting and throwing rocks at her at the main entrance. She earned her medical degree in 1883 and opened her own practice in Brussels, treating mainly women and children.
To read further inspirational stories CLICK HERE
Friday 5 March 2021
Things to do - Jemappes Park
Thursday 4 March 2021
Wednesday 3 March 2021
Alliance For Alcohol Awareness In The Army (4Alpha).
4Alpha is a peer2peer support and advice network for alcohol awareness in the Army.
We are not an official enterprise but a network of professionals, colleagues and supporters that believe we can improve well-being, culture and behaviours by creating a network that is more impactful than the sum of its parts.
Tuesday 2 March 2021
Ikea to resell second-hand goods in all Belgian stores
All Ikea stores will have a "Circular Hub" where customers can buy second-hand products within two years, the Swedish furniture giant said on Monday at the press conference presenting the renovated Circular Hub at its branch in Mons.
The brand opened its first second-hand store in Belgium in 2014 in Hainaut province. Customers can bring back their Ikea furniture, to be sold in-store as second hand by the company, in exchange for a voucher.
"Depending on the condition of the product, customers receive a voucher equivalent of up to half the purchase amount," explained Nathalie Van Edom, sustainability expert at Ikea Belgium.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Circular Hub in Mons had been temporarily closed but has reopened in recent weeks. Within two years, all the Swedish giant's stores will have such a space. A timetable for the complete roll-out of Circular Hubs in Belgium has not yet been set.
For Ikea, second-hand furniture is part of a three-pillar sustainability plan. In addition to selling second-hand goods, the Swedish firm aims to have a zero-waste policy by 2030 and to work only with recycled or renewable materials.
"The Circular Hub is actually the idea of translating our ambitions into stores in terms of the circular economy," explained Caroline Gastaud, head of sustainable development at Ikea.
"We realise that we need to change the way we do business to reuse, repair, repack and recycle. Here in the store, the customer can already buy products that are exhibition models, and models that have been repaired and repackaged. But in these spaces, the customer will also be able to resell his old Ikea furniture."
"In recent years, in the second-hand market, there has been a big development," Gastaud continued. "We felt that customers were ready to engage in this process and to use more second-hand products, such as furniture and accessories. For us, it is a way to become part of this trend that already exists in Belgium."
Ikea has been present in Belgium since 1984 and has eight stores in Belgium: Anderlecht, Zaventem, Ghent, Wilrijk, Hasselt, Arlon, Mons and Hognoul. It employs more than 4,300 people across the country.