United Kingdom

AGBU London has a long history of organising and supporting social and cultural activities in the UK. In January 2001,and after a long absence of high budget and high cultured Armenian events in the UK, AGBU London was the first amongst UK Armenian organisations to reawaken the Armenian community from its cultural slumber and prompt other organisations to follow suite with the highly successful presentation of the Armenian State Dance Ensemble, led by the Artistic Director S. Chanchourian, to an audience of 700 at the Logan Hall.

Since then, AGBU London has presented many other major cultural events with the "Le Grand Orchestre Massis" from Marseille in February 2002  and the Navasart Armenian Dance Ensemble from Paris in June 2002.  Since these events, two local dance groups have emerged in London.

On 8th November 2003 about 120 London AGBU members, friends and their families enjoyed a sparkling night at the London Marriott Hotel which raised GBP11,000 in aid of the AGBU Centennial Project for the reconstruction and repopulation of the frontier villages of Artsakh. Among those attending the Gala Dinner Dance were his Grace Bishop Nathan Hovhannisian, Pontifical Legate and Primate of the Armenian Church of Great Britian, from France Mr Levon Kebabdjian, Knight of the Order of Legion Of Honour, Central Board Director, Mr Levon Chilingirian OBE, distinguished and world renowned British Armenian musician, Mrs Carol Aslanyan, Central Board Director representing Mr Berge Setrakian President of AGBU worldwide and from the United Kingdom, Mr George Kurkjian OBE, former Chairman of AGBU London Trust and former member of the Central Board. After dinner, guests danced the night away to Armenian and European rhythms performed by the French Armenian band "Gydzag".

In October 2004 and in honour of the visiting Artsakh Prime Minister Anoushavan Danielyan, AGBU London hosted a charity dinner  and raised £5,000 for the Pareshen Project.

Since 2002, AGBU London has also run a very successful Lecture Series covering topics relevant to the important work of the chapter and addressing such issues as tackling poverty in Armenia, transition to democracy, the impact of  diasporic assistance on Armenia, progress on the pareshen project and the role of Armenians in the European Union: Insiders or Outsiders?

Other cultural events presented by AGBU London in the recent past include Ann Doherty's Photographic Exhibition on Armenia, the Armenian Evening with Historic Constumes from Jerusalem in 2001, the Armenian Art Exhibition & Sale in September 2003, not to mention the lecture evenings on Komitas, Hovannes Toumanian and Krikor Naregatsi.

AGBU London also co-sponsored the first London Armenian Film Festival for 25 years, entitled "Return to the Promised Land", at the Cine Lumiere in February 2005.

In April, and in association with the Armenian Institute, AGBU London presented an encounter with Hrant Dink, the Managing Editor of Agos, the Armenian Turkish language weekly and publisher in Istanbul and international spokesman for human rights and Armenian affairs in the Turkish media.

On Saturday 23rd April, a concert sponsored by AGBU London took place, featuring the 18-piece Armenian traditional music group "Keram" from Marseille at the Reardon Smith Theatre, National Museum of Wales. The concert was a thank you dedication from the Armenian people  to the people of Wales for their support for the Genocide Recognition Campaign. The concert was part of a 10 day programme in Wales which included the 5th Welsh National Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide on 20th April in the Temple of Peace.

As for many years and in April, AGBU London also co-sponsored the Spring Remembrance Concert organised by RP Musical Management in memory of the 1915 victims of the Armenian Genocide.

In Commemoration of the 90th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, AGBU London sponsored an international conference entitled "Recognising Genocides" on 15th June 2005 at the House of Lords, London. The conference was organised by the British-Armenian All Party Parliamentary Group. The conference was chaired by His Excellency Vahe Gabrielyan, the Armenian Ambassador to the UK and was moderated by Baroness Cox. The speakers were Mr Vartan Oskanian, the Armenian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Rochebloine, a member of the French Parliament and Chairman of the Franco-Armenian Parliamentary Group, Mr Sarkis Assadourian, a former Canadian Member of Parliament and Senior Advisor to the Canadaian Prime Minister and Mr James Smith, the Executive Director of the Holocaust Memorial Trust, Beth Shalom. A petition of over 3000 signatures urging Her Majesty's Government to recognise the Armenian Genocide was handed into 10 Downing Street.

Youth Culture

For popular culture and recognising the importance of engaging  youth in the preservation of identity and culture, AGBU London organised twice the appearance of the famous Armenian pop singer Tata in concert in December 2000 and again in December 2003.

These were amongst a chain of other youth events organised and aimed at bringing youth in the UK community together which included the Oct 2004 party for graduates, undergraduates and postgraduates at the premier Sound Club in Leicester Sqaure; the New Year parties, and the two students, graduate and friends parties in March and October 2005 at the Audley in Mayfair. All of these events attracted scores of new faces highlighting the need for such gatherings.

In August 2004, AGBU London Youth raised £3000 for children in need in Gyumri in Armenia, raising this sum on a fundraising trip to Fleetwith Pike in the Cumbrian Lake District. In March 2005 AGBU London Youth also organised a trip to Holland to support the national team in the Armenia v Holland match in Eindhoven. This was followed with a weekend trip to Bala in North Wales and Snowdonia in July 2005.

UK Schools & Universities

With the Youth in mind, AGBU London continues its long standing support of both the London Saturday and Sunday Armenian Schools, with substantial annual grants for the benefit of the families of the London Armenian Community and the education of the children of Armenian decent in the Armenian language, history and culture.

AGBU London has also for many years provided university grants and loans to students of Armenian descent studying at UK universities without which some of whom would be unable to pursue their studies.

Additionally, AGBU London continues to fully fund the Holy See of Etchnmiadzin's placement of a student priest, nominated by His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All-Armenians, to study at a UK university, as part of a programme of raising the academic standards of gifted priests in the Armenian Apostolic Church, One such priest has already returned to head the Vaskenian Sevan Seminary.