A century of friendship: the France-Grande Bretagne Association

The France-Grande Bretagne Association (www.afgb.free.fr), which has branches all over France, has a singular aim: the “development of intellectual, moral and economic relationships between France and Britain.” It is open to both French and English-speaking members, and has a fascinating, century-long history.

Created in 1916 by a group of influential people who decided links on both sides of the Channel needed to be reforged following the aftermath of the First World War, the France-Grande Bretagne Association was successful from its earliest days, attracting members from major companies, while the President of the Republic became its patron. Shortly afterward, a sister organisation was created in London, which is now the Franco-British Society.

Just before the outbreak of the Second World War, the France-Grande Bretagne Association had 1,200 members in Paris and 600 in Bordeaux. Many members were Jewish and, just before the German occupation, all their papers were burned so the Nazis, hoping to find details of important citizens, found their offices empty. The Association went underground but many members remained active, sometimes helping British soldiers get back to Britain.

After the war, it was back to business as usual and the exchanges were mostly cultural. Membership declined but began to build again in the 1990s and beginning of the 21st century, with rising numbers of UK citizens retiring to France. According to Gérard Homcard, who has been a member of the Paris Branch since 1962, interest is still growing in its activities.

“There was a period when the younger French generation were more interested in the USA,” he said. “Now there is a wave of people who have been to work in London, come back and wish to keep up their links with the UK. I think there is a continuing interest and fascination in what goes on across the Channel.”

In the Paris branch, 90% of the 150 members are French but English-speakers are welcome and the last two members to sign up have come from the UK.

Among its many activities, the Association holds debates once a month on subjects varying from the differences between Shakespeare and Molière, and London architecture to, of course, Brexit. There are also visits, including Somme last summer and, more recently, the Oscar Wilde exhibition in Paris.

Mr Homcard believes English-speaking members join the Association to meet French people, helping them integrate and enjoy cultural events. He said: “I recently gave a talk to the Limoges group and found people would come from 50km away to meet up. The great thing is the exchange between two nations, but it takes different forms in each group. Lyon has had cooking clubs where people can swap recipes and Cahors introduced a plant swap.”

The Quercy France-Grande Bretagne branch in Cahors (www.quercyfgb.com) in the Lot has around 270 members, split 50/50 between French and English speakers. Vice-President Angela Dunn has been a member for almost 20 years, and says joining is a very good way to meet French and English-speaking people, make friends and improve language skills, as all activities are bilingual.

Mrs Dunn said: “We have three strings to our bow: we provide language workshops, eight for learning English and four for learning French; we have a library with 1,800 books mostly in English, and we do regular activities, which can either be an outing or a talk on very varied subjects, at which there is always lunch. Everything is run by volunteers which is nice, as people are doing something for someone else.”

She added it is a good way to foster relationships between Britain and France, and said: “When Brexit was announced, our French members were very sympathetic and our President, Michel Bellanger, wanted to stress to us and Connexion readers that an event like this deepens ties between French and British, rather than the other way round. At the time French members too sent emails of support.”

In 2015, the Quercy branch celebrated its 40th anniversary, while this year there are plans for several outings as well as conference debates. Membership is €15 a year for one person and €28 for couples, while activities and language workshops cost a little extra. Mrs Dunn says new members are always welcome and there are still places available in some of the French lessons.